Personal Wellness Habits for Entrepreneurs

It should be fairly obvious that entrepreneurship is one of the most stressful professions out there. In fact, one survey found that close to 30% of entrepreneurs were depressed and a significant portion had a history of mental disease in their family. Of course, this wouldn’t be immediately obvious as entrepreneurs are forced to put on a brave face to present to their stakeholders and the public.

The mindset of the entrepreneur reflects that of a bodybuilder or a professional athlete; one that is constantly looking to push the boundaries of their own capabilities. Ask the most successful entrepreneurs the secret to their success and they’ll give you a hodgepodge of tips, tricks, and hacks that work for them. The constant in this assorted mess is always personal wellness.

Maintaining mind and body wellness requires a lot of work, but comes fairly hand-in-hand with the requirements of entrepreneurship already. By developing healthy habits, you will not only improve your personal wellness, but also your professional career as a result. Let’s explore some habits you should be adopting right now.

More Smiling, Less Worrying

Stress can really make you sick, physically, mentally, and emotionally. How many snap remarks have you made to your friends or family at the end of a stressful day? Don’t you wish you can take them back?

Entrepreneurship is inherently stressful. You’re giving up a sizeable portion of your capital and savings to launch a business that’s more likely to fail than succeed. Beyond this, if you’ve committed to the be the day-to-day manager of your operations, you’re surely in line for a tremendous amount of stress.

That’s why it’s important to set aside “me time” to relieve stress and get back to basics. For some entrepreneurs, it’s a half-hour of meditation or yoga each day. For others, it’s just setting aside the time to spend time with friends and family, even in the midst of balancing the workload of your professional life.

You may find that the time you sacrificed to take of yourself has made you more productive than the time you would have spent stressing out over projects and slamming the keys of your keyboard.

Does the Body Rule the Mind?

I don’t know. But lethargy breeds more lethargy. In fact, a recent study actually found that sitting at a desk all day could increase your risk for dementia, on top of cardiovascular disease and etcetera.

It’s so important to take care of your physical health. If you’re experiencing pain, be sure to get it checked out before it impedes your productivity and professional life. For myself, it was receiving lower back pain treatment to make me feel renewed and refreshed again.

Along the same lines, exercise is critical to entrepreneurial success. That may sound strange, but promoting one healthy habit opens the door to another. Make it a goal to exercise for at least a half-hour a day, every day. Not only is this necessary for your health, but it will also provide you with motivation and improve your focus day-to-day.

You Are What You Eat

Along the same lines, maintaining a healthy diet is everything. In fact, with the fast-paced lifestyle of entrepreneurship, it’s so easy to overlook your diet. Are you tired of crashing at 2:00 pm every day or feeling burnout? Well, you don’t need five-hour energy, maybe just a few more greens. Eating green makes the green for your business.

Why Can’t Our Dreams Be Our Goals?

No matter how you or your business is doing, you can always be doing better. That may sound cynical, but it’s meant to be motivating. Ask any entrepreneur and they’ll tell you that the minute you think you’ve made it is the minute your business has already failed.

Personal goals motivate us to accomplish things we never thought possible. The more impossible the goal, the stronger the effort and the closer you reach that goal.

Write down a list of goals you want to accomplish on a day-to-day basis and then start to strive for longer-term goals once you complete a few small ones. Be sure to constantly track and check off goals as you complete them to motivate you to keep going. You’ll find that what once started off as a burden, now has become a source of hope and pride.

Invest in Knowledge

Finally, the best way to invest in yourself is to invest in your education. The brain is a muscle that needs exercise to grow stronger. Continuing your education is the best way to keep your mind nimble, ahead of the competition, and adept to solve any problem that comes your way.

Only through improving our well-being can we improve our professional careers. Devoting a small portion of your day to exercising, reading, and tracking your goals can you promote healthy habits that carry over into the workplace.