5 Ways to Stay Mentally Healthy As A Small Business Owner

5 Ways to Stay Mentally Healthy As A Small Business Owner

One of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced as a small business owner is keeping up with my mental health. All too often, I can talk to 15 people in a day and every single one of them not only wants something, but also doesn’t understand what I do and the challenges I face as a small business owner.

I’m sure many of you are in the same position, so here’s 5 ways to stay mentally healthy as a small business owner.

1) Exercise: I can’t stress this enough, study after study has shown that nothing helps mental health as much as exercise. The reasons are multifold, first it does improve the chemical process in your body, literally increasing good chemicals that are released in your brain. Secondly, you are going to look better, which I think we all know helps our own attitudes.

2) Surround Yourself With Positive People: I think we all know this instinctively, but there are a number of reports that show that surrounding yourself with positive people, makes you more positive
. As a small business owner, that’s really, really important because building a business is rarely a straight line from the beginning to success. There are going to be bumps along the way, places to quit and you want your friends to be supportive of the biggest risk you’ll take in your life.

3) Break Up The Routine: Another thing that’s pretty easy to do as a small business owner, setting a routine and then literally never, ever breaking it. Over time, that gets dull and you’ll find yourself bored with the business you always dreamed of building. Breaking up your routine can be as simple as writing a blog entry in the afternoon instead of first thing in the morning, or working from your local coffee shop instead of your office.

4) Eat Well. Drink a little (the alcohol might not be good, but the situations where people drink, often are very good because they are with friends and family). Basically do everything in moderation. Eat dessert every night and it loses some of its appeal and specialness right? Drink a bottle of wine and you probably feel it in the morning. But a single glass of wine with a great friend? That’s a fun night. A great meal followed by an awesome creme brulee? That’s the kind of thing that makes us happier, healthier human beings, not less.

5)Meditate or Find Some Way To Quiet Your Mind: Ask any small business owner and they’ll tell you the same thing, it’s almost impossible to stop thinking. There’s always a current and next marketing method to employ. At some point, you’ve got to stop and enjoy what you’ve built, not move along to the next thing on your checklist. For most, that’s really hard to do. I find that taking a quiet moment or two, even if you don’t call it meditation, allows me to calm my mind and refocus once I am ready to begin working again. Always on, isn’t a good habit, even if you’re a small business owner, no matter what anyone tells you.