Collaborative Post¦ Starting a business can be a particularly painful experience, literally and figuratively. You could very well experience back pain because of being strapped to your chair 12 hours a day but this very nice little component of starting a business is a very big lesson. You need to look after your health. So what does it really take to look after your health when you are starting a business? Is it about those simple things or is it to do with something else entirely?
Many self-made entrepreneurs think that they can do it all themselves. The reality is there’s a lot that we cannot do because there’s just too much of it! This is where delegating and having hired help really comes in handy. The best way to look at it is to address the things that you have very minimal comprehension of and outsource them. Technology is a very good example, because this is where managed IT support services can be handy. It is a lot of work to try and onboard a lot of information into your brain, especially when you are having to diversify your efforts anyway. Ask for help, but make sure you get it.
You may think that starting a business and having a good night’s sleep are not natural bedfellows, but it’s crucial to remember that having a good night’s sleep will make a massive difference to recharge your body and mind. One restless night can have a detrimental impact on your concentration and alertness, as well as your mood. You may find yourself unable to sleep because there’s so much whirring around your head. This is where having a notepad at the side of your bed makes a massive difference. It is such a simple thing, but having a brain dump will make all the difference in the world because you are able to offload any thoughts onto paper. And they can stay there until the next day. You should not sacrifice your sleep at all.
There are many lessons in starting a business, especially when it comes to building relationships and working with people in different ways, and this can be exhausting. This is why it’s important to stick with the friends that were with you before you started out in this way of life. It is important to have those relationships because it can bring you back down to earth, renew your sense of perspective, and also gives you the opportunity to offload when things feel too much. Being social is something we have all realised is important in the last 20 months, and when we are experiencing withdrawal, because we have been in our office for 12 hours that day, it is not going to help us at all.
When it comes to looking after your health, you also need to remember to have a good diet, exercise, and all of those things you already know. But remember, your health is the foundation to being an effective entrepreneur.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.
