Balance. So important. So elusive.
Probably to a person, entrepreneurs are comforted by excessive behavior -- when it comes to working hard -- especially in ourselves and in our staff, contractors, vendors, even family or friends, everyone who helps us accomplish our goals.
This motivation, discipline and drive are necessary for success. Left unchecked, however, taking stress on, head on, can help us grow our business, but it can also kill us. And that's not really an exaggeration. Stress is a killer, even good stress in sufficient quantities can cause medical emergencies. Important to remember, because getting things done feels so good. The challenge and the effort, however, have downsides to be considered.
Prolonged and high stress levels -- the norm for entrepreneurs -- come with the release of cortisol. Cortisol is an important human hormone secreted by the adrenal glands normally at different times of the day and in different situations. It can provide a quick burst of energy for survival reasons, heightened memory functions, a burst of increased immunity, lower sensitivity to pain and other benefits.
About.com Health's Disease and Condition Guide states:
"While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal following a stressful event. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress."The outcome can be disastrous. (Read more in this article about cortisol.)
Economic pressures are at an all-time high, for just about everyone. Undoubtedly, your business has been impacted, and so have you. This makes the effort to make better decisions and generate income more important, and the need to reduce the negative impacts of stress greater.
The good news is we already know the cure. It's doing all the things we put aside to make our business grow. We derive true nourishment from sharing good times with loved ones; from engaging in physical activity, whether we go to the gym, bicycle, work in the garden or run; and from self-care, such as napping, making music or drawing, getting a massage, meditating, etc.
The truth is, for those of us who are the doers, the ones who have ideas and are willing to get behind them, take the risks, make things happen, we could cut back 50% and we'd still be above-average productive. We have to value the work that we do do enough so that we don't feel the need to over-commit unnecessarily.
So, we work on breaking a few bad habits. And we move 10% from some column that can spare it into the "Taking Care of the Business Owner Business" column.
Balance gives us the strength and flexibility we need to be better executive managers.
We're smart. And we never give up. We can totally do it.
Enjoy!
