business strategy

The One Luxury You Must Afford

If you know me personally, you know that I am a pretty simple girl. I wear jeans when I can possibly help it. My shoe collection fits on the floor in a single row on my side of the closet. As long as my car has AC and automatic doors, I am in heaven. I see things all the time that people think are necessities that to me I think, “eh”. iphones, fancy laptops, tricked out cars, purse collections (I own one and use it until it’s trashed then get a new one) etc.

But there is one thing that people tend to consider a luxury that baffles me! Self-Nurture. In my world, this is a NECESSITY! I hear this ALL the time from business owners. “I can’t take time off to go on the ski trip.” “I’m too busy to go to the bathroom, let alone have a day at the spa.” “I don’t have time for daily meditation, I wake up and hit the floor running until my head hits the pillow at night.” Are you guilty?

There’s a really easy reason why self-nurture is a necessity. I call it the B-word. BURNOUT! When you hit burnout, your productivity, passion and profits all slump! You are not innovative. You are not seeing how to solve problems clearly. You are not an amazing husband, wife, mother or father. You are just going through the motions and your business and family suffer! Consider burnout like the bubonic plague for entrepreneurs. You do not want it!

In order to keep it away, you must fight it at ANY COST! And yes, you guessed it, the cost is self-nurture! We all have physical, mental, and emotional needs that have to be met. When they are met, we have what it takes to go the distance. When they are not, we run out of fuel and burnout settles in.

I promise you don’t want to go there!

Take some time to analyze what you really need. I work with INTENSITY. I get more done than most in a day. Sometimes I forget to go to the bathroom or eat. And I love to eat, so that’s how you know it’s intense in my office. To balance that out, I take of EVERY Friday (unless I’m traveling) and go to a quiet place to get spiritually connected before the weekend. Then I go out to lunch with my husband.

When I feel like I’ve been working super hard, I’ll take time to paint or play my cello. I wake up early so that I have time to read, journal and think before my kids wake up. I do not burn the midnight oil, because I am a girl that needs her beauty sleep! I got regular massages when I lived in Utah. Still looking for a new massage therapist in my new town.

When I am in the middle of the day, and I am stressed and under pressure, I take 10 minutes that I DO NOT HAVE to walk outside, take deep breaths and recharge. I set a schedule that honors my natural flow. I get tired in the afternoon and I plan activities that will either allow me to be restful or are fun enough to give me a second wind. I do not do anything for money that doesn’t honor my values or my boundaries with my family.

I’m not saying your self-nurture should look like mine, but you do need to have it! Your productivity will thank me! For more details visit here: business growth