Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a secret recipe for becoming a successful business owner? If you could flip a switch and suddenly have everything fall into place?
If there was you could take that recipe and turn yourself and your business into a gold mine. You’d have ridiculously amazing ideas, your mind would always be sharp, and you’d constantly be finding opportunities to grow.
Suddenly you’d no longer have to worry about the things you worry about now, like not having enough money or feeling blocked when you need your creativity to shine. You’d no longer feel unclear and unfocused. Your energy levels would be through the ceiling.
And while I’m pretty sure there are no exact recipes for success, I did come across an article that could very well be a damn good substitute for said recipe.
The 7 Habits of Great Small Business Owners
I can’t even remember how this article found its way to me, except that it did. It may not be an exact recipe, as in there are no “measurements” included, but it’s a clear outline for what it takes to achieve the level of success you’re looking for.
The article of course identifies some obvious habits, like being organized, planning ahead and nurturing relationships. But it mentioned one habit that I think is exactly what makes all the difference between major success and minor success. The authors of the article must agree because they listed this habit as numero uno:
Great small business owners take care of themselves.
The article goes on to explain:
“Smart small business owners recognize that having a sharp mind requires having a healthy body. Attention is paid to eating healthy and making time for physical exercise. What lesser business owners might see as overly indulgent behavior is seen by truly astute managers as necessary maintenance of their most crucial tool: their brain.”
I’d say this is even more true for creative small business owners (writers, designers, musicians, etc.).
Your brain (and body, and heart and soul) are the core source of your creativity. When you’re fueling yourself with healthy foods and habits, your creativity will perform at its peak.
But when you’re fueling your body with junk—aka: fast food, processed food, refined sugar, artificial ingredients—all you’re gonna get is junk. Junky thoughts, junky attitude, junky ideas.
Junk.
Yuck!
You don’t want junk. Junk is what blocks you. It’s what stops you from being the creative person you want to be.
So how do you embody these habits of great, smart, successful small business owners?
For starters, you read the rest of the 7 habits of great small business owners article on Forbes.com so you can familiarize yourself the with other six habits.
Then you make a commitment to honoring these habits—and most especially habit number one.
Take Charge Of Your Success
As the Forbes article mentioned, your brain is your most critical tool. Without it, you can’t do much.
And your brain requires certain things to function at its best. It needs healthy fats and Omega-3s and -6s. It needs a variety of mental stimuli to keep it challenged and strong.
Most of all, it needs your love and your support. It needs you to take good care of it, so that it can take good care of your business.
Here are some steps you can take to start honoring the habit of taking care of yourself:
- Get the Junk Out of Your Diet—it’s fine to indulge in some junk every now and again, but if your daily/weekly diet consists of things like Oreos, Lay’s potato chips, sugary cereal and Wonder Bread, it’s time to heave-ho. Those types of products are not food, they’re artificial crap that’s poisoning your brain and killing your creativity.
- Start Eating Stuff That’s Good For You—fruit, vegetables, leafy greens, beans, nuts, whole grains. These things are real, whole food that gives your body nourishment.
- Increase the Fat—truth be told, your body needs fat. The good kind. Your brain cannot function fully without healthy fats. It needs them to fire on all cylinders. Healthy fats include foods like avocados, nuts and olive oil.
- Move Your Body—you don’t have to full-out exert yourself with exercise if you don’t want to, but you should include movement in your daily life. Movement can include anything from walking to yoga to dancing in your living room to some music. Exercise boosts endorphins in your body, which can improve your mood and help relieve stress.
- Get Some Support—no successful business owner operates entirely alone. They all have a team of people to support them. People like coaches, trainers and advisers. It’s easier to be successful when you have support standing in your corner, rooting for you and holding you accountable.
By taking amazing care of yourself on a daily basis, you’ll set into motion a habit that will carry you further toward success than you ever imagined possible.
If you’re ready to take your success to the next level, I invite you to join me for a free 30-minute Creative Unblocking session, where we’ll discover what’s holding you back from having what you want, and identify how you can start making habit #1 (taking care of yourself) a priority. Email me to claim your session: jennifer@inkybites.com.
