Is it just me or do you also notice that every entrepreneur has one thing in common?
Business comes first.
Before everything else including health.
I've seen women entrepreneurs make all kinds of sacrifices with some unfortunate consequences just to get ahead and make it in business.
Putting your business first doesn't even guarantee that you will book out with clients next month or break six-figures next launch. But it guarantees burnout, exhaustion and total incongruence in the way you show up in your business and in your life.
During the last 14 months, I too have gotten caught up in this absolute mentality of doing "whatever it takes" to finish up the last project for the day or the week. Skipped meals, snacking on things that don't nourish or fuel my body combined with late night projects and missing the gym yet again only brought me to feeling exhausted and close to burning out.
And though I've been fortunate enough to have loved ones and an amazing team sticking by my side, I realized the most important person who needs to be on my team is me.
What about the money?
Here is the deal, all this hustle and bustle and burning the midnight oil isn't just for the money. In fact, it's never about the money.
It's difficult to justify the countless sacrifices women make just for the money. You know all this effort has a much deeper purpose than monetary gain- it's about building something great, having a deep sense of purpose and changing someone's life.
Let's face it...as women entrepreneurs we believe we are here to change the world.
But how do you prioritize yourself among the 100 or so tasks that must get done so that your business runs and grows?
It starts with ONE decision and that is to put yourself first above anyone else including your business.
So how will you choose to put yourself first this week?
Here are a few simple ideas...
Drink more water today
Take a 20 minute walk at mid-day
Eat more greens with tonight's dinner
Start your day with a smoothie
Exercise before your day starts
Meditate 3 times per week for 10 minutes
Add once piece of fruit to your lunch
Add more colorful foods to your plate
Experiment with super-foods
When your body feels alive your business comes alive too because you are the face of your business.
And once you resolve this area of your life, everything else falls into place.
Don't worry about doing it "right" since there is no one RIGHT way to go about it. It's all about getting to know what your body and your business needs.
Putting yourself first has so many benefits:
You start connecting with the most important person in your business, you!
You start feeling more connected to your own unique creativity and VISION. (Let's remember, your clients want a leader who has vision).
You realize you want to share more on how you change people's lives.
You have a renewed desire to be more visible, personable and accessible. (If your clients can't see and experience you- they can't buy from you).
Every one of my clients who resolved to put themselves first improved their business in amazing ways too.
When you put your health, vitality and natural glow before anything else, the quality of your work magnifies and you start showing up more authentically in your business and life.