At 28 years old, Laurie Watkins should have been on top of the world. The year was 2008 and as a political strategist, she had just helped her candidate, Barack Obama, become the President of the United States. But after a grueling campaign where she worked around the clock fueled on coffee and sugar, the experience had left her worn out, a little overweight, with a bad complexion and graying hair. It was while driving across Florida when she nearly lost control of her car after a shockwave of pain seized her body that she finally realized she needed to make a change.
I recently interviewed Watkins, a coach, speaker and author who wrote Go from Stressed to Strong: Health & Fitness Advice from High Achievers, to get her thoughts on how we can make the journey from being stressed to being strong in our work lives: