A Healthy Body Means A Healthy Business

Entrepreneurs consistently cite their values of independence, autonomy, flexibility, and freedom as the top reasons they choose that career path. Are you self-employed or working on becoming self-employed? You’re probably no different.

However, the ability to call all your own shots may bring a great number of challenges. I’ve often heard clients reflect some of them as…

• “Business is good, but I feel stressed all the time.”
• “I have a strong compelling vision for the future, but I’m overwhelmed with all the possible choices – I just want to know the right things to do.”
• “I want the autonomy, but this sense that I mustn’t fail is so heavy.”

Maybe you’ve had some of these thoughts and emotions yourself.

So how do you find peace, relaxation, and excitement about your business again? A million business gurus will tell you it begins with changing your attitude and staying positive all the time.

Let me be the anti-guru.

Of course, the right mental state is critical, but getting there starts at a more fundamental level: simply taking good care of your body.

We hear constantly that our bodies need exercise, a healthy diet, adequate sleep, and strength training for our old age. You also know that the way you feel physically has a profound effect on your thoughts and emotions. I probably won’t say anything in this article that you haven’t heard before. But my hope is that by reading it, you’ll look at your relationship with your body in a new way.

So look at it from this perspective: you have an ideal life you aspire to create. Part of that is having a thriving business. Other elements include things such as an intimate love relationship, meaningful friendships, a comfortable income, a thriving career, a great place to live (your home, your city, etc.), and especially the freedom to make all your goals a reality. Have you ever had a time in your life when all these parts were lined up and working together? A time when you stopped looked around and thought, “this is it – everything is just right.” Isn’t that what you really want and strive to achieve?

Take good care of your body, and you take care of your mind. That’s key in laying the foundation for all the pieces to fall into place.

You’ve heard all this before. Studies reveal that almost everyone knows they “should” work out, eat well, and so on, but the top objection people have is what you might be thinking right now…

“I don’t have enough time for that.”

It may feel like, “I’m up early, at work all day, I run to the store, get home and make dinner, get the kids bathed and to bed (the variables may be different for you but the feeling is the same). By then I’m exhausted and ready to collapse in front of the TV or in bed – where am I supposed to squeeze in exercise?”

In other words, you have the time, but you make all the other things in your life a higher priority. There’s nothing wrong with that, but let’s tell the truth about it.

So look at it this way: if everything in my life is working together, including my mind and body, then…

• Exercise isn’t a chore. It’s an integral necessity that feeds my energy and gives me clearer focus when at work and with family.
• A nap isn’t a luxury reserved for weekends. It completes my body’s need for eight full hours.
• Eating well isn’t a huge lifestyle change. It’s a way of honoring and nurturing my body as I would a child that’s dependent on me for her well-being.

Now you’re not trying to fit everything in. You’re crafting a lifestyle that reflects self-respect and balance.

It may not be easy, especially at first (baby steps are great), but nobody ever said owning your own business would be easy. Besides, you may still reach the level of success you want without taking care of your body, but I’d be willing to bet it won’t be nearly as fast or enjoyable.

Until next month, my friends, here’s to energetic days and a long healthy life.