In a culture where getting everywhere faster has become a hallmark of success, self-care is lower on the priority list than it’s ever been.
Yet it’s a crucial ingredient in building your success.
When we encounter hold-ups in our businesses, we often look for a faster, cheaper, and easier way forward to keep that forward movement going. It’s a drive we can thank our primal ancestors for; a drive that tells us that everything must happen right now, because tomorrow is never a given.
Even though it’s not like that anymore, we still have that same wiring; we still want to find the fastest way to get there, wherever “there” is.
No nifty gadgets, apps, management tools, or processes will determine your business success better than your own body. Yet, as busy entrepreneurs, we’re constantly caught between choosing to bring 100% to our business or our health.
Allowing the need for instant gratification to push us into business shortcuts won’t lead to success. Solid structures, which are really just small, consistent, daily habits, serve as a scaffold for the milestones that eventually lead to success.
Movement
Business owners who want a clean mental slate every day should be sweating it out regularly. Every time you deliberately use your muscles, every organ in your body enjoys a rush of freshly oxygenated blood. The brain gets a total reset and a hit of endorphins, fuelling you to be your best and make sounder decisions.
Hydration
Every cell in your body is 70% water. How can you possibly meet the demands of a stressful business when half of the cells in your body look like raisins? (No, the water in your morning coffee doesn’t count!)
Hydration = creativity, patience, and insight.
Nutrition
Every process in your body runs smoothly when the right fuel is present. Imagine starting your day with coffee and a cigarette and calling it intermittent fasting, but in reality, you’re just starving yourself until mid-afternoon when you’ve finally earned something rich in carbs and smothered in oil.
Now imagine simply adding a little protein to your morning and midday and just like that, you’re making better decisions and running your business with a lot more clarity.
Sleep
DNA repair happens while we’re asleep. Every regenerative function the body has to undergo happens during sleep. Without good, solid rest, the immune system becomes overburdened. Every aspect of health depends on good sleep, it’s worth protecting with your life.
Repair and regeneration also affect the brain. To problem-solve, negotiate, and bring creativity to your day, your brain will need to function from a well-rested state.
(Proper) breath
Oxygen is vital for your body and your brain and quite often, facing stressful situations leads to shorter and quicker breaths.
If we’re stressed every day, we start to breathe differently, habitually, and the brain learns to function at half-mast.
Free radicals increase, cognitive capacity declines, the ability to concentrate is reduced, anxiety levels go up, and depression creeps in. Breathing consciously is life-changing, and can improve your life and your business.
This isn’t woo-woo crunchy mum talk, this is science
People have over-complicated something profoundly simple. Our brains determine our ability to plan, respond, create, lead, and problem-solve. Our bodies determine our ability to enthusiastically and energetically be present for those around us. Your body is your only business tool.
