401k plans serve as the primary retirement funding vehicle for private sector workers. The purpose of a 401k plan?f It’s a tax-advantaged savings vehicle for building your retirement nest egg. If you don’t contribute to your 401k now, if you don’t plan for your financial future today, nobody else will.

The same is true for a pastor’s emotions. Pastor, if you don’t invest in your emotional health, no one else will. Nor should they. You gotta have a plan to maintain emotional health long-term. You need an emotional investment plan—an emotional 401k.

In last week’s blog 3 Baselines of Emotional Health Every Pastor Needs to Know  we considered the following: First: you can’t give what you don’t have. Second: You are an emotional being. Third: You need a long-term emotional investment plan to stay healthy for the rest of your life. Today’s blog focuses on this third baseline.

Just like you have (or should have) a plan for your financial future, you can make intentional choices today which increase the likelihood of emotional fitness tomorrow. Here are four behaviors that build your emotional 401k:

Laughter

Proverbs 17:22 says: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”  Laughter is a strategic part of emotional maintenance. Ever felt better after a good belly laugh? Laughter releases chemicals in our brain that reduce stress hormone levels and lift our mood.  One of the best gifts my closest friends have given to me is permission to laugh and have fun. Laughter is medicinal. It’s a strategic investment in your emotional future. So schedule regular fun into your calendar.

Exercise

Exercise is the final frontier for many of us pastors. We view it as vain, or a nuisance, or a waste of time. But the facts tell a different story. The vast majority of research reveals exercise helps to burn off nervous energy and reduce stress. Recent findings suggest exercise may actually help to create new brain cells. The Washington Post reports that exercising our bodies exercises our brains. The increase in blood flow and sharpening of higher-order thinking processes allows to us to be more creative, better at problem-solving, and more capable of making connections between ideas. Pastor: When you work on your physical and emotional health you are in effect working on your ministry. Exercise is a good use of your time and a great investment in your emotional 401K.

Boredom

This may seem counterintuitive, but stay with me for a minute. Long-term emotional health requires you to occasionally inject some “boring” into your life. Being a leader is important work… but it doesn’t mean God expects you to be on high alert at all times. He didn’t wire you or any other human being that way. We are made in His image. And He rested on the 7th day. Find a hobby that refreshes you and schedule it into your calendar. Here are some ideas: Go fishing. Play 18 holes. Take a walk on the beach. Visit an art museum. For our 25th wedding anniversary I surprised my wife (and myself) with ballroom dancing lessons. Ballroom dancing taught me something that Bible College didn’t: when you’re learning how to do the rumba, you’re not thinking about anything serious. And occasionally not thinking about anything serious is a tremendous investment in your emotional health plan.

Sleep

A leader once told me: “Sleep is a disposable commodity.” My response: “That’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.” Multiple studies show skipping sleep impairs your brain function across the board. It slows your ability to process information and problem-solve, kills your creativity, and catapults your stress levels. The negative effects of sleep deprivation are so great that people who are hungover outperform those lacking sleep. Most of us need 7-9 hours of shut-eye every night. Sleep helps us build a bullet-proof emotional portfolio.

Laughter. Exercise. Boredom. Sleep. Building a solid emotional 401K takes practice, especially if you’re a type-A personality. One of the biggest obstacles to emotional health is many spiritual leaders are proud of their busy-ness—as if a packed schedule proves their importance.  Enough of this! If we want to do what God’s called us to do for a long time we need to stop chronically overworking. Yes there will be weeks when we have to push hard. But if that’s every week for you, your emotional 401k will be severely underfunded. I appeal to you: don’t let the frantic pace of ministry culture squeeze you into its mold.

Every pastor and ministry leader needs to invest in a solid emotional 401K. The best time to start? Right now.  If you don’t know how to get started, please reach out to me at [email protected] to start the conversation.

I’m rooting and praying for you!