Running a business, especially on your own can exhaust you and deplete both your physical and emotional resources. How health is affected by running a business is a serious issue that most business owners don’t take into consideration when they start a business, but once they have been a business owner for a number of years, the consequences of overwork become obvious.
Self-care has a very close relationship to your feelings of self worth and integrity. While many of us think nothing of supporting others and giving them our time, we tend to ignore our own needs. On our list of priorities, we are somewhere near the bottom, if we’re on that list at all.
While we busily work away on our business, for awhile we see continued success because of the hours we put in but at some point that changes and we cause actual wear and tear on our physical and emotional selves. Once we start to take better care of ourselves, this is reflected in our business because we make better decisions. What kind of decisions do you tend to make when you are frantic and hurried, overtired and disorganized?
Another aspect we ignore is taking the time to grasp opportunities to learn. Continual growth of our business is contingent on our ability to grasp new concepts and bring our business from where it once was to what it could be and should be. Moving forward isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity and in order to be efficient at what we do, we have to replenish what we use and that includes our energy.
Consciously working at challenging yourself means taking your health seriously. Good health improves your concentration, speeds up your ability to learn and because of this makes it easier to commit to and attain your financial goals. What surprises many business owners is that they can be an example to those just starting out and one of the most important things you can teach new business owners is that they are more than just their business.
Slowing down and becoming less involved in every minute of your business gives you clarity. It helps you to face your business fears and set more realistic expectations. You can’t accomplish everything on your own and if you feel you need help, there are virtual teams that can take on some of your work. If you think they are expensive, aren’t you worth it? The support alone that they can provide will make a huge difference in how you feel and actually help to improve your business.
© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2014
image courtesy of natural newagmum
