I’ve heard time and time again from fellow business owners and friends that self-care is so important when running a business. I mean it’s important with or without a business but for the sake of staying relevant, it’s important for business too. 😅
To be honest, I used to think self-care was a big waste of time and an excuse ladies made when they wanted to splurge on themselves. Ohhhhh how I was wrong! I’ve learned that there are sooooooo many benefits to self-care, especially for running a more efficient business!
Self-care helps with things like reducing cortisol levels which as you know is our stress hormone – and the biggest obstacle when trying to get anything done in business! It also helps to increase creativity and clarity around ideas and planning as well as boosts productivity like a mofo.
I’ve always been a person who tried to push past her own limitations and beliefs because sometimes they’re just total BS and need to be shaken up, so I decided to do an experiment on myself and go deep into self-care mode. Ooooooo….
I’m not gonna lie, I found it quite challenging at first. In fact EVERYTHING was painful to do. I know right, pampering myself was hard to do! Wtf!?!
I felt like it required too much planning, or money I didn’t want to spend or I just couldn’t bothered doing it. All of this was total sabotage, I just didn’t want to go out of my comfort zone, so I really had to force myself in the beginning.
And what happened over the course of a month was crazy. The more I took care of myself, the more things started to flow. Ideas I couldn’t quite get clarity on suddenly became crystal clear. My daily sales went from steady to doubling and then tripling without doing any more work. I even felt a shift in connection with my audience, it became deeper and more personal. In fact I honestly feel like we’re all BFF’s now! ☺
So if you’re new to this whole idea of self-care and interested in testing it out, here’s my three tips to get started!
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1. LIST YOUR FAVE ACTIVITIES FROM ‘EASIEST TO START WITH’ TO ‘NEEDS SOME PLANNING’
Because I found it quite challenging to get started, I knew I had to make it easy on myself otherwise I was never going to do it. So I created a list of activities I could do that didn’t require too much effort to get some momentum going.
I had a TON of lotions and creams I’d been given over the years that I never used and decided that I would actually use them on my body after my showers at night. When I got used to doing that I also started to dress in a more feminine way. I’m a t-shirt and shorts girl but I decided to start wearing dresses again and it totally changed how I carried myself. 😅 I also started enjoying breakfast again. Usually I just wolf down my food so I can head out and do what I gotta do, but now I purposely take my time and enjoy it! All of these activities didn’t require too much effort to do but they made a HUGE difference in how I felt, how I worked and how much money I made.
And now that I’m getting better at self-care and it’s not so much of an Everest for me, I’m getting regular spa treatments (they’re ridiculously cheap in Bali), I go for walks at the beach, I go shopping for things I love, I do regular journaling and overall just take my time to get stuff done rather than rushing.
If you’re blanking on ideas or wondering how you can get started, check out this list of 45 self-care practices you can try.
2. GET A MORNING ROUTINE STARTED
In my Facebook Group, I asked my audience if and what they did for their self-care routines and some ladies shared that they have a regular morning routine that includes journaling, drinking lemon water, meditating, yoga, drawing oracle cards, going for a walk, reading or taking a bath in essential oils.
My morning consists of making a pot of lemon and ginger tea when I wake up and setting up my day with The 5-Minute Journal. It’s a daily journal with simple prompts to help you start your day happier by focusing on the positive as well as setting your day up with intention. I’m not an overly organized person but it’s the one thing I do when I wake up in the morning and it helps me set my day up for positivity and productivity.
I highly hiiiiiigggghly recommend you to find even just one thing to do in your mornings that’s for your own self-care. It doesn’t matter how long or short your morning routine is, even if you do just one thing for yourself that makes you feel good then that’s more then enough to get some momentum going.
3. DO ONE BIG SELF-CARE ACTIVITY EACH WEEK
Once you get the hang of doing the easiest things and it’s no longer an effort, you can start adding a big activity each week or at least bi-weekly. This could be a spa treatment, a big hike somewhere you’ve wanted to explore, a day in the sun at the beach, taking a workshop or class in something you love or simply having the day off!
These big activities are just as important as the small activities and even though it doesn’t seem like any of this directly relates to bettering your business, it does. Taking care of yourself has an insanely positive affect on your well-being, and when you are your business, the affect is not only felt but seen by your audience.
So my challenge to you is over the next 30 days to start some kind of self-care practice. Even if it’s as simple as journaling in the mornings or using up the thousands of body lotions you’ve been given as gifts over the years. I promise you it’s going to make a big impact on how you feel and better yet it’s going to increase your productivity and profitability in business!
Do you currently have a self-care practice? If so, what are some of the things you do? if not, why?
