Managing YOUR Health and Wellbeing – Let’s talk about Self-Care for Business Owners

The most important Asset in YOUR business is YOU.?

So, it’s absolutely critical to have some Self Care strategies and support networks in place to help you be the very best you can be to drive the success of your business.

Now some Business Owners are incredibly good at addressing this stuff. Others however underestimate just how important it is to focus on your personal health and wellbeing when owning and running a business. Struggling to carve out and make time for themselves that’s necessary to be the best they can be.

As Dr Sadhbh Joyce points out in her recent article 5 Wellbeing and Mental Health tips for small business owners, “When you’re running a small business, you will usually have very long ‘to-do’ lists, and self-care can fall right to the bottom”.

Who has time for Self-Care anyway? That was a tongue in cheek statement.

Unfortunately, it’s a really easy excuse to overlook or de-prioritise things that keep you fit, healthy, importantly happy and at the top of your game. Think about it for a moment, how many times have you said you have just been too busy and haven’t had time to…have some quiet time with your partner without work…go to the gym…go for that walk or run…catch up with friends…get enough sleep…go to the Doctor for a quick check up…spend quality time with the kids…do something you enjoy?

Dr Joyce in her article talks about a number of strategies for business owners that really help you become more aware and better manage your mental health and wellbeing in general. ?Check her article out here ?

While there are many approaches to managing your wellbeing, it generally comes down to what works for you as an individual?

After talking to many small business owners, here’s some things they shared with me that have worked for them.

Let me stress though, we’re all individuals and wired very differently. What works for someone else may not work for you. The following is intended to give you some ideas of what others do that may help you crystalise options that could be part of your plan. But as I continue to say, when it comes to your health and wellbeing, it’s really a matter for every individual to find what works for you…then ACT on it!

Here’s five simple things to think about.

1.?????Start by making time for a regular medical check with your GP?

What a great way to start the new year? It’s pretty simple but how many of us are actually doing this? Personally, I think this is number 1 as so many things can flow from it. It won’t take a lot of time and it helps you build your own personal health profile so you can track small changes that might alert you and your health practitioner to developing issues. For both women and men, the general recommendation seems to indicate you should get a check-up annually if you’re over 50 and once every 3 years if you’re under 50. Personally, I’d be shooting for annually regardless. It’s a good habit to get into, and you will create a medical history that will highlight changes early so that you can address them.?Start it in the New Year and see what your GP recommends for you.

2.?????Create time to invest in something that you enjoy and makes you happy?

Let’s face it, we all have things we enjoy doing. That takes our minds away from the things going on in our lives…and business. It could be meeting up with friends, going to the movies or a show, reading a book, going out to dinner with your partner or friends, taking a day off, going on a holiday. It might even be something physical like going to the gym, walking…and much more. Whatever it is, try to make time regularly for yourself. I know so many people whose business and career consumes them. Their dedication, drive and commitment to their business is great, it truly is. But it's important to find things away from our career and work that relax and stimulate us, re-energise us and importantly reconnect us. Achieving the right balance in life is so important to our overall wellbeing.

3.?????Prioritise making time for your family?

Often it’s those closest to us who suffer the most when we get consumed in our business. It’s so important to make time for those close to you, be they a partner, children, family or friends (even your pets!). These people are generally your biggest supporters, they’re probably on the journey with you and you’re an important part of their lives and wellbeing too. It’s not about being prescriptive here, it’s about being aware and finding the time for these important relationships which are pivotal in everyone’s lives.?

4.?????Get the right balance (and perspective) when it comes to work/sleep/eating/exercise?

I’m not a medical practitioner but safe to say there’s solid medical advice behind these things in terms of how they contribute to our wellbeing and we should pay attention to them. They play an important role in how we operate and how effective we are across all aspects of our lives. Don’t short change yourself. You know, making some simple changes each day to our daily habits can make huge differences to our health and wellbeing, and our overall effectiveness in the way we operate. For example, setting a knock off time for your workday is a great habit to get into. No one is effective spending every waking hour each day working and online. Eating regularly, making better choices, getting the right amount of sleep is so important. I’m a big one for exercise and carve out between 1 – 2 hours per day. If I don’t, I’m just not effective. It’s not 2 consecutive hours. It might be going for a walk early before breakfast, go for a walk to return a couple of business calls rather than sitting at your desk, going for a stroll at lunch time, walking to the shop instead of driving, going for a run. As they say, just doing something is a start and will make a real difference in how you feel and how effective you are.

5.?????Who do you have to talk to and share what’s happening in your life and business.

I referred to this in an earlier article about having the right people in your corner when you need them to share the load, provide you with feedback, advise you, coach you, listen to you and bounce things around with. It may not necessarily be just one person. It may be more. These are people you trust and give permission to call you out when they think you need it. And if they do, take it on board and decide how you will act on it.

Being the best version of ourselves that we can be is important to our success, not just as a business owner but in the many roles and relationships we have that define us.

How much time are you putting into your Self-care?

There’s no better time than now to get started.

Have a great 2023

Andrew Jarvis

CEO, CircleSource