The chartered accountancy profession has its fair share of challenges and excitement. More often than not, it brings along long, stress filled hours. In fact, Chartered Accountant professionals can be likened to senior surgeons in the operating theatre: continuously enduring enormous responsibilities with no scope for error.

At the same time we're aware that to stay on top you have to constantly update yourself. People find different ways – consciously or unconsciously - to escape from this stress which most often is expressed through unhealthy lifestyle choices be it in eating habits, stress induced anger or an erratic lifestyle with no time for recreational activities.

All of us are aware of friends and colleagues who have diabetes, hypertension or even heart trouble. So, how does it reach such a state?

Its simple, we allow it to happen.

• We ignore the basics of health such as watching what we eat or mild physical activity or getting rid of stress.

• We add to the problem by ignoring the warning signs - sudden increase in weight or fatigue or any of the myriad signals our body sends out to tell us that there's trouble ahead.

• We compound the error by trying to compensate by working even harder, which is like playing Russian roulette with our health. Sooner or later, you're going to pay

As Edward Stanley said, “Those who think they have no time for exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” Thus, it is a given that we need to find ways to cope with the stress and strain of professional life. Looking at this scenario, we decided that our primary goal this year would be to inspire members to become healthy and stress free professionals. An outline of the lifestyle changes this would entail are sketched in this Referencer.

During the course of making this Referencer we found that it is not difficult to reverse the years of ill treating ourselves. The easiest way is to get the fundamentals right: eating well and getting enough sleep. The next step is taking regular exercise which can be as mild as a 30 minute walk 4 times a week. Finding a relaxing hobby can also work wonders to release stress and relax the mind.

Just including these simple steps in our daily routine can work wonders. We hope that all of us will be inspired by this Referencer and take the first step forward to lead a happier, healthier, stress free professional and personal life.