Putting Myself First: 5 Values-Driven Guidelines for a Thriving Business
Being a business owner for many years and having owned many businesses, I’ve developed some guidelines to live by that helped me stay grounded. I’ve shared them with other business owners and I know it’s helped them, however I haven’t officially written them down until now. I was inspired by Gretchen Rubin and her 12 Commandments of Happiness to live by.
Here’s the major ones I use on a daily or weekly basis:
Only check my work email on my laptop and only during working hours. Ok, so I don’t follow this 100% of the time, there’s times where I’ll check my work email on my phone. However, I have to have a specific reason to check email otherwise, I don’t allow myself. This rule has reduced a great amount of stress and the ability to separate my personal life and work life much more. There was a time when I was checking my work email all the time and I wondered why I wasn’t sleeping at night or felt jittery all the time!
Pause before making a final decision and giving a reply. I used to be (still am at times) very impulsive and react to emails/texts so quickly, for fear I’d lose out on an opportunity. With the help of coaching and inner work, I see that it’s not true and giving decisions time, even if it’s an hour, will help me live closer to the life I want.
Pausing before I pick up my phone and ask WHY? I remember the day I got my first shiny new Iphone and how excited I was to play on all of the apps and be connected. Years later, I found myself scrolling and wasting hours and wondering how it happened. Our phones are so useful and entertaining, however I want to have good intentions with them. There’s times when I’m bored or anxious and turning to my phone isn’t always the best decision.
Start the day with movement and reflection( and don’t start by reading email). In the last 5 years, I’ve woken up and exercised, read, or journaled. I realized on the days I don’t do that, I feel sluggish and not very sharp. Moving around before I start working has made a HUGE impact on my ability to focus on work and keep going when things are challenging or I’m doing a lot of uncomfortable things.
Always stop and write my ideas down. I don’t know about you, but ideas for these newsletters and marketing do not come to me in front of the computer. They appear when I’m doing dishes, driving, walking the dog, in the shower and other times throughout my day. I have multiple notebooks I keep on me to record my thoughts (I tried my phone, but I find it’s faster to write and record my thoughts sometimes).
I’d love to hear your thoughts. What are you doing on a regular basis (daily or weekly) to keep you in check? Has the pandemic affected your rules to live by? Send me an email and tell me, I’d love to know!