How Presidents’ Day Can Help Us All

Presidents are people, too.  Whether ecstatically lauded, crushingly criticized, or a bit of both, presidents are held to a different standard, simply because they are on top. They got there through a combination of smarts, skills, persuasion, emotional intelligence, and the funds to run for office.  Part of a president’s secret to success, as with any great leader, is the ability to handle stress effectively.

We all need to take recesses from work, wind down, and revive – these are healthy ways of balancing our lives.  And while we tend to think of presidents as round-the-clock workaholics with thousands of subordinates, in fact, they are no different than anyone else in their need to de-stress. To highlight this point, in 2014 the Huff Post reported on how presidents relax:  Obama exercises 45 minutes daily (cardio plus weights), eats dinner with his family, and at times unwinds with a novel. In the past, Eisenhower golfed, Hoover went fishing, Kennedy breezed on his sailboat with Jackie O., and Lincoln secluded himself in a remote cottage.

In addition to finding time to recharge, here are some other characteristics of presidents that you can take on too in order to cope with stress, and succeed more because of it.

1. Stay calm, and charge forward. Have you ever seen a president lose it on national television? Lack of decorum is not attractive to voters, whereas the ability to handle stressful national decisions in a calm fashion shows more stability to the average citizen.
2. Hire suitable advisors and administrators. The current administration has over 100 presidential advisors, be they direct or indirect, in addition to an administrative staff, illustrating the fact that the top does not think nor plan on its own. Advisors are hired for their research and expertise in particular fields, and the president takes their thoughts into consideration when making decisions. And in terms of administration, all logistics are done by the staff, although the president decides which events to attend.
3. Energize healthily. Exercise, spend time with family and friends, unwind with your latest novel. Eat well, get the massage, get the facial. All of these aspects of personal upkeep foster a feeling of well-being, which often translates into a more appealing, productive leader.
4. Use funds for help. Let’s be honest. It takes money to support the presidency, or any public office for that matter. These funds allow for presidents to have hired help for all domestic matters, freeing up their wives and themselves from cooking dinner, driving carpools for extracurriculars, and folding laundry. Yet most people are not rich, and all of us can learn from this example by asking ourselves: If I pay for help, would I end up benefiting more because I can get more work done? Or would it at least ease my to-do list, and therefore free up my energy to be more productive with the work that I do?

No matter what job, living situation, social life, or family status you might have, there is always going to be some stress involved. Since Presidents’ Day is around the corner, let’s use our countries’ leaders as examples of how to lead balanced lives, handling or preventing stress in a routine fashion. Happy Presidents’ Day, to all of us!