Recently, insurance company, Suncorp released research showing that despite business owners being tempted by the promise of flexible working hours and total autonomy, the reality of 24×7 commitment was having a negative effect on their health.
I remember someone once told me running a business gave me ultimately flexibility in that I could choose whichever 18 hours of the day I wanted to work. And I think it’s safe to say, that as business owners, we’ve all been there at some point in time.
Jokes aside though, the negative health effects of putting your wellbeing last on the list can be devastating. Those listed by the research included exhaustion, fatigue, financial stress, loss of motivation and/or relationship strain. All things that are not just damaging to you as a human, if allowed to cause damage to you, ultimately damage your business as well.
Yes, a goodly dollop of stress is as part of the package when you’re a business owner. But, burn-out and all its ills, exhaustion, marriage breakdown, etc don’t have to be.
You quite simply have to prioritise your wellbeing.
How do you prioritise your wellbeing?
There’s a lot of research showing that taking a moment out of your otherwise flat-out day, ‘sharpens the saw’ of your mind as well as having benefits for your body.
Start with some meditation
Meditation appears to benefit business owners (and CEOs) more than recreation or relaxation do on their own. Research shows meditation boosts memory, the ability to focus and emotional intelligence. More than that though, it also decreases anxiety, builds resilience and enhances creativity. Three critical factors required for success in business.
20 minutes seems to be a bit of a sweet spot, but as little as 5 minutes a day will do it if done regularly. And everyone, and I don’t care how busy you say you are, can spare 5 minutes a day.
Add in some pilates
Pilates is based on six key principles – centreing yourself, concentration, control, precision, breath and flow. All of which require you to switch your brain from what is most likely a pattern of scattered thinking, darting from one thing to the next to the next, to focus on a single task in the moment.
Better than that though, because you’re using your body’s resistance against itself, you’re also giving it a workout that helps you be more flexible, sleep better and reduces your risk of chronic disease that’s become so prevalent now that we spend most of our hours sitting on a chair or the sofa.
And throw in maybe a little Bootcamp
With so many of us spending so much time sitting in front of a screen, it’s not just our bodies that are affected; it’s our brains too. Aerobic fitness activity like a bootcamp gets the blood pumping around your body and that delivers brain-boosting effects, both in terms of greater oxygen supply, but also a rush of endorphins that boost our moods too.
And if you need your brain to function better for your business, physical exercise has been shown to prevent brain shrinkage (yes, really!!) which means your memory is likely to be better and you’re less likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease in the long run (and that’s always something to be avoided if possible).
What if I don’t have time?
One of the conversations I hear time and again from business owners, is “I just don’t have an hour plus to leave the office, do the thing, have a shower and then travel back”. And I get it. To make time in there for travel to and fro is an extra hassle.
SOI’s in-house fitness
That’s one of the reasons why we started providing those services to our clients in-house – all complimentary for our SOI community. We know that being focused and active delivers both better health and better business. Plus it also gives SOI’s clients a chance to get out of their heads and meet others in the SOI community. And that’s awesome for all concerned.
So if you’re at a stage where you’re considering moving your business premises either out of home for the first time or to a flexible office that will scale with you as you need and you like the idea of working with a company that looks after both your health and your business, we’d be delighted to talk further. You can call us on 1300 318 680 or drop us a note.