4 Lifestyle Changes That Will Make You A Better Entrepreneur
Who doesn’t want to be a better entrepreneur? The more efficient you are, the more productive you can be, which inevitably leads to more cash flow. If you’re like most entrepreneurs, more cash flow is at the top of your list. You’d do just about anything to get it.
As with everything in life, there are multiple facets to achieving success as an entrepreneur. Staying up to date on the latest techniques and technology is only part of the equation.
Getting stuck in the continual adoption of new techniques and strategies will put you into a groove at some point. If success is what you’re after, techniques need to be supplemented with lifestyle changes.
Here are several of those changes you can implement in your life:
- Take regular time off from working
If being a round-the-clock entrepreneur is preventing you from achieving your personal goals, that’s a sure sign you need time off. It’s vital to maintain a work/life balance to get time to yourself. Being exhausted while you zone out in front of the TV at night doesn’t count.
An article from Forbes.com describes the dark side of being an entrepreneur, and how easy it is to become depressed and stressed due to isolation. Entrepreneurs don’t isolate themselves to hide from the world; isolation occurs accidentally when they’re too busy working to take care of themselves.
There’s no point to being an entrepreneur if you’re in the same position of exhaustion you were in before escaping the 9-5 grind. Take time off periodically to recharge. All the money and fame in the world isn’t worth the deterioration of your health.
- Manage and balance your physical wellbeing
Many entrepreneurs face hard health battles that show up in their lives in the course of running their business. Others, like Maimah Karmo, are driven into action because of their health challenges. Her diagnosis of breast cancer caused her to move into action fast. She created the Tiger Lily Foundation, and she soon discovered she was overextending herself within her organization.
“When I first became an entrepreneur,” Karmo says, “I thought my calendar had to be filled with projects, tasks, calls, and events. Somehow these indicators seemed to help me feel a sense of accomplishment, importance, and success in my career.”
This is a pitfall for every entrepreneur. As Karmo further explains, her work turned her into a “stressed out, overextended, ‘busy’ woman. Frankly, I felt more overcommitted than successful. I was not happy, and wanted to ‘pull my hair out’ and run away from it all and so I did.”
Karmo, a breast cancer survivor (like many entrepreneurs are) had to be completely depleted in her work before she realized she was overextending herself.
If you’re an entrepreneur facing a similar health situation, especially if you’re undergoing any kind of treatment like chemotherapy or augmentation after a mastectomy, take the time to recover completely before rushing back into your daily grind. Augmentation is major surgery, and the physical body requires adequate time to heal. Physical healing requires mental stillness and avoidance of all possible stress.
- Set and stick to specific hours of availability
Your friends and family may not like it, but it’s in your best interest to set hours of availability that apply to everyone, save for an emergency. For instance, if your workday is from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., except for breaks, make yourself unavailable for anything but business during those hours.
If you know you need to take a call from a friend or family member, schedule it and make it clear they need to call you at a specific time or you won’t be available. Let them know you’ll wait fifteen minutes before moving on. Then, stick to it. If they agree to call you at 3 p.m. and it’s 3:15 and you can’t get ahold of them, move on. Don’t wait around. Move on with your day, and let them leave a message if they do call you back.
Doing this will decrease your daily interruptions and make you more productive as an entrepreneur.
- Regularly spend time in nature
It’s strange to think that the healing power of nature has yet to be a universal truth for all. For instance, researchers are still surprised that patients recover faster when they can view nature rather than brick walls. Perhaps those researchers haven’t experienced it directly.
The best thing you can do for yourself as an entrepreneur is to spend time in nature. If it’s cold, bundle up. Breathe in the fresh air and scent of the trees. Feel the wind on your back. Sit in the dirt and see what the fuss is all about. Nature will rejuvenate you, even if all you do is walk barefoot in the grass in your own front yard.