I am a leader in my field and need substantial energy to perform. Critical awareness for mitochondria health helped me gain an abundance of energy, perform with joy, and deliver with agility. Therefore, I want to share my experience with you so that you can reap the benefits of this tiny organelle that may gigantic positive impact on your life.
Image by Gerd Altmann from PixabayBusiness leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals need an abundance of energy to thrive and perform with passion. Physical, mental, and emotional energy are determining success factors for high performance in this frenetic world. Based on my personal experience, I want to highlight the critical importance of mitochondrial health.
Have you ever seen a lethargic leader or an entrepreneur?
Imagine a leader for a moment: fatigued, tired, depressed, and sad.
How would you feel about following and taking directions from that leader?
Excellent leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals are energetic and passionate people demonstrating sustainable high performance. These people are full of beans, shining with self-confidence hence we admire their distinguishing attributes.
Let me touch on the importance of mitochondrial health as an essential consideration. The reasons for this awareness and actions are the energy we need to thrive and perform rising above mediocrity and perform sustainably. I point out and highlight 20 key considerations to improve our mitochondrial health aiming to increase our energy.
Every single cell in our body needs the energy to function.
It is so fundamental that if there is no energy, there is no life.
In business environments, low energy equates to low performance. This concern is not exclusive to leaders. All professionals need energy however excellent leaders and entrepreneurs need more energy for performance.
Let me give you a brief background and set the context for biological energy production at high-level scientific terms.
What is Mitochondrion?
A mitochondrion is a singular noun for the mitochondria which are known as the energy powerhouses of our cells. The more energy our cells need the more amount of mitochondria are required.
In scientific terms, mitochondria are organelles that create ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate). This process happens via cellular respiration by breaking nutrients and creating energy molecules for our cells.
This diagram depicts the high-level structure of a mitochondrion.
Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrion#/media/File:Mitochondrion_mini.svg
Importance of mitochondrial health
When our mitochondria are damaged or malfunctioning, our overall energy levels and daily performance drop dramatically. We start feeling lethargic, tired, and lazy. Low energy can be noticeable mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Leaders must be aware of mitochondrial health and take necessary measures to protect their mitochondria to produce an abundance of energy to perform. Energy is a critical requirement for leadership performance and success.
Mitochondrial health is a well-researched topic in medicine and medical science. There are many ongoing cellular studies in many research institutions.
We know that, at a high level, our nutrition, exercise regimen, sleep quality, recovery and resting habits have considerable impacts on the healthy functioning of mitochondria. Health practitioners, performance coaches, and leadership mentors pay special attention to this critical phenomenon in leadership discipline.
It is known that stress, toxins, and excessive heavy metals can have a substantial negative impact on the proper functioning of mitochondria.
Even though genetics play an important role, ongoing research and a growing body of knowledge suggest that we can improve the health of mitochondria and prevent damages by leveraging positive lifestyle choices.
What can we do?
1. Effective stress management
2. Eliminating toxins and heavy metals from the body, and living in toxin-free environments
3. Decreasing body fat percentage to healthy levels
4. Improving strength and lean muscle mass
5. Eating nutrient-dense food — consuming healthy fats are essential
6. Having adequate exercise (regular strength training)
7. Having quality and adequate sleep
8. Having enough rest
9. Meditation and mindfulness
10. Recovering after exercise and before starting an exercise
11. Using dry saunas — e.g perspiration
12. Exposure to a cold — e.g. cold shower
13. Having a stable blood glucose level
14. Hormonal balance — particularly keeping insulin under control
15. Having adequate levels of vitamins, minerals, electrolytes
16. Optimal Vitamin (hormone) D levels
17. Optimal level of magnesium
18. Adequate sunshine
19. Fresh and clean air
20. Clean and purified water
Understanding and considering the 20 points summarised in this article, taking necessary measures, and making required adjustments in our lifestyle, it is possible to have healthy mitochondria and maintain sustainable energy levels for high performance.
There are some medical tests for health of mitochondria however these tests are still at infancy and not widely available to the public. The best strategy and viable option are to protect our mitochondria and increase their density with the above-mentioned health considerations.
The more and denser mitochondria we have, the more energy we experience.
We need to take personal responsibility for their health and perform with sustainable energy. By taking personal responsibility and required actions, we can produce optimal results. If we keep staying in our comfort zone, we may lose the density of our mitochondria. The 20 points captured in this article can keep us in our stretch zone.
Having an abundance of energy is absolutely an essential requirement for leaders, entrepreneurs, and other professionals. Energy is a critical success factor for thriving and performing sustainably.
We need to consider the health of our mitochondria and increase our energy to shine as excellent leaders, inspiring entrepreneurs, and productive professionals to add meaning to our life and society.