How to Invest in Your Most Important Asset, Yourself!
We are in the last stretch of the year, so many ambitious entrepreneurs are investing a lot of time and energy to close the year strong. It’s important to hit your goals to make sure you’re doing what’s in your power to feel successful, but you can’t do that at the expense of your needs— physically and emotionally. I like to look at my energy as a business asset alongside my time, relationships, and money because I need to feel good about myself to be successful. Closing the year strong would be fantastic, yet I also know that regardless of my outcomes, I am good enough because my self-worth is not attached to my business metrics. So as you think about setting your goals for next year, are you feeling relaxed and in control? Or are you feeling stressed and deflated?
There’s a Chinese quote that translates to “I am standing on no failure ground,” which means I know what I need to do to be successful, and everything else is icing on the cake, meaning I’ll be okay whether I win this battle or not. In this blog, I will share a few ways that I like to invest in my peace of mind to be fully present and make the best use of my assets.
Make a plan to invest your time, money, and energy in these areas according to your needs and your goals so you can stand on “no failure ground” with me:
Invest Time to Move, Rest and Reflect
There aren’t many things that I like to recommend for every business owner, but we all need to protect our energy by finding quiet time to reflect every day, move our bodies, and rest. I have grown to rely on my morning routine to help prioritize the time I need to take care of myself. However, I compromised that time during a time when my family needed me most earlier this year. Instead of spending my mornings exercising and reflecting, I was on the phone making arrangements and caring for my loved one. These tasks were important, but before long, my cup was empty, and I was exhausted. As soon as I realized why I was so fatigued, I explained that I Iove them and wanted to help. And I would find time later in the day to best support them and myself after my morning routine.
Finding ways to invest in yourself while supporting your business and others can pay off dividends. In this case, sticking to my boundaries paid off because I was more energized and could be more supportive, and when a big prospect came along during the crisis, I was ready and had the energy I needed to take it on. Time is money because when you are sharp, opportunities don’t pass without knocking.
Invest in Your Surroundings
Beyond investing in your time and energy, your environment and the spaces you visit daily can greatly impact your motivation. Everything about your workspace, from your desk and chair to the walls, storage space, tools, and decor, can be optimized to help you feel good about “coming to work” every day, even if you’re not leaving home. So what are the things you need around you to feel confident and do your job well? And the best news, it doesn’t take an entire office renovation to improve your surroundings; something as small as finding a professional-looking Zoom background can make you feel more confident when you meet clients.
Invest in Your Emotional Bank Account
Building strong connections with a community of other business owners is another way to feel supported, and once you have given your time and resources, it feels easier to ask for help when you need it. Taking just 15 minutes to touch base with a few connections every week keeps those contacts “warm” and reminds you that you’re not alone. You don’t have to spend a lot on a coach or productivity tools for simple accountability; just set up some time to talk with someone who cares—even a close friend or family member—and tell them what you’re trying to achieve. Then, ask them to bug you with a text or an email to check in every so often. They won’t give up on you!
Shiny Objects are Not Wise Investments
As entrepreneurs, we consistently offered a stream of new time-savers, tech tools, coaching programs, and silver bullets promising to make our businesses more profitable and easier to run. It can be so tempting to look at these purchases as investing in your success, and maybe some of them are worth your money. But before you set up that auto-pay on a new service, it’s critical to remember that these “easy button” offers are designed to be irresistible. A good sale starts with understanding the buyer’s problem, so if that tempting offer begins with a solution that sounds too good to be true, buyer beware!
Your best defense against distracting offers is to create a solid plan for accomplishing your business goals, so you always have something realistic to measure these shiny objects. What needs to happen by this time next year to feel like you’re making progress? Write out your goals and the steps it will take to accomplish them. Then, let your business determine what tools you invest in and when.
As we close out the year, remember that progress is better than perfection. I want to point out that my morning routine was not always the source of positive energy that it is now. It’s taken me five or six years to develop my practice, and when I added an exercise regimen, I needed days off to adjust. However, those days of rest were not failures, and neither are the individual losses we all experience from time to time. Instead, they are opportunities to recognize the work you’ve done and open up room for prosperity.
I’d like to leave you with the famous saying that “things that last don’t come easily, and things that come easily don’t last;” building your business and self-growth both take time. So give yourself some grace, embrace imperfection and continue to move forward.
To start your next year off strong, download my free guide, Your Network is Your Prosperity, to learn how to build your business by investing in your relationships.
