The Uncommon Leader Podcast
Are you ready to break free from mediocrity and lead an extraordinary life? Join us on The Uncommon Leadership Podcast as we explore the power of intentionality in personal and professional growth. Our podcast features insightful interviews with inspiring leaders from all walks of life, sharing their stories of overcoming challenges and achieving greatness.
Discover practical strategies to:
- Think positively and cultivate a growth mindset
- Live a healthy and balanced lifestyle
- Build your faith and find inner strength
- Read more and expand your knowledge
- Stay strong in the face of adversity
- Work hard with purpose and passion
- Network effectively to build meaningful relationships
- Worry less and focus on what matters
- Love always and make a positive impact
In each episode, we'll dive into relevant leadership topics, share inspiring stories, and provide actionable steps you can take to elevate your life. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting your journey, The Uncommon Leadership Podcast offers valuable insights and practical guidance to help you achieve your goals and live your best life.
The Uncommon Leader Podcast
Empowering Leadership Through Self-Care: Insights from Dr. Nekeshia Hammond
Discover the transformative power of self-care in leadership with Dr. Nekeshia Hammond, a leading psychologist and burnout prevention expert. Dr. Hammond takes us on a heartfelt journey from her own experiences of burnout to thriving by adopting effective self-care practices. Her new book, "Mindset Training: Conquer Your Mind and the Rest Will Follow," offers a treasure trove of strategies to combat burnout and improve both mental and physical wellness. Through personal stories and professional insights, she reveals how recognizing the signs of burnout and adopting the right mindset can lead to a healthier work-life balance, impacting leadership and personal growth in profound ways.
In our engaging conversation, we unravel the importance of taking just a single minute daily for self-care, illustrating its significant impact on mental and emotional well-being. From simple practices like deep breathing to the concept of mental health detoxification, Dr. Hammond emphasizes small steps that lead to big changes. She shares a compelling success story of a military wife who found empowerment and well-being by prioritizing self-care. As we discuss the challenges of promoting her latest book, Dr. Hammond underscores the vital message of making personal health a priority. Let her billboard message, "Make yourself your number one priority," inspire you to embark on a journey toward better well-being.
Connect with Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
https://drnekeshiahammond.com/
https://mindsettrainingbook.com/
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Until next time, Go and Grow Champions!!
Connect with me
The reason why self-care is not selfish is because when you are taking care of yourself, when you are truly working on thriving as a leader, in whatever roles that you play in your life, you're not only helping yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, but the people around you are benefiting as well.
Speaker 2:Hey Uncommon Leaders, welcome back. This is the Uncommon Leader Podcast and I'm your host, john Gallagher. In today's episode, I'm thrilled to host Dr Nikisha Hammond, a renowned psychologist, bestselling author and expert in burnout prevention. Dr Hammond shares insights from her latest book Mindset Training Conquer your Mind and the Rest Will Follow, which focuses on practical strategies to combat burnout and improve self-care. From her personal journey of overcoming burnout to actionable tips on mental and physical wellness, this conversation is packed with valuable wisdom for leaders. So, whether you're dealing with stress, seeking better work-life balance or aiming for personal growth, this episode's a must listen. Let's get started, dr Nikisha Hammond. Welcome to the Uncommon Leader Podcast.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited to have you on the show. How are you doing today? I am amazing. Thank you so much for asking. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:I know you're in busy time, so this conversation is going to be fun. You have a book coming out and we're going to get a chance to talk about your new book, but first I'm going to start you out, just like I do with every first-time guest on the Uncommon Leader podcast. Tell me a story from your childhood that still impacts who you are today as a person or as a leader.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a great question. So a little bit about me. So I grew up in Orlando, Florida, single parent home, learned a lot about work ethic, which are great things. What I didn't learn about, unfortunately, though, growing up in the time period I grew up, was about self-care at all. So actually a lot of my childhood, teen years, even going into college, was really a lot of like running myself into the ground, doing a lot of different things and not understanding the value of self-care whatsoever.
Speaker 1:I don't remember those type of conversations about self-care or mental health when I was growing up, which is thankfully we're in very different times, but what it did to me originally as a leader is it really honestly led to my own personal story of burnout, just going too hard, doing too many things and not taking care of myself. And now fast forward to today. I've obviously made a 180 and doing a lot of things to be in a much healthier place physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually of things to be in a much healthier place physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. And I love what I do now, which is working in the burnout prevention space, because there's a lot that we can do to prevent us from getting to a place of burnout.
Speaker 2:Love that We've heard so many times and I've said it many times as a result of these stories, that we are most powerfully positioned to help the person that we used to be. So clearly, your journey, your career, uh has has been one to say, if I had it to do over again as a child. Now I know what that is. So this is not your first book. You've written books for children as well. You've written books on mental health, and this is a one that's really cool. Mindset training conquer your mind and the rest will follow. I hear an invoke song in there somewhere. That's what keeps coming to mind for me as I think about that?
Speaker 1:I didn't even think of that.
Speaker 2:No, that wasn't I actually went out and I went out and watched the video. I'm like I can't remember who sang it. I got it, but it's something that was there, so now you're going to be stuck.
Speaker 1:Whoever said that to you many times. It's going to be there and you're going to be stuck. Whoever said that to you many times is going to be there and they're going to think about that. Every time you talk about the topic, you'll probably be singing it lot of calls about how do we help people with burnout, how do we help people with stress management.
Speaker 1:The global pandemic that we all experienced was just so pervasive and devastating, and so I was doing a lot of talks on burnout, a lot of talks about shifting your mindset, and so that really was the start of me thinking about a couple of years ago, like what is it really like if we really had to boil it down? What is it really that we need to do in order to thrive right as leaders and as people? And also, what is it that we really need to shift? And what comes to mind to me a little biased as a psychologist here, but is your mindset. So I really wrote this book for people who are either at the place of burnout and you already know you're there or you're on the verge of burnout and you're overwhelmed and you're stressed out and maybe you do want to move more into that journey of self-care, but you just don't know how.
Speaker 1:So it's a very practical book. Like physically, what are things that you can work on emotionally, mentally, spiritually and all these different aspects of yourself. How do you work on bettering yourself so you can show up more powerfully for yourself and for the people around you?
Speaker 2:I can't wait to talk about the disciplines and the habits that you've gone through in the book for the listeners to hear. But let's really start at the beginning in terms of what that problem is. You've used the word burnout a few times. Define what burnout is to me and how do we know if we're starting to experience the signs of burnout.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a great question because it is, of course, a buzzword now. We hear it a lot Burnout is really. It's a chronic condition where you get to the point where you can't go anymore, essentially. So sometimes that's mentally, where you just you're sort of checked out. Maybe you're at work, but you're there physically at work, but you're not physically, you're not mentally there. Or maybe at home it's the same thing If you have kids at home, like you're physically in the house but you're not really interacting the way you need to with your family members. Or even it's physical as well, where you just get to the point where you're like I can't even move anymore, Like my body is so tired, I'm so shut down, and it happens over time. It's not having a bad day or having a bad week, but it happens over weeks and weeks of time, sometimes for people months, and it really can impact your work-life integration or your work-life balance when you get to that point.
Speaker 2:So some of the things to I'm sorry, oh no, no, go ahead. No, keep going, keep going. Some of the things that's what I was just going to ask. You is like, what are?
Speaker 1:those things to look for, right, absolutely, yeah, yeah, and some of the things to look for. So, depending on who you are, burnout affects you in different ways. So it could be physical, as I mentioned earlier, but it's your eating patterns, like you're eating too much or you're not eating enough, or your sleeping patterns.
Speaker 1:I've talked to many, many people who have struggled with falling asleep at night because they're like my brain is always running, my mind is racing, I can't get to sleep, or they're waking up through the night or you're sleeping too much, right, so it's. It's the eating, the sleeping. Sometimes you're nervous, sometimes you're anxious, you're shutting down, as I mentioned earlier. So those are just a couple of things. The issue with burnout, though, that I want people to understand is it's not technically a medical condition that's diagnosed, but the things that happen during those time periods can, if unaddressed, can lead to medical or mental health conditions. So it's almost like a stepping stone that could lead to clinical depression or anxiety, or blood pressure issues, heart issues, like all sorts of different physical and mental health issues, which is why it's so important to address these signs and symptoms early.
Speaker 2:I love that. So, and when you think about that again, let's try and prevent it from getting to that physical breakdown, that mental breakdown of what exists, and you talk about that in your book. There's, you know, four sections of your book mental self-care, physical self-care, emotional and spiritual self-care. So the four topics are one, but there's one word, there's one hyphenated word that sits in there as well, and that's self-care. And so I've seen some of the things that you've talked about already on this, but let me throw something back at you as a as a quote that you might hear Self-care is selfish. I don't have time for self-care because I have so many other things to do. So prove me wrong. That self-care is not selfish.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, and I, I will admit I will transparently admit that I used to think the same thing. I actually used to think that way and I thought I don't have time for this, I'm so busy, I'm running businesses, I'm a family, like I really was in that mindset. So for anyone listening to this who is in that mindset, please know I get it Like I was definitely there. But the reason why self-care is not selfish is because when you are taking care of yourself, when you are truly working on thriving as a leader and whatever roles that you play in your life, you're not only helping yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, but the people around you are benefiting as well.
Speaker 1:People in the workplace they want to see the best version of you. Your family members they want to see the best version of you. Your family members they want to see the best version of you. Your friends they want someone that's joyous and happy. People around you want that person too. So it's really not just for you, it is for you, but it's not only for you. It's for you and every single person around you.
Speaker 2:I love that and I think about that. I mean, the old infamous cheesy thing about self-care cliche is whatever, when you're on an airplane and oxygen mask falls down, put your own mask on first before you can take care of others. So you have to take care of yourself before you can be really good at taking care of others. And I would believe that I mean I had to go through some transformation myself physically years ago and I think there's probably things on the burnout scale that were there as well. So, okay, we've identified that self-care is not selfish. Then We've identified the symptoms or signs that burnout may lead to something worse that may become a clinical challenge in the future or physical challenge for you in the future. So what are some ways that inside your book, the tactics, some of your favorite ways that you talk about that we can mitigate or reduce those signs of burnout through self-care?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So one of my favorite things that I have in the book which I also did personally because I was in that mindset of I don't have time and all that sort of thing, which is actually not true we tell ourselves things that are not true all the time, but one of the things that I strongly encourage people to think about, especially if you're super busy, is taking a minute a day, and it's literally 60 seconds. You can time yourself with your cell phone and during that minute that you choose for yourself whatever it is for you that helps you to reset, to help you to recharge mentally, whether it's taking some deep breaths, whether it's just looking out of a window, if it's taking a walk outside, like whatever it is that you need during that time. What happens is, over time, you will start to train your brain that you deserve to have self care and you deserve to be emotionally and mentally stable, like you deserve to be happy. You deserve those things.
Speaker 1:You can do affirmations in that minute. However, you want to spend that minute. But the reason why it's important, especially for busy professionals, is because we often just fly through, do so many things. We skip breakfast or we skip lunch, we skip breaks and your brain needs a break. So I just highly encourage people to think about take the minute a day and again, you can time yourself with your cell phone and over time you will crave more than a minute a day for yourself as far as resetting, recharging, but it can start literally with a minute a day.
Speaker 2:I love that. So what do you do in your minute a day, my minute, so now I have way more than a minute.
Speaker 1:But honestly, in my minute, which I always take, I love drinking cups of tea. I'm a tea person, so it's either tea, or it's saying a quick prayer or it's taking deep breaths, which is such an underrated thing. It's so good for you physically and mentally and emotionally and spiritually, to take deep breaths throughout the day. So I love nature, so I'm outside a lot now, but it's it really is a life commitment at this point to really think about okay, slow down for a second reset, recharge.
Speaker 2:I love that. I need to think about my one. That would be one minute, I tell you. I mean it's almost like I feel like I could be asking questions like this myself of you while you're on, almost getting like a free, free session here, but because the breathing is something, is a discipline or habit I've really tried to implement there's so much noise that goes on, as you know, inside of my head that keeps me from doing that or even just a minute of meditation, something I've rarely been able to accomplish.
Speaker 2:But if I can start with a minute of starting with something small, even for me on my diet journey years ago was starting something small stop eating French fries five days a week instead of one, and not cutting everything out, but just starting with something small and that one minute a day can be pretty powerful. Now you also help others. Do you have a favorite success story? Like you've helped yourself on this journey, now you'll be able to teach others. Do you have a favorite success story you have of someone you've helped on this journey as well to succeed and change their mindset?
Speaker 1:I would say my favorite times are when I'm speaking to different groups about this topic.
Speaker 1:I always remember there was this lady.
Speaker 1:I was speaking at an event in California and she came up to me after the speech, after the talk, and she was in tears. She was like you gave me permission to take care of myself because she was, anyway, she was a military wife, a mom juggling multiple things, moving often of course, because her husband was in the military and she just she has so many things that was that were going on in her life and for her, that message which I'm grateful that that affected her positively in that way but for her, she, she felt like she finally had permission to have self-care, because a lot of us, for a lot of different reasons, don't feel sometimes we don't feel worthy of having self-care or worthy of love or worthy of being healthy, emotionally, being healthy. So I would definitely say that's one of my success stories. I always think about her because I mean, yeah, she just really. I mean she was breaking down, but in a good way, like tears of joy and just really thinking about how she could make some major changes in her life.
Speaker 2:Hey listeners, I want to take a quick moment to share something special with you. Many of the topics and discussions we have on this podcast are areas where I provide coaching and consulting services for individuals and organizations. If you've been inspired by our conversation and are seeking a catalyst for change in your own life or within your team, I invite you to visit coachjohngallaghercom forward slash free call to sign up for a free coaching call with me. It's an opportunity for us to connect, discuss your unique challenges and explore how coaching or consulting can benefit you and your team. Okay, let's get back to the show. I love the stories of success that you end up having, and I know that there are challenges to go along with that as well. One of the terms that I both smiled about but I know is real in terms of part three of your book is you use the term mental health detoxification. What is mental health detoxification so?
Speaker 2:I get it coming on the physical side, but I'm not sure on mental health side.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, and you're right, like, whenever we hear of detox, we think of diets, we think of detoxing our body, which are great things, of course, but you also have to think about detoxing your mind, meaning what is it around you? It's almost like decluttering, and that comes in many different forms. Sometimes it's in the form of social media, where you have certain accounts that are just so negative that you might need to unfollow, right, and what are you really tuning into Social media? It's what is on your cell phone. Or there are a bunch of apps that are distracting you. What is on your computer?
Speaker 1:How can you think about around you, even the relationships you're in, your friendships you're in, like what is toxic, or who is toxic and who is supportive of you? Like, really taking an inventory. It takes time, it's not something that's done in one day, but really taking an inventory of your life in different areas, of how can you declutter your mind, and sometimes it's the physical things around you, but sometimes there's a lot of internal things that we need to work on letting go of. So it's a whole process and it's, like I said, definitely not an overnight project, if you will, but it really is, just as how we don't necessarily detox our bodies in a day. It takes time. It's the same thing with your mind is to really start on that process of what do you need to let go of, what do you need to get rid of, and also, though, what can you add in that's positive as well?
Speaker 2:That's what I wanted to actually. I want to say cause it was actually you led right into my next question and talked about the role that technology plays. So there, clearly there are things social media, the distractions that we have that may be bad for our mental health, those people that we follow that have negative, I don't know, let's just use it negative thoughts and things that roll through or create anxiety, create anger inside of us that we would follow. But how can technology be used in a positive way to help in this area as well?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I definitely think there's pros and cons. I think that. So it's important also to think about what do you follow, like when it comes to social media. So there's a lot of really great inspirational accounts. I'm a like I don't know self-help junkie, so I love self-help books and quotes and just really inspirational stories, good news, like all those sorts of things. There's a lot of accounts that have that information as well. So when you're in your feed, for example, you're not just bombarded with a bunch of negative things. You also have feel good stories and inspiration and positive quotes and positive things for you to think about. Like that the world isn't always ending, but instead, like you can be better, a better person, like you know, here's some quick tips Like those types of things are also important as well.
Speaker 1:And then, when it comes, well, to technology, speaking of technology, we also, I think, have to set our own boundaries when it comes to our distractions, frankly, and how the technology is starting to affect us.
Speaker 1:So, for example, a couple of years ago I think it's been like two years or so now I made a huge move, which I still do in the mornings, and I'm way more intentional with my mornings Because what I used to do is, as soon as I woke up in the morning, I would head straight to my cell phone and it was either checking the email or it was checking Instagram or something like as soon as I woke up on the phone and like it was like work mode as soon as I woke up and which I don't do anymore because I it's just a very rushed start to the day, and instead now I switched out the phone as soon as I woke up in the morning to gratitude practice, devotional, like just taking some deep breaths, like starting the day that way, and then I can get to the phone later. So it's really about how do we establish boundaries for ourselves when it comes to technology and also being aware of what we're letting inside our, our minds. Frankly, what type of information we're letting in?
Speaker 2:And Dr Hammond, I think it's. It's so cool. I mean I there are so many things in that morning routine if you will not jumping right into the phone and jumping into some practice of spiritual self-care, whether it's being in scripture, prayer to your point, whether it's some physical get in the gym, drink a cold bottle of water before all those disciplines before, and I and I'm sure your readers are going to find some of those really good tactics inside of the book that you've written Back to the book again, I often think about the book test. The book test is like after you're done reading it as one thing, but a year later they have the book up on the bookshelf, kind of like you have the books behind you on your shelf. What do you want folks to think when they see the binding of your book a year after they've read it, on how they use it?
Speaker 1:That's such a great question. I really hope that people when they look at the book a year later after reading it, they think about how far they've come in their self-care journey and their mental health journey and I hope that they think about man. I remember this practical step that I started and look how different my life is now. Or I remember this whatever piece of self-care that I started with my physical self-care or my mental or emotional, spiritual self-care that I did and look at the improvements in my life now, like I can honestly say I mean the taking a minute for me personally, the morning routine being more intentional, working out now more than I ever have before, even though I'm very busy, but it's setting different priorities and understanding how important your health is and I hope that for people also, they get excited about man. It's been a year later and look at all the things I've accomplished because I started working on myself and making myself my number one priority. So that's what I hope people get when they look at that book a year later.
Speaker 2:Love that and I'd love to take credit for the question being a good question. That's one that I ask of all the especially new authors don't get ready for it. But I borrowed it from Bob Wheatley, who wrote his own book and kind of asked me about another brand builders group. Yeah we've probably connected with at one point. Yeah, one more thing behind your shoulder, outside we won't talk. We won't talk football. We've had a tough start to our season. Both our teams have had a tough start to our season.
Speaker 2:But, you've got a. You've got a sign up. There's this Dr Hammond's mental health moment. What is the mental health moment?
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, so that's actually. I do a live every Tuesday, 8 pm Eastern Standard Time, on a platform called Black Women Empowered, incorporated on their Facebook page, YouTube and LinkedIn Live. They have millions of followers all over the globe. It's open to every race, ethnicity, religion, like everyone's. Welcome there. But I've been doing that now. I don't even know how many years. I think it's been like eight years or so. It's been a really long time, but I still do. I still do that, that live, and essentially each week, we talk about or I talk about with, with the people that are on the lives different ways that you can work on being a better person and different wellness tips that people can start to implement in their lives.
Speaker 2:What's the craziest question I've ever asked you? Something fun.
Speaker 1:You know what's fun.
Speaker 1:Really great question. So I I chuckled at it a little bit because, because I teach stress management so much and burnout prevention, I actually had someone once on the live that was like well, do you ever feel stress? And I was like I was kind of blown away because I was like, oh, I had to start reminding people like, oh, yeah, yeah, I feel stressed too. I'm working on managing it better. But I yes, I like every human being like I get stressed too. But I just always chuckle when I think about that person's question.
Speaker 2:Like you know, yeah, just because you teach us management does not mean you have a perfect life with no stress, if only no, not at all. So Maybe shifting out of the mindset or maybe it is a stress moment too is you've authored multiple books. Tell me just about that process in and of itself. How did you go about writing this one? How long did it take you to have fun writing it? Did it just flow when you write, or was it a job that caused stress?
Speaker 1:So I will say for this particular book if I'm being totally honest, I started it in 2022 and then had it done in 2023 to give to the editor the writing part for this particular book was actually the easiest part of the book, right? Or the, I guess, the book launch process, which was different for other books, but the now process of just the publishing, like there's been a lot that's happened in 2024. Personally, professionally, there's a book launch, like all the things. So it has been very overwhelming, but I'm grateful that we're. You know, yeah, we're almost there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, as we record this, you're just a few days away from launching and by the time this gets out there for everybody to hear, I'm quite sure it'll be on a bestseller list somewhere. In terms of how you've gone through this, dr Hammond, the process of using the podcast tour that you're on, and all the work you're going to have to do with the launch process. So I do look forward to having a hard copy in my hand as well in terms of being able to share that with the others. Speaking of kind of the book and you, dr Hammond, where would you suggest folks go to learn more about you, to connect with you, and where do you want them to go for your book?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the best place to find more about me is my website. It's drnikeshahammondcom D-R-N-E-K-E-S-H-I-A hammondcom, and information about the book is at mindsettrainingbookcom.
Speaker 2:Excellent. Well, I'll make sure to put both of those links in the show notes for folks to see. Dr Hammond, I have enjoyed our conversation, no doubt about it, and I could probably ask you on my list another 10 questions, but I want to honor your time and I want to finish you, really, with the last question that I always ask my first-time guests as well, and that's I'm going to give you a billboard. You can put any message that you want to on that billboard. What does the message say and why do you put that message?
Speaker 1:Okay, that's a deep question. I would say the message that I would put on a billboard would be make yourself your number one priority, and the reason why I would choose that message is because I feel like, as a society, we for a really long time have heard the polar opposite of that and putting everything else above our health, and though I hope that people can just start to shift their mindset to understand how important your own self and health is, so that we can all be better versions of ourselves and healthier and live healthier, happier and fulfilling lives.
Speaker 2:Love that. I think that is so important today important today and I appreciate, even early on as we talked about that, that self-care is not selfish, that when we take care of ourselves, we'll be able to take care of others in a much more effective way. Dr Nakesha Hammond, very fun and informative to have you on the Uncommon Leader podcast. I know that the listeners are going to find great value in it and your book as well, so I wish you the best on your book launch.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:And that wraps up another episode of the Uncommon Leader Podcast. Thanks for tuning in today. If you found value in this episode, I encourage you to share it with your friends, colleagues or anyone else who could benefit from the insights and inspiration we've shared. Also, if you have a moment, I'd greatly appreciate if you could leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback not only helps us to improve, but it also helps others discover the podcast and join our growing community of uncommon leaders. Until next time, go and grow champions.
