My Account
Being in business is exciting, rewarding and fulfilling but sometimes it can also be stressful, challenging and a lot of hard work. And while a certain amount of stress can keep focused, motivated and taking action, it can become a pain point when it’s too much.
Over the years I’ve seen the impact of stress and what it can do. My first career was nursing and I was a surgical and Intensive Care nurse, and cardio-thoracic was one of my areas of clinical specialty. However, what I saw on a daily basis was the effect of stress on people’s hearts and health. Many years later, I can see that same impact on the business owners who I work with in my coaching/consulting business.
I see many people stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated at where they’re at in business. Most people have set high standards for themselves and where they ‘should’ be by now. They ‘should’ have more clients, they ‘should’ be making more money, they ‘should’ be doing better than they are by now.
But when we put this extra pressure on ourselves, is it to match our expectations, or are we comparing ourselves to others? We are often good at looking after our clients, but are we taking that same care at looking after ourselves?
So how do you know when it’s time to make some changes? Are you regularly worried about lack of money and tight cashflow, working long hours of 50 hours per week or more or maybe finding it hard to prioritise because everything seems urgent? Is working weekends and most nights becoming normal? Are you getting frustrated with clients and staff, have high blood pressure, stomach ulcers or headaches and are you having to use more medication? In short, do you feel as though you’re constantly on the treadmill and it never stops?
If this sounds like you, then it’s time to ‘stage an intervention’.
First, relax, take a step back and review what is working well in your business and what’s not. Where are the gaps and what is costing you time and/or money? Write a priority list of the things that need to change – and rank those priorities in order of importance (this is because you can’t do everything at once). Focus on your systems, because this is a quick way to save time and reduce your working hours. The more efficient you can get, and the better you can streamline your processes, the easier you will make it for you and your clients.
So when you’re a business owner, be kind to yourself, take the pressure off, and take it one step at a time. And instead of focusing on all the things that aren’t happening, focus on your ‘wins’ and the positives that are achieved each week. It’s amazing how good that can make you feel.
