As a female entrepreneur, business owner, coach and mentor of the many women who visit her studios, Peta Howlett is learning first hand how to walk the talk while running a business.
Peta is passionate about inspiring women and helping them to build themselves up in terms of health, fitness and emotional wellbeing. Peta works with her clients, encouraging them to achieve goals while taking great care of themselves and each other. However somewhere along the journey of empowering others to be their best, she lost her way.
“It is a common trap that most leaders fall into,” Peta says “We want to deliver the best to our clients and be all they want us to be, but sometimes while doing that, pieces of us can fall away.”
Business owners and leaders work extremely hard, moving from goal to goal in order to accomplish their vision, and sometimes while doing that, they lose themselves. A 13-15 hour day is common for many business people, with a day off every few weeks. As a leader, your own training falls by the wayside. It’s a dangerous, repetitive cycle where you burn out, recover a little and then head back
Warning signs that you’re losing yourself
- An inability to switch off. You feel the need to be constantly connected, checking emails late at night and simply not feeling at ease with just being. You feel the constant pressure from your workload and the demands of running a business.
- You have forgotten what you enjoy in life and often wonder what else is there outside of running your business. You find yourself doing a Google search for ‘How do people relax?’
- You try to please everyone all the time and allow no time for you. You often say yes to others and no to yourself.
- You feel as though you are losing connections with the people you love.
Some tips that may help
- Commit to how many hours you will work and see this as a KPI that must be reached, just like any other KPI in your business. This will help you perform better and get better results. Share this plan with someone who will hold you accountable.
- Just as you schedule in work time, meetings and training, also book in time for yourself. Book in that massage or that round of golf and commit to yourself just as you would commit to a client or team member. You wouldn’t cancel on a client so don’t cancel on yourself.
- Set yourself a daily ritual that sets you up for success. A workout in the morning to get a hit endorphins before you jump into the day-to-day demands of running a business can help. Meditation can also give clarity and set you up for a day of focus and clear intention. Assess what you have achieved at the end of each day and see what worked well and where you need to improve.
- Remember you are the leader, and so you must set an example for those who you lead. This includes looking after yourself so you have the energy to drive your team. Show your team that you value your work-life balance and that disconnecting can allows us all to perform at a higher capacity when we are in work mode.
Business owners need to take the time to be themselves and make a business that works for them.
Lead your business and life from the inside out. You won’t be the only person who has lost yourself along the way, so give yourself the permission to stop and reconnect with your heart, your life and your business.
