Do you prioritise your health, wellbeing, and self-care? Do you understand the impact poor mental and physical health has on your personal and professional life?
As a female entrepreneur, it’s vital that you look after your needs before you think about the care and duty you have for your clients. The world is a scary place right now, with our news channels sharing horrific images from across the globe. These negative influences leave an imprint on us like a scar. You can’t help but feel emotional when bombarded by negative news. But how do you deal with this?
Running a business often involves meetings, networking events, decision-making, and many other responsibilities. As you seek success and push to grow your business, it can be easy to neglect your most important asset – yourself!
There is nothing wrong with prioritising your health and wellbeing. Self-care is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. How you look after yourself can have a positive impact on your life, but how can you focus on the good, when surrounded by so much bad?
What do we mean by the term ‘self-care’?
In simple terms, self-care refers to the practice of taking action to maintain and improve your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. It involves a range of activities, habits, and choices that make your health and happiness a priority,
I’ve recently returned from a week in the Amalfi Coast, where my wellbeing was at the forefront of my mind. Yes, I was planning my content and events for the next quarter, but I also ensured my health and self-care were catered for. Self-care is essential for maintaining a balanced and fulfilling life, and it varies from person to person.
Jumping on a plane and heading to Italy might not be your idea of self-care, and that’s fine. It is, however, exactly what I needed. Think about your individual needs and preferences. What would you want to do, be, or have as part of your self-care journey?
Self-care activities include a wide range of practices:
- Physical – this may involve regular exercise, a healthy and balanced diet, drinking plenty of water, getting enough sleep, or seeking advice from a GP when necessary.
- Emotional – this could include journaling, meditation, counselling, mindfulness, or simply meeting up with friends and family.
- Mental – to maintain a sharp mental focus, you might enjoy learning something new, doing quizzes or online apps such as Wordle. Your self-care is strongly linked with resilience, and nurturing your mental health helps with this.
- Social – building strong connections and relationships is only one part of your social self-care. Maintaining these relationships will help you when you need support. Learning to say no and setting boundaries on your time and energy is another vital aspect of social self-care.
- Spiritual – this may include engaging in activities that align with your values.
Self-care isn’t a one size fits all concept. Your needs will change depending on your circumstances. The key is to prioritise yourself and make time to do those activities that promote positive health and wellbeing.
Practising self-care is essential for your personal and professional life. It helps you manage stress and build resilience as an entrepreneur.
The importance of self-care
Let’s explore some of the benefits of prioritising self-care in your life:
Productivity and creativity – when your mind is well-rested, you are more productive and creative. You will be able to think more clearly, make better decisions, problem-solve with ease, and face any challenges more effectively.
Stress management – burnout and health issues are no fun and have a huge impact on your business and personal life. To avoid such challenges, you must prioritise your self-care to help you manage stress effectively and boost your mental wellbeing.
Confidence – when you take care of your needs, it boosts your confidence and your self-esteem. Your professional life benefits from being more assertive, and your networking skills increase your visibility.
How can you include self-care into your daily routine?
Understanding the importance of self-care is essential, but without putting it into practice, nothing will change, and you may head towards burnout.
Let’s explore how you can incorporate self-care into your routine:
- Outsource – you can’t do everything yourself. Look at the tasks you can outsource to others. Tap into your network and work with trusted colleagues who will support you. Delegating tasks frees up your time, allowing you to dedicate those extra hours to self-care.
- Boundaries – learning to say no is one of the most powerful things you can do for your wellbeing. Establish clear boundaries with your personal and professional commitments.
- Me time – make sure your diary has a mix of meetings, appointments, networking events, and time for self-care, such as going for a walk, meeting friends, a massage, or meditation time. Make your Me Time as much of a priority as your client meetings.
- Exercise and a healthy diet – ensure you prioritise regular exercise even if it’s a short walk every lunchtime. Speak to the amazing nutritionists within the Woman Who network about choosing the right foods for your body and time of life.
- Support – seek out a coach, mentor, or counsellor who can help you to manage stress and maintain your self-care.
As a business owner, taking care of yourself is not selfish. Prioritising your health, wellbeing, and self-care is a smart business move. Take a good look at how you are looking after yourself and what changes, if any, you need to make.
Woman Who Inspires Online Events
Each month, Woman Who hosts the Woman Who Inspires Online Network, and tickets to our November event are now live.
With Woman Who events, networking, inspirational speakers, and learning will be included with this month’s theme, Health, Wellbeing, and Self-Care.
In business, we need to network to increase our contacts and our pipeline of work for the future. Whether you network online or in person, you can share your networking tips and learn new ones.
“It is an absolute pleasure to attend the Woman Who Networking events and also to be part of the Woman Who Achieves Academy. The monthly networking events attract a wide range of individual businesswomen and provide so much more than just networking. The inspirational speakers deliver quality content and are more than willing to share their knowledge and expertise. Membership of Woman Who Achieves Academy is extremely good value for money with flexibility to participate around any busy schedule. So many well-structured topics are discussed with the ability to catch up on replay with any missed subjects.” Sue Burton, Colour & Style Analysis Image Consultancy