If you run a small business, it’s important to keep in mind that you, yourself, are your number one asset and resource when it comes to making that business thrive.
It’s easy to get into a state of mind where you view your business as something like a machine that just keeps ticking along irrespective of everything else, provided you simply dedicate enough hours of work to it. In reality, though, there are all sorts of ways in which the state of your personal life can project itself in the state of your business.
Here are a few things you can do in your personal life that will improve your business.
Make a priority of taking care of yourself in general
If you are the mastermind behind your own business, it should be self-evident that anything which radically diminishes your energy levels, your motivation, and your ability to work consistently, is bound to be harmful for your business as a whole.
And yet, even though this point should be self-evident, many entrepreneurs work themselves totally into the ground, and to a point of exhaustion, in the pursuit of success in their professional ventures.
Instead of constantly pushing forward with your work, with a complete lack of regard for your own nutrition, sleep, and overall sense of well-being, make it a priority to take care of yourself in general. That might mean standing up for yourself in terms of things like contacting tough and skilled personal injury attorneys to represent you for a claim, or it might just mean actually cooking yourself proper meals.
Begin training yourself to put action over abstraction, in everyday life
One point that many writers on business and entrepreneurial success keep returning to, is that it’s frequently the people who have a “bias for action” who really succeed in the broader arena of business.
In other words, although it is important to consider things properly, and to do your due diligence, the people who actually put plans into action on a regular basis and gauge the results are the ones who will tend to thrive, and not those who get lost in endless planning and abstraction.
Being action-oriented is a skill that you need to develop across your life, in general. So begin training yourself to put action over abstraction wherever you can, in your everyday life. This could be as simple as making a quick decision on what to order next time you’re at a restaurant, instead of mulling it over for 15 minutes.
Take up fulfilling hobbies that do some good for you, rather than just relaxing in front of the TV
There’s some good evidence out there that the people who are most creative and innovative, professionally speaking, are also those with a broad range of experiences, interests, and skill sets. And, as the old saying goes; “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
In order to keep yourself inspired, to stay positive and engaged, and to get something positive out of your leisure time, take up fulfilling hobbies that do some good for you on a personal level, rather than just spending all your free time relaxing in front of the TV.