The 5 Pillars of Health, according to Calm founder Michael Acton Smith | Inc.
Michael Acton Smith, founder of Calm, shares his tips for keeping a healthy mindset as an entrepreneur.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 before Calm, my previous business, was booming,
00:02 and then it suddenly imploded.
00:05 You become so entwined with your business.
00:08 It becomes an extension of you,
00:09 and if your business is failing,
00:11 it feels like you're failing.
00:12 Calm is very much about connection,
00:17 connecting people to their breath,
00:19 connecting the minds and bodies,
00:21 connecting them to other people.
00:23 So before I was building Calm with Alex Chiu,
00:27 I probably wasn't the most mindful entrepreneur
00:30 in the world.
00:31 I was constantly stressed.
00:32 I wasn't sleeping well.
00:33 I wasn't eating right.
00:35 I was putting all my energy into the business
00:37 and neglecting myself.
00:38 As entrepreneurs, we're so focused on our business.
00:41 We're obsessed with the metrics and the numbers
00:44 and the customers, as we should be,
00:46 but one of the most important pieces of the puzzle
00:49 is yourself, and if you're not looking after yourself
00:52 and you're not healthy, you're gonna do yourself
00:54 and your business damage.
00:56 So I think being a little more mindful,
00:58 a little more conscious of how you look after your body
01:00 and your mind is critically important,
01:03 and meditation is important as well.
01:04 It's a very valuable skill that I've learned
01:07 on the Calm journey, and it's the essence and the core
01:10 and the foundation of the entire company.
01:12 It allows you to go through life
01:14 responding to situations instead of reacting.
01:18 Health can be incredibly complicated.
01:21 We can spend a fortune on supplements and tests
01:24 and overthink everything, but I think a big moment for me
01:28 was realizing that there are five fundamental pillars,
01:32 basic building blocks, and if you can get those right,
01:34 everything is built on top.
01:36 So one is your mental health,
01:38 whether it's just being conscious
01:40 about your breathing every day
01:41 or doing a meditation practice.
01:44 Secondly is movement.
01:45 We lead such sedentary lives.
01:48 Going for a walk every day, I try and go to the gym
01:51 or go for a run or play tennis every single day.
01:55 Thirdly is the sleep that we get.
01:57 It used to be a badge of honor how little sleep we got.
02:00 Sleep is critical and know how much you need
02:02 and be very, very thoughtful about getting that every night.
02:06 Fourthly is nutrition, the food that we put into our body.
02:09 We're surrounded by ultra-processed food everywhere.
02:12 Eat real food.
02:14 And then finally, social connection.
02:16 So many studies have shown that being part of a community,
02:20 not being lonely, connected to others
02:22 is such an important part of our physical
02:25 and our mental health.
02:26 I think it's important occasionally
02:27 to pause and reflect and think on that
02:30 and how we can bring some of the things
02:32 that we've been disconnected from
02:34 back into our modern lives.
02:36 (upbeat music)
02:38 (upbeat music)
02:41 (upbeat music)