As a business owner, how often do you put everything into your business? Do you find yourself giving up things like nutritious meals and valuable sleep because you want to focus more of your energy on growing your company?
While these things might seem essential to making your business successful, putting your health and wellness behind the success of your company is a dangerous thing.
Ultimately, if you want your business to succeed you need to make sure you’re giving your best self on a regular basis. You can’t offer your best if you’re exhausted and starving.
If, like many entrepreneurs, you’re great at looking after your company but terrible at caring for yourself, the following tips might help.
Schedule Self-Care
Chances are you follow your schedule closely and it’s probably packed with things to do. Finding time to look after yourself can be challenging, so try putting it into your calendar instead.
Create a slot in your weekly schedule for self-care, just like you might set up a meeting with a crucial stakeholder. Although it might be just one thirty-minute relaxation session a week to start, you should be actively working on increasing the amount of self-care time you have.
Eventually, it’s ideal to have at least one session of self-care every single day.
Fuel Yourself Correctly
You wouldn’t fill your car’s gas tank with garbage and expect it to continue running as normal. In the same way, you can’t fuel yourself improperly and continue expecting the best from your mind and body.
If you want to operate at your best, you need to consume the right fuel. This means plenty of high-quality, nutritious food, and lots of water.
Set aside time each day to eat food – lunch, breakfast, and dinner. No matter how busy you are, you always need to make time to properly eat.
You can even add some exercise into your routine at the same time by walking around the office while you eat your sandwich. This will stretch your legs and give your brain time to refresh.
Know Your Limits
As a business owner, you’ve come to expect massive things from yourself. Unfortunately, it’s easy to forget you’re just human. Just because you feel like you need to work fifteen hours a day to reach your goals doesn’t mean it’s actually feasible.
Ask yourself how you would feel if someone was asking a loved one to do the same things you’re asking of yourself.
Ultimately, it’s important to be respectful of your limits as an entrepreneur. This means being more mindful with your schedule. It also means saying “no” when appropriate, and delegating tasks to others.
Exercise Regularly
Just because you feel exhausted after a long day sitting in front of your computer doesn’t mean your body is getting the exercise it needs. Many self-made billionaires say that getting a regular workout is a must for being successful.
For instance, Richard Branson says he owes a significant part of his wealth to staying fit because it forces him to continue applying himself fully to the things he does.
You get to choose your exercise. You could take the dog for a walk at the end of the day, or go for a jog mid-way through your day as a way to get out of the office.
At the very least, you need about thirty minutes of exercise on a daily basis. If this seems impossible, start small and work your way up, ten minutes at a time.
Get Enough Sleep
There are few things your body and mind need more than a good night’s sleep. While you can survive without food for a day (though you shouldn’t), surviving without sleep is much harder.
Extreme fatigue is more likely to hamper your performance and lead to poor decision-making than virtually anything else.
In fact, the effects of sleep deprivation are actually very similar to being drunk. You might end up making choices for your company that are extremely problematic, simply because you can’t think straight.
Commit to getting the right amount of sleep each day – no matter what it takes. For most people, this is between 7 to 9 hours per night.
Looking after yourself as an entrepreneur might seem challenging, but it’s something you have to commit to if you want to run a successful business long-term.
