YOU are the magnet… You’re pulling things towards you, whether you intend to or not. And if you’re reading this, I’m just going to assume you are somebody who goes after what you want.
As an entrepreneur, when you are goal-driven, you are also in danger of burnout.
So, today I want to talk to you about self-care and how critically important it is. We must make self-care a priority in order to live a happy life and successful business. We can drive ourselves right into the ground and achieve the business success that we desire, but end up unhappy and unfulfilled. I want to run you through my five top must-do’s in order to live a truly magnetic life where you are attracting everything that you desire.
1. Rest
One of the hardest things to do for entrepreneurs is to unplug, to step away, to give their brain and their body a chance to rest.
I’m a personal trainer by trade and built into any type of training regimen are what we call rest days. Rest days are a necessary component for your body to recover, so you can go back out and do it again. We understand this idea when it comes to our physical body, but we don’t always apply it to our brain and our energy.
The truth is we need to be able to step away because our brains make connections, not when we are knee-deep in the work, but when we’re resting. This is why you come up with brilliant ideas when you’re in the shower or when you’re out for a walk.
I want you to think about your rest in three key areas:
- Build-in rest days. Have days where you deliberately step away from work. I guarantee they will recharge your battery more than you can even possibly imagine.
- Build-in rest periods. Build-in rest periods throughout the day. Our brains fatigue when focusing on tasks. Give it a quick break.
- Build-in time for meditation and mindfulness practice. I will say this over and over again, I really want to encourage you to start building a meditation practice. It is the most powerful transformational practice you can do in your life. It slows down your brain, it gets you out of the thinking brain and it gets you into just being.
2. Friends and Social Support
Entrepreneurs, I’m talking to you! Especially right now, in this day and age, where we do so much of this work alone in our homes. It can be very isolating and finding social networks is critically important.
There are two different categories here:
- Social networks that aren’t related to your business. Find some friends who are supportive of your business, but not necessarily colleagues in your business.
- Social networks that ARE in your business. Find some colleagues who can provide you some professional support.
3. Positive Mindset Work
Life is often difficult and filled with challenges. But I’ll say this…how we decide to react to life is 100% our responsibility. I say this to you as someone who’s been through a lot. I have failed forward many times and I’m not saying it’s always easy, but I am saying it is your responsibility and no one else’s. The minute you start to take 100% responsibility for how you decide to think about things, your life changes. Looking at what you’re grateful for, looking at the gifts in any situation, understanding that life is a teacher, and it’s here to teach you what you need to know to be able to grow, and embracing that idea, will change your life.
This is not something that comes naturally. Our brains are wired with what is called a negative bias, they are wired to look for what’s wrong in a situation, so we have to intentionally look for the gifts and do the work.
Here is my ninja tip: I’m a big fan of the Law of Attraction and the works of Abraham Hicks, Wayne Dyer, Bob Proctor, Gabby Bernstein. I’m always listening to something by one of those authors. I dig into it every single day. My favorite way to do this is by listening to their audiobooks or by listening to podcasts. Currently, my two favorites are Infinite Intelligence and Growth Day. This way, I fill my brain deliberately with the things that I know are going to improve my mindset.
4. Who Not How
Entrepreneurs (especially solopreneurs) listen up!
As we’re building our business, and there’s more money going out than coming in, we can believe we need to do everything ourselves. I’m here to tell you that if you do not figure out a way to outsource the things that are not your gifts and are not moving your business forward, you are slowing down your own growth.
So, get creative. Figure out a way how you can outsource some work and not do the things that drain you and that aren’t your true gifts. You might not be able to do it all at once, but I guarantee you can do it over time. Once you start thinking this way, it really does change everything. There’s a book that I highly recommend called Who Not How by Dan Sullivan, who runs a program called Strategic Coach and his philosophy is that you build a team of “whos” and you stay in your zone of genius.
I know this is challenging but think about it from a self-care perspective. If you’re doing all of the things and they drain you, you exhaust your mental energy trying to learn things that are not your personal skill set. My podcast is the perfect example. I’ve got an amazing woman, who helps me with my podcasts. I record the episodes and she takes it from there. Could I do that myself? Sure. It would take me a ton of time, and it’s not my skill set. So, I’m thrilled that Tamara does that for me.
5. Nourish Yourself
As a wellness coach, I am going to start with the basics.
Pay attention to what you’re putting into your body. The food you’re eating, what you’re drinking. Our bodies cannot operate at their top performance level, especially our brain, if we’re putting food in it that is dragging it down and making it feel sluggish. Think about supplementing with the right tools to give you energy, to give you better digestion because better digestion leads to better absorption and it’s all connected.
Nourish yourself with good thoughts. Minimize your exposure to negativity, focus your attention, be in the moment, take care of your body, take care of your brain. Love yourself enough to do these things.
In the meantime, remember, you are magnetic and people are waiting to hear what you have to say.
Love,
Tracey.
