Entrepreneurs are very familiar with the word ‘exhaustion’ because this is what they end up feeling on daily basis. There are so many days when you would be exhausted but would still force yourself to go on because you think that you cannot afford to take a break. There would be emails to answer, cold calls to be placed, following up with clients, a course to compile, yet another deadline to manage, a training material to compile…the list of chores is just unending and you need to keep on working in an attempt to stay afloat. You are constantly working in a state of frenzy, worrying yourself sick over the slightest delays and snag. You are constantly working late at night because you think you are behind on your commitments, or you are in bed, lying awake and worried about this thing or that and feeling that you are lagging behind.
All these are obvious signs of entrepreneurial fatigue and most of us have suffered from it at one time or another (Here is a facebook live, I did on the topic). Instead of helping your business, you might be slow poisoning your business and yourself from the relentless hard work and worrying. Here is how:
The Forever-Worried-Mother-Smother Mindset
Take a moment and think what kind of relationship you have with your business: Do you feel worried about your business matters than motivated and confident? You are often overanxious and overwrought with worries and unknown anxieties? This means that you have the forever-worried- mother-smother mindset about your business. Or in other words, you are married to your business. This is characterized by things like:
- You hover over aspects of your business and feel that you are not “doing enough” i.e., not giving your business enough time and creative energy.
- You read and re-read material (training material, even emails) before sending out there must be something wrong somewhere that would suddenly blow up in your face and so you keep delaying things.
- You work really, really long hours (10, 12, 14 hours a day and even more) and also during the weekends and holidays, often at the cost of familial and social commitments.
- At the end of the day, you always evaluate what and how much did you accomplish and feel dissatisfied with your progress and keep working late into the night, sleep very late, wake up tired and burnt out the next day and yet keep on working.
- Even your self-care routine is harried and forced, with a bit of meditation and a bit of yoga squeezed in.
- You are in the habit of skipping breakfast and meals and yet keep dousing cups after cups of coffee in order to keep yourself going.
- You have a to-do list at hand and keep saying things in panic like: “I have to…”, “I need to…”, “I must…”
If all this defines you and how you have been running your business then I urge you to stop; stop smothering your love-inspired, soul-centered business; stop ruining your health and sanity. I used to work like this (often 36 hours straight) and ended up getting horribly ill and losing my job, health, marriage, money, my house in a matter of weeks. If you are working too hard in your business, you are doing yourself and it more harm than good. This harm is not apparent overnight but is insidious and has a long term bearing on your mindset and success. Even the most successful of businesses are run into the ground when run like this. So, stop mothering-smothering your business. Here are 3 steps to do so:
Put Self-Care on the Forefront
Self-care is absolutely important, no matter how busy you are. Don’t forget to pause, put everything on a hold for a moment and breathe. I just told you the kind of mistakes I did in my initial job cum business and I am ever mindful enough not to repeat them. That’s why I take ample time out for self-care through meditating, going out for a stroll in the garden, taking Fridays off as my flow day, journaling, doodling, eating healthy, etc. In fact, I have dedicated the next two weeks as my major self-care phase. I am going to be going out on a silent retreat with absolutely zero technology, so that I can really get in deeper on what I am meant to bring into the world. Then in the second half of this year, and I am also going to be traveling and having some fun. So, I won’t be doing my Facebook lives for two weeks, as it is going to be a technology free time. So, I follow my own advice before preaching it to you.
Prioritize Your Business Properly
When your priorities aren’t straight, your business suffers, your relationships suffer, and your health suffers. Here is how I prioritize my business:
- focus on tasks that give me joy.
- focus on tasks and activities that generate income.
The things that give you joy are the kind of things you can control, bring into the world in a creative way; they are the kind of ideas that light up your being, make you feel passionate. These things can be different from person to person. But for me, these things are searching for new clients, creating meaningful joint ventures and collaborations, travelling, journaling, meditating, connecting with nature, etc. When your programs, offerings, packages are not forced, when they are balanced in terms of doing what you love and making money on the basis of it then you are in flow with your business, you are carrying forward with ease and grace. And eventually, you are setting your business on solid, enduring, and long lasting foundations.
Automate, Delegate, Delete
Running a solo show can be overwhelming, as you find yourself responsible for everything in your business. There might be aspects, tasks in your business that are taking a lot of your time and energy and yet yielding results, not having a far-reaching; these things can cause a lot of stress in your business. I have talked about the Automate, Delegate, Delete paradigm before and have found it to be a great stress relieving activity. This principle involves looking at your tasks’ lists and dealing with them accordingly. For example:
- Automate emails or phone set on auto responder, so that you acknowledge a message and buy yourself ample time to respond to a client. Incorporate an online scheduler or calendar to your website, so that appointments are set more easily, and you are able to block time for meaningful work or self-care.
- Delegate stuff that someone else like a virtual assistant can do for you, like answering the phone, designing, sending out emails, editing your copy, bookkeeping, etc. Slowly train someone to write what or say whatever you want to be said, how you want it to be done, trust him or her and give the necessary space.
- Delete any routine or idea that doesn’t seem to be working well for you or your business. It can be something as simple as your evening coffee that messes up your sleep cycle, or something as complex as letting go of a client who doesn’t pay well or doesn’t pay on time.
When you start doing these three simple things, your overwhelm and stress start decreasing. Your business ideas, creativity would have more room to play. Stress is a killer of your business, so once your business is free from it, it starts thriving. When you are not stressed about a gazillion aspects of your business, you can focus on income generation and personal fulfillment and as a result, your income prospects start improving. You would no longer be killing yourself for your business and killing it in the process.
I am Luci McMonagle, a spiritual teacher and a mystic wealth mentor. I am committed to help the spiritual, mystic entrepreneurs, visionaries and impactful leaders overcome their mindset limitations and their ancestral curses and make a big impact on the world, create a rich and meaningful legacy. Feel free to browse through my website, check my facebook page for previous sessions to find helpful tips and insights. I help them manifest wealth in the process by bridging their spirituality with practicality. If you are interested in working with me then leave a message on my website and my team would get back to you since I am on a spiritual retreat.