Putting Ourselves First

June 19, 2017 by Ed Becker

As business owners and entrepreneurs, we usually are last in line for attending to ourselves. We work very long, exhausting hours trying to get ‘everything’ done. Which is an oxymoron, because everything is never done.  Burn out rates and business failure stats are high because the candle gets burned at both ends. We don’t make time for our families, let alone making time for ourselves. This is the opposite of how we should be running our lives and our businesses.

By not putting ourselves first, carving out time for self-care & self-love, we run the higher risk of burn out. After so long of allowing everything and everyone else taking priority, we have nothing left to give and could easily have a breakdown. If not a complete breakdown, we could get sick. Stress, poor eating, and sleep habits create a very unhealthy lifestyle which, at some point, will catch up with us, and our bodies will finally say enough.

We need to ask ourselves why are we starting a business? Or why do we choose to work from home? Why are we freelancers? Why did we choose this business model? More than likely it is because we have a passion, we have a vision, we have a dream, we wanted more time for our family and for ourselves, we wanted to get out of the high stress rat race of corporate business…. whatever reason(s) it was, this is what we were on fire for, the passion that burned inside us to get out. How passionate are we now? How much time do we ‘spend’ with our family? How many events and special moments do we miss because we must work, or there is just not any time? Was this where we wanted our lives to go when we chose to work for ourselves? Let’s assume at least 99% of us are saying no.

The way to get back our passion, to lessen our stress levels and get excited about life and work again is to take care of #1! YOU!

Once we begin to care for ourselves first, we will see a huge difference in ourselves and those around us. Life will run smoother, we will have more of us to give to our clients, work, family, friends, etc. We must take care of ourselves first, always. The first thing emergency workers are taught is to keep themselves breathing, safe and functional FIRST. If they don’t, they cannot help or save anyone else. This is a lesson every person should be taught from infancy and maintain throughout their whole life.

We need to understand that we must come first, or we are no good to anyone else.

It does not have to take a lot of time, or cost to create time for self-care and self-love. Start slowly, once we start seeing the changes we will want more!  Let’s begin with easy items:

1. Set work hours or at the least set limits
2. Take short breaks even just for 5 minutes
3.  Take a daily brisk walk
4. Do some type of mindfulness activity, start with 5-10 minutes
5. Eat unprocessed natural food
6. Sleep enough by setting a regular sleep and wake time of at least 8 hours
7. Do something you have always wanted but never had the time to do so
8. Spend ‘real’ time with family which means being present and not distracted
9. Spend time with good friends with like-minded visions
10. Create a morning ritual and stick to it