De-Stressing Tips for Busy Business Owners

With all the time I spend working with and coaching small business owners, one of the most common trends I see is entrepreneurs not taking care of themselves. Brilliant people with brilliant minds, letting themselves get run down from poor health, sleep deprivation, and poor nutrition.

Well-being and health are SO incredibly important and not just for the health of your body and mind–for the health of your business! You have to see the two as inter-related–if you are sick, negative, and morose this will channel into negative impacts on your employees, client relations, and ultimately your ROI.

You simply CANNOT flourish if you don’t take care of yourself. Self-care is crucial to feeding an entrepreneur’s soul, spirit, body and mind, but they often forget the importance of wellness.

Ask Yourself the Following Questions

Have I drunk enough water? Dehydration is the single most common and easily avoidable breach of well-being. It’s simple, there’s no escaping it–you have to drink water. And the more water you drink, the better you will feel, so drink lots of water! Take it from someone who never gets thirsty (I must have been a camel in a past life), I create reminders for myself all day long to drink water. It helps me with a clearness of mind and my body feels so much more agile.

When was the last time I meditated? I mean like seriously sat down and tuned out the world for a solid 15 minutes? More enthusiastic meditation practitioners will try to get in a half-hour or even an hour of meditation. Start with 15 and tell me clearing your mind of everything for a quarter of an hour doesn’t rejuvenate you. Again, this did not come easy for me because I am always on the go. When I incorporated 15 minutes of quieting my mind into my mornings, my stress dissolved and my creativity took a huge power leap.

Do I ever have fun anymore? Trust me, I understand the workaholic mentality. Any small business owner understands that launching a startup usually brings with it 80-hour workweeks. If you don’t go out with your friends or regular date nights, you will start to feel enslaved by your own company–and that will lead to unhappiness and probably poor business decisions. Get out, have some fun and come back to your business with
a fresh perspective.

Am I exercising? Yes, it is a HUGE part of my routine and has been for many years. I do weekly training with the same fitness trainer, Markus, for over 15 years now. Just as I coach business owners to reach their biggest goals, he pushes me further than I would on my own. And, he won’t let me quit! Staying resilient physically keeps me strong as a businesswoman. I know that if I can get through the crazy cardio routine he puts me through, I can deal with anything before me at work. Exercise strengthens my personal will and takes great care of my heart. You really do need to be exercising 30 minutes a day at least 4 times a week. Find the kind of exercise you love–running, cycling, swimming, climbing, dancing, pilates and have fun with it. Make it part of your life!

Do I ever read for pleasure? It feels like pleasure reading is being fazed out by the Internet, especially for people who stare at computers all day. It starts to feel like those countless business articles, proposals and social media posts count as reading. Sorry, they don’t….Reading for pleasure is a lost art for some of us and I want to remind you of how wonderful it is to sit down with a good book and get lost in another world. It’s a helpful release for the mind and may also serve as a good instructional session for letting go of yourself and listening to someone else’s story. Learning to listen and empathize with others better could help improve your customer and client relations. You will also come back to your projects and goals with new inspiration and clearness of mind. I also feel that if you are working 24/7, then all you are probably talking about is business. That can get old for you and others around you. Read an interesting book and add some new stimulation to your conversations!

Do you have a passion that you can dive into? Some of you may know already, but I am a trapeze artist and have been for 15 years. Yes, a trapeze artist. I did gymnastics in my earlier years, so when I discovered that you could actually train to fly through the air with the greatest of ease, I was all over that. Trapeze is a big passion of mine and it is the one place that I am 100% in the present moment and disconnecting from my business and other responsibilities. You don’t want to be tweeting when you are 40 feet in the air. What is a new passion that you can immerse yourself in completely at least once a week? I promise. This alone will change your life.

Other key activities include massages, vacations, sunshine, hobbyist clubs–anything that leads to personal growth, healthy living, and well-being. Shape your own wellness agenda, specifically tailored for your life, your schedule, and your desires. Your business depends on it!

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