Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get side-tracked when you’re running a business?
You get so caught up in the day-to-day hustle that, before you know it, your health, happiness, and even relationships become strained.
Though it may seem counterintuitive to do when you’re working so hard to be a success, it’s imperative to take time out of your schedule to care for yourself.
Casey Plouffe is the Chief Breath Officer, Chief Feel Good Officer, and Chief Fun Officer of her very successful company Have It All. The main intention of this organization is to help others transform in every area of their life.
As a former Registered Nurse and wellness advocate, Casey is one of the best sources to show us why implementing self-care is so important to our success.
Back when she starting her business, Casey worked with a business coach who told her that she needed to breathe.
It seems like a no-brainer, right? After all, we breathe constantly throughout the day. However, many of us aren’t getting the deep, relaxing breaths we need.
Closing our eyes and taking a few deep breaths can go far to help us improve our life and health.
How so?
For one thing, most people are shallow breathers. This can mean we’re not giving our brain the oxygen it needs to function optimally. But when you take a moment to breathe deeply, you’ll quickly notice an increase in the clarity of your thoughts, as well as your energy levels.
Second, deep breathing helps you to re-set. If you’re feeling stressed out and overwhelmed, take a moment to breathe. Just a minute or so of deep breathing is a great way to re-group and feel ready to tackle the task at hand.
Another important part of self-care is checking in regularly to find out what it is you really want. We all want to feel good, and doing what we love is a wonderful way to improve how we feel.
It’s important to note that doing what we love doesn’t equate to feeling awesome 100% of the time. Pursuing our dreams and goals requires going outside of our comfort zone and doing things that we might be afraid of trying.
Our soul craves growth, though. So, in order to accomplish what we want in this life, we have to go through periods of discomfort from time to time.
Keep in mind when going through those periods of growth that this is just a transition to a happier, healthier life.
The better you feel in life, the more you will be able to do — both for yourself and for others. You can’t give to others when your own cup is empty.
When you’re having fun working on a project, what happens? You get into a flow and you can work for hours without stopping to look at the clock.
Not only do you feel good at the end of a fun-filled work day — you actually accomplish so much more.
Guess what? You get to choose to have fun, to choose projects that will bring you joy and make your days go by in a blissful blur.
So why get stuck doing something you don’t want to?
Instead, delegate projects to others who might enjoy them and stick to those you like.
That brings us to an important question, though: What about those things we absolutely have to do but that we don’t particularly like to do?
Casey pointed to Richard Branson as her inspiration in cases like these.
Mr. Branson challenges himself to find the fun in all activities. You can’t deny the success such a mindset has resulted in.
It’s all well and good to tell someone to go out and live a life full of fun when you’re feeling your best physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
But what if you’re dealing with chronic illness, economic hardships, or a serious injury?
Though it’s not always easy, these circumstances can serve to be momentous milestones of transformation and growth.
Casey knows about this first hand.
She was just building her business when she experienced a debilitating back injury. It was like her body just gave out on her.
Casey soon became depressed and says this was one of the lowest points in her life.
But this is just one low point she’s experienced. Like the rest of us, her life is in a constant state of ebb and flow between good times and bad.
Yet, Casey is a great example of someone who used her struggles for growth.
An important lesson she’s learned along the way is the importance of self-kindness.
She recommends thinking about a child that has made a mistake or is dealing with a difficult circumstance. Ask yourself how you would treat that child. Would you act harshly toward them, or would you shower them with kindness and compassion?
We deserve this same sort of consideration, honoring ourselves as the precious human being that we are.
Treating ourselves with kindness will help us to be better equipped to deal with the struggles that come our way.
You won’t be able to have the successful life you desire if you don’t take care of yourself and practice self-care.
When we focus so much on being successful in business, it can be easy to get so obsessive that we forget about our health. When that happens, our bodies will slowly break down and eventually give out.
If that happens, not only are you not a success, you’re not having any fun along the way.
As Casey says, you need to slow down in order to speed up.
The more effort you put into being kind to your body and living a happy, healthy, and fun life, the more success you’ll be able to enjoy in your business.
Would you like more inspiration from Casey? Make sure to check out her personal essays in the best-selling book The Journey of Riches Anthology.