When it comes to work motivation, most of us would start out by trying the usual routes: setting internal goals, giving yourself small rewards, or close working relationships with colleagues. But did you ever consider your nutrient intake might have something to do with your lacklustre feeling? When we lead a busy and stressful working life, full of deadlines and financial pressures, we often burn up more vitamins and minerals than we take in, which over time can cause nutrient deficiencies.
This can have a dramatic impact on your emotional well being, your ability to focus, your management of stress, and, as a consequence, how motivated you might feel at work. A simple answer to this is to consider taking a daily multivitamin and mineral. To understand why, we’ve broken down why it can not only improve your health, but could help you rediscover your work motivation as well.
What affects your motivation and drive at work?
When starting your own company, a high motivation level is key to push through the initial phases. Aside from forging your brand and company name, technicalities such as registering your own business, and the process of finding a suitable team to support you make for a long and arduous process. Sustaining motivation throughout is possible, but does take a very driven and diligent business mind.
The everyday, often less interesting, aspects of running your own business such as paperwork and financing can really take their toll on a business owner’s willingness to work. The combination of routine tasks and high workloads, impending deadlines, and lack of sleep could really make a business owner seriously consider if all the hard work is really worth it. And with all of these factors leading to stress hormones being constantly released, we use up excess amounts of key essential nutrients — zinc, magnesium, vitamin C, and B vitamins, for example.
In addition, when we’re busy at work, we often forget to feed ourselves healthily. It’s easy to go for a convenient shop bought option, rather than a nutritionally dense homemade lunch, but sometimes that is the only option that is on offer. Ultimately though, the choices we make really can have an effect on how we feel at work.
It’s important to consider all potential reasons why your motivation might be lacking, which could include emotional strains at home, bereavement, or financial concerns. Whilst these issues cannot be solved by a simple multivitamin and mineral, keeping your body fueled and healthy with all the vitamins and nutrients will allow you to focus on rediscovering your work motivation.
Multivitamin’s multi-functionality in the workplace
With a combination of vitamins and minerals, a good quality multivitamin and mineral is like an insurance policy for our health and emotional well being. But what actually are the key vitamins and minerals we should be looking out for when it comes to choosing a motivating multivitamin?
Vitamin B5
Vitamin B5 is essential for healthy adrenal gland function, which is where your stress hormones are released. It can not only help you to withstand stressful situations, but also help to cope with sudden spikes in stress levels. A frequent occurrence in the unpredictable game of running your own business. For small business owners, perhaps the most stressful of times is in the pitching phase of a new idea. Vitamin B5, however, can help to level out stress hormones, which can, in turn, allow business owners to keep a cool head when it comes to making a big pitch, and maintain focus of their initial idea.
Zinc and vitamin B6
A simple smile in a client meeting can make all the difference when it comes to making a good impression. Zinc and vitamin B6 support neurotransmitter production, including serotonin — the brain chemical which maintains mood balance. When it comes to creativity it’s important to enter a brainstorm with a positive disposition. With serotonin being known as the ‘happy chemical’, zinc and vitamin B6 can, therefore, affect how business owners not only motivate their creative team, but also play into a part in forecasting your business development. Having a positive outlook on your businesses’ future is key to long-term motivation as a business owner and within the workplace.
Magnesium
Despite the pressures of running your own business, it is important to have the ability to relax. Perhaps you have deadlines looming at the end of the month, and there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day? This stress builds as tension in the muscles and the brain, effectively distracting you from the task at hand. Magnesium, however, is responsible for chemical reactions in your muscles (including the brain) which make them relax. For business owners, a relaxed mind will allow for clarity of thinking and a heightened sense of focus on deadlines, rather than an unproductive panicked disposition.
Vitamin C and selenium
It is easy to feel under-motivated at work when you are feeling under the weather feeling. Cold and flu quickly make their way around the office. Having a cough or cold can really make a working day drag, and can cause even more of an annoyance when you have to face clients, or maybe in back to back meetings all day. Vitamin C and selenium can efficiently work together to strengthen the immune system, fending off any workplace viruses and eliminating any possible onset of infection.
Rediscovering your work motivation is ultimately a task for the mind. But taking a multivitamin and mineral daily, can be a simple way to ensure that your brain and body are at their best to take on working life as a business owner. Once you’ve found your focus, and you are fuelled with all the vitamins you need, there are no bounds on what you can achieve within your business. If you’re still unsure on any aspect of starting a business, or need help to find an industry that motivates you, visit our help centre.
Catherine Jeans is a nutritional therapist and writer for Healthspan. She has a special interest in women’s health, supporting hormonal balance and optimal well-being in women of all ages, through the use of food, nutrition and functional health.