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Being a founder is a high-stakes, high-pressure role where emotional well-being is often sidelined in favor of operational demands. At a recent workshop led by Ayman Mukerji Househam (Silver ‘21), founder of Jivika, the conversation centered on the importance of founder wellness. She gave actionable insight into emotional check-ins, habit formation, and self-management strategies that help transform endurance into sustainable success.

Emotional Awareness: The Power of Self Check-Ins

Founders face a spectrum of emotions each day, from anxiety and overwhelm to curiosity and hope. A key takeaway is the importance of regularly recognizing and naming these emotions and also having some sense of a routine.

Mukerji Househam emphasized having daily emotional check-ins usually mid-day. Take 30 seconds at midday or after significant events:

• Relax your shoulders and jaw, close your eyes.
• Notice your breath: Is it deep or shallow? Fast or slow?
• Ask: Is your mind clear or cluttered?
• Name the main emotion you feel.
• Scan your body for tension.
• Open your arms, exhale, and let go.

Establishing this practice helps set a baseline emotional state. Knowing your baseline makes it easier to spot and address deviations after stressful or confusing experiences.

Building and Sustaining Healthy Habits

Whether good or bad, habits form through similar patterns: consistency, cues, and rewards. To build healthy routines:

• Link new habits to existing ones (habit stacking).
• Prepare in advance: lay out gym clothes, schedule activities.
• Reward yourself – even small acknowledgments reinforce the habit.

Missing a day isn’t failure. Habit science shows it takes roughly 60 days to establish a new behavior. Consistency and patience matter most.

Managing Sleep, Decompression, and Boundaries

Quality sleep is built by prioritizing decompression throughout the day. Founders should:

• Set a workday end-time that allows for real decompression.
• Avoid working up until bedtime.
• Develop a simple evening routine to signal to your body that the workday is done.

Decompression isn’t optional: research highlights its central role in preventing burnout, especially in high-pressure professions. Schedule social or exercise time as you would any meeting – it’s non-negotiable for well-being.

In flexible, always-on roles, personal boundaries become indispensable. Not everything truly “can't wait.” Learning to structure your time and say “no” are survival skills, not luxuries.

Connection: The Underestimated Antidote to Burnout

Ask yourself weekly: “Did I meaningfully connect with anyone?” If not, reach out to trusted peers. Treat social hygiene, sustaining authentic human connection is just as if not more important than workplace or personal hygiene.

Mindfulness and Micro-Recovery

Simple relaxation and mindfulness techniques can counteract the day’s tensions:

• Consciously relax from your feet to your face.
• Focus on slow, full breaths.
• As you finish, express gratitude for one thing—anchoring positivity.

Tracking recovery (e.g., heart rate variability) also helps measure well-being. Remember, small, sustainable wins matter: celebrate a full night’s sleep or a finished workout.

Navigating Unpredictable Schedules – make sure you have some sense of routine

For founders or professionals with erratic routines, self-care may not fit a set schedule. Instead:

• Use small pockets of downtime for short walks, stretches, or mindful breaths.
• Aim for progress, not perfection sometimes, “good enough” is actually progress.

But! Do your best to build routines:

• Morning: Brief check-in, intention-setting, or movement.
• Workday: Defined start/end times, plus decompression breaks.
• Evening: Simple wind-down practice — reading, journaling, or body scan.
• Weekly: Set time to connect with peers for social support.

Treat Yourself like Your Own Best Friend:

Be your own biggest supporter. Celebrate the wins, large or small, and refuse to let isolated setbacks define your journey. Habit-stacking and incremental change work best when paired with self-kindness and patience.

Show up daily for yourself, do things that better your personal goals. Whether it's working out or getting adequate sleep. Be selfish so you can be selfless.