Stress, it's part of everyday life, part of owning your own business but it doesn't need to have to control you. Simple modifications in posture, habits, thought, and behavior often go a long way toward reducing feelings of stress and tension. Here are 8 quick and simple things you can do immediately to help keep your stress level under control.
1. Control Your Anger:
Watch for the next instance in which you find yourself becoming annoyed or angry at something trivial or unimportant, then practice letting go - make a conscious choice not to become angry or upset. Do not allow yourself to waste thought and energy where it isn't deserved. Effective anger management is a tried-and-true stress reducer.
2. Breathe:
Breathe slowly and deeply. Before reacting to the next stressful occurrence, take three deep breaths and release them slowly. If you have a few minutes, try out breathing exercises such as meditation or guided imagery.
3. Slow Down:
Whenever you feel overwhelmed by stress, practice speaking more slowly than usual. You'll find that you think more clearly and react more reasonably to stressful situations. Stressed people tend to speak fast and breathlessly; by slowing down your speech you'll also appear less anxious and more in control of any situation.
4. Complete One Simple To Do:
Jump start an effective time management strategy. Choose one simple thing you have been putting off (e.g. returning a phone call, making a doctor's appointment) and do it immediately. Just taking care of one nagging responsibility can be energizing and can improve your attitude.
5. Get Some Fresh Air:
Get outdoors for a brief break. Our grandparents were right about the healing power of fresh air. Don't be deterred by foul weather or a full schedule. Even five minutes on a balcony or terrace can be rejuvenating.
6. Avoid Hunger and Dehydration:
Drink plenty of water and eat small, nutritious snacks. Hunger and dehydration, even before you're aware of them, can provoke aggressiveness and exacerbate feelings of anxiety and stress. Being hangry is no way to live through your day.
7. Do a Quick Posture Check:
Hold your head and shoulders upright and avoid stooping or slumping. Bad posture can lead to muscle tension, pain, and increased stress.
8. Recharge at the Day’s End:
Plan something rewarding for the end of your stressful day, even if only a relaxing bath or half an hour with a good book. Put aside work, housekeeping or family concerns for a brief period before bedtime and allow yourself to fully relax. Don't spend this time planning tomorrow's schedule or doing chores you didn't get around to during the day. Remember that you need time to recharge and energize yourself - you'll be much better prepared to face another stressful day.
I am a very strong believer in the concept of creating freedom through entrepreneurism. Controlling my own destiny, time, income and options is very important to me. There are many ways for you to join the entrepreneurial ranks. You can work a full time job and have a part-time side hustle or you can do what I did almost 38 years ago and dive into the deep end and run a business full time.
It’s been said that everyone has at least one potential million dollar idea in their lifetime. The sad truth is that very few people will never take the action required to bring their idea to life and ultimately to market. How many times have you had a great idea, never acted on it and a year or two later find yourself holding it in a store or watching a commercial for the very idea now brought to life by someone else? Don't let that ever happen to you again!
I'd like to change the odds … in your favor.
Do you have an idea that you want to develop, market and turn into a lucrative business that you actually run on a day to day basis?
OR...
Do you want to patent your idea, license it to someone else and simply collect checks while sipping piña coladas on the beach?
Both good options and either way...I can help.
Did you know that there are actually several common reasons why most people don’t move their ideas along:
- Not sure if the idea is marketable
- Not sure if it's too crazy
- Not sure who to talk to about developing the idea
- Not sure how to protect the idea
- Not sure how to market the idea
- Not sure about licensing the idea or starting a business
- Not sure about finding money to grow the idea
If any of these are holding you back…it’s time to bring your idea to life. To start, download my free report:
That's a great idea! Now what. by clicking here (add link)
After going through that report you'll have more clarity about the viability of your idea. Then book a 'get acquainted' strategy call and we can see if I can be of additional help.
Regardless of the path you take, please...take action. You owe it to yourself and your family.
As entrepreneurs we constantly find themselves handling a growing number of ‘important’ issues that never seem to stop. It is very easy to forget that others can handle things and that if you actually go home the world will continue to spin.
The business is YOURS, only you care enough about it to do everything right, right? Wrong. There’s nothing wrong with caring, working hard and wanting to be the best you can be…until that obsession impacts your higher calling…time with family, your friends, your mental well being and your health. There are others who can help get things done.
To be the best, you need to be at your best. It is critical to your longevity that you control your time like the irreplaceable commodity that it is.
Kids only grow up once and no, they don’t understand that you have to work and miss all their games, school award ceremonies and can’t take a vacation.
Your health is very difficult to reclaim AFTER the heart attack, or after you’ve put on an extra 100 pounds because of stress eating and hypertension.
And then there is your mental health and your ability to actually focus. Study after study has proven that constant interruptions, poor sleep habits and lack of activity make our cognitive functions deteriorate.
So what to do about it in a world that never stops? You have to force yourself to get off the ride. You have to make to to recover, rejuvenate and actually hear yourself think. Schedule important family dates onto the calendar before the rest of the world can fill in the dates, then when challenges try to compete for the date, hold tough “I’m sorry I have a meeting that day”. Take a vacation and plan your next one while on the current one.
Health concerns? Find a gym or go for a walk. I go for a morning walk with the dog to a local park with outside exercise equipment. I go in the morning, shut off the phone for 45 minutes and work out a couple of times a week. The world keeps right on going, business still gets done and you will only miss two friends posting pictures of their omelettes on facebook.
You can do this. If you disconnect from your family or drop dead at your desk what was the point? Who are you trying to prove something to anyway?
So…what are your tips for staying sharp and in focus and getting family time?
Often as business owners and leaders ascend their career ladders, they make the mistake of attributing the success that they enjoy, to be solely the result of their own efforts. However, as the saying goes, ‘no man is an island”.
Once any of us start to believe that we have the ‘midas touch’, that we are always right, or that the world revolves around us, HUBRIS and EGO take over and begin to get in the way of future growth and success.
If you have made yourself the center of your organization such that you need to be involved in every decision, every contract, every buying decision and every client interaction, I suggest that you have not built a business or become a leader but rather have a job as a micro-manager.
If you truly want to grow, be able to have a life…you know some time off…and eventually leave the business/service in capable hands, you need to let go. You need to pick, and begin to mentor, successors as well as give other team members the freedom to learn and fail with a safety net and you need to learn how to delegate.
Leadership and success is a direct result of influence which can only be earned not bought, gained through intimidation, or inherited simply because of tenure on the job.
We all have the ability to direct our efforts, choose which direction to travel and who to partner with along the way. If you want to take your career and your organization to the next level remember the words originally uttered by Thomas Paine (and modified by me)…”Lead or follow but get out of your own way ..”
A while back I had the good fortune to have been asked to present at a large Better Business Bureau conference. It was so much fun to be around and enthusiastic group of small business owners.
As is always the case, when people have idle time to talk, the war stories and comparisons began. There were several common reoccurring themes even though none of the businesses were in the same industry. As I listened, it became clear to me that every one of the issues/problems/challenges that they were facing and that we face every day in business, and in life, is a result of ineffective, inconsistent, or incomplete communication.
Every business and business leader is tasked with effectively communicating the same overall message, but formulated in different ways, to engage different groups of stakeholders. Marketing to clients, to staff members, to suppliers and others is all about matching the message to the ‘market segment.’
As an example I was recently told a story about a company that for the first time began recognizing length of service and issuing pins and letters of thanks to their team members. What should have been a source of positive pride turned into a big negative as there was no public recognition either at a team meeting, in a media release or on the company website, only a surprise letter, mailed to each person with a notice that the pins would follow.
Also in many cases, a ten or fifteen year pin was coming at years 12 or 17. The recognition program is a great idea…however something as simple as outlining the goals of the program, admitting the fact that the pins may recognize a milestone that has been surpassed and congratulating the person INDIVIDUALLY on the correct amount of years would have been much better received.
Effective communication is the key to every interaction…there are three basic components that drive success or failure:
- Clarity
- Completeness
- Compassion
Clarity of the message is very important and deserves the time necessary to ensure that you are conveying the actual message you intended. Remove ambiguity, jargon, confusing language and speak as plainly as you can to ensure that the message is received properly. Speak and write as if you were sitting across from the person having a conversation.
Completeness of any message is critical to both acceptance and understanding. Several leaders that I have worked with over the years have tried to write the shortest memos possible thinking that brevity insured readership. In fact, readership was typically achieved as was misunderstanding. When your message provokes more questions than it answers, it is poorly crafted. Take the time and the number of words that you need to insure understanding. If the message is interesting and well crafted, your audience will read or listen. (You’ve read all the way to here, haven’t you?)
Compassion for your intended audience is also essential. No, not the mushy kind…the kind that indicates that you are communicating to them, about them and informing them about something you feel they should know about. I have long taught the principal of WII-FM (What’s In It For Me?). Every piece of communication, marketing copy and even training material should be focused on the consumer, reader, student, recipient of the message and written to engage them as they apply their WII-FM filter system.
Regardless of the purpose of any message, apply the three Cs and you will become a much more effective communicator. In the end, every issue that you are dealing with right now, at home, work or with friends has its roots in one place… It ALWAYS boils down to communication.
