Box52 Coaching & Consulting Services - Blog #self-care

5 Ways to Stay Authentic as a Solopreneur

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 15:09:53 -0500

Solopreneurs: Honesty, Authenticity and Courage

If 2020’smayhem and maladies taught solopreneurs anything, it was the value of authenticity and honesty. The virtue of courage, where the value of honesty resides, was tested repeatedly. For business owners trying to survive in the a face of a grossly mismanaged pandemic and ongoing racial injustice, there was no hiding from the long list of questions, such as

What are my core values and how do they show in my business?
Will I need to pivot my services and products?
What do my customers need right now to feel cared about and important?
Do I have the physical and mental energy to do what is needed?
Where can I find reliable guidance and support?
What do I need to stop doing right now to stay in business?
Who can I trust?

And, yet, single-owner LLCs and sole proprietors continued to create experiences that felt right and familiar for customers. They provided moments of normalcy in a tumultuous year. Sometimes it came in the form of artisanal bread produced at the ultra-local level and delivered to your doorstep. Or meditation and movement offered by yoga instructors teaching outdoors or via video to keep their communities connected. Maybe it was personalized fitness and conditioning brought by a masked instructor, helping to reduce anxiety and keeping people fit. Lessons of all types were offered from in-person studios, living rooms and virtual settings—even drumming instruction for children!

Fellow independent, one-person business owners shared their challenges and coping methods with Box52 Coaching. Here are some key take-aways.

Keep Your Vision Front and Center

It is not enough to write a vision statement for a business plan. Believing and sharing that vision of how the world will be better because of your product or service is equally, if not more important. Post it in a prominent place where you work, live, and look (like on your phone!). Refer to your vision often and use it as a touchstone when making difficult decisions.

Find Financial Fortitude

Being your own boss means doing a deep dive on your values around money. Consider questions like the following:

How comfortable are you without a predictable paycheck?
What does financial security mean to you?

How will you stop undervaluing your service or product and begin to charge what it is worth?

This is NOT an area to avoid or put off. Questions about what you are or aren’t willing to do for a profit are better answered before you are in a financial bind. It takes serious resolve to endure the ups and downs of generating revenue each month. Establishing a separate bank account for your business will prevent many headaches in the future. Find more important tips here to reduce money management worries.

Put Your Biz First with Boundaries and Drop the Guilt

It is HARD to let go of the feeling that you must work ALL THE TIME when it is you and only you taking care of your business. Build in regular reminders that you are your best self when you are comfortable and relaxed running your business. This means taking breaks and keeping your life multi-dimensional. Create a routine to shape your work day. This strategy is especially critical if you operate out of your living space. Scheduling work hours helps to eliminate the feeling that you should be doing something else, like caring for your home and any other beings who live there. It also helps those around you to know when they can gain your full attention, rather than becoming another interruption. Tackle guilt head on. It wastes your precious energy.

Take Care of Your Body/Mind

As a certified health and wellness coach, I can’t emphasize self-care enough. Rest (sleep and other forms) allows vital physical processes to occur in your body. Dr. Matt Walker, a sleep guru with degrees in neuroscience and neurophysiology, shares why soundly snoozing is important. He offers six tips for getting more and better sleep.

Eating a balanced, nutritious diet provides a quality source of energy to stay focused and to meet your business demands. Keep fruits, veggies, and nuts handy to snack on. Drink water. You can add edible essential oils or slices of fruit to make water taste better without extra sugar or sugar alternatives.

Whether you call it exercise or not, find ways to include more movement in your day. Dance, walk, run, bike, swim, snowshoe, chair yoga, kickbox, spin, or roll. Whatever your body is capable of doing, do it. Just be sure to get it into your daily routine. Your brain will thank you, along with the rest of your body. Need more proof? Check out this article about all the benefits.

Stop putting off preventive and routine medical care. Find a new primary care physician and go for an appointment. Schedule with the dentist. See an eye doctor. The upfront time and effort it takes to do these tasks can be frustrating, but it is worth the investment. Being healthy is not a guarantee, and many individuals manage chronic illness while leading their business. Remember, taking care of yourself is a type of insurance for your business. Suze Orman, whose whole business is money, shares her personal denial and ultimate health consequence here.

Seek Out Support

Even though you made the leap to be on your own, you are not alone. Find other solopreneurs to brainstorm ideas. Connect with local business groups or like-minded social media groups. Sign up for an account with the Small Business Development Center in your region or state. Talk to family and friends about how they can support you in clear, concrete ways. It can help them to feel purposeful and can get you help when you need it. Stop believing that successful people do things all on their own. It’s a fallacy. And, as we learned at the beginning, being honest with yourself is crucial to making your business thrive.

Hiring a coach is an outstanding way to define your goals, address your fears, and gain clarity about areas that need attention. You get a confidential space to express yourself and support in setting up actions and accountability strategies to meet internal and external expectations for your business.

Thank you to the following solopreneur-led businesses for your contributions: Mindful Moving Kids, Iron Soul Training LLC, Cristina’s Bread House, Joe Ruzzi Drum Instruction, Full Circle Yoga KC

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Lead Workplace Culture by Honoring Self-Care Commitments

Fri, 03 Jul 2020 20:43:57 -0500

Now Til December: Honoring Commitments, Perseverance and Pride

Anyone else struggling to honor your well-being commitments in recent weeks? Energy level zapped? Feeling emotionally drained? Sleeping less? Eating more? Fitness routine gone off the rails? You are not alone.

Reasons to “Refuel”

Now, more than ever, leaders in communities, organizations and business are stretched beyond their limits. Systemic racism, police brutality, political turmoil and the coronavirus pandemic fallout are huge issues on their own. Compounding them all into the past four months is like combining a ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl, Bumper Cars, Demon Drop and Steel Vengeance all at once. Head-spinning, vomit-inducing, heart-stopping moment after moment. If you are still standing, kneeling, or simply laying on the ground breathing, give yourself a pat on the back. For real. Right now.

You have been putting customers’ and team members' needs ahead of your own for months and months. The survival and success of your company has depended on it. However, giving everything you have to others ALL.THE.TIME is not sustainable. As businesses pivot from crisis response to the next phase of emerging work realities, leaders must “refuel” to take their organizations forward. This is an ultra-marathon we are running, not a 200m dash. Without meaningful self-care efforts that fill your tank, “bonking” is imminent. You can not afford to hit the wall right now.

Leaders modeling a practice of self-care set the tone for a culture of wellness in the workplace. This creates a positive relational experience for employees, and gives everyone “permission” to make choices that sustain their overall well-being. As Shawn Achor explains in his book, Big Potential: How Transforming the Pursuit of Success Raises Our Achievement, Happiness and Well-Being, by becoming a “positive node” in a “positive system”. We are able to influence those around us to be better, be happier and do more; just like fireflies lighting up a mangrove at night.

Tapping Your Strengths

Digging deep and finishing the project is often second nature for leaders. This quality is defined as “Industry, Diligence and Perseverance” according to the VIA Survey. It means that you work hard to finish what you start, and are able to stay focused on the task while taking pleasure in getting the job done. It is often utilized for external commitments, and integral to fulfilling personal well-being goals. Applying the same level of diligence to your fitness routine, sleep hygiene, hobbies and eating habits will sustain you through the hard conversations at work, thankless hours negotiating contracts, and covering the jobs of three different roles due to vacancies & hiring delays. Sticking with your personal commitments builds trust; one of the true pillars of positive relationships - with yourself and others.

Over-reliance in one area can hold you back. Blindness to your strengths may cause you to miss opportunities. Recognition and purposeful use of strengths propels you, and those around you, forward to better than expected places.

Permission Granted to Feel Positive Emotions

Crappy, horrible things are happening all around us. If you are acknowledging that reality, and trying to do something (no matter how small) to make it better, it is okay and super important to find ways to experience “the big 10 positive emotions” aka HAPPINESS. There is lots of talk (and research!) about breaking your goal or problem down into small, manageable actions to produce positive outcomes, including happiness. Believing that we can accomplish our goal is one of three key components to changing our habits.

People express feeling happier and healthier when they take action on goals aligned with their values. When you finish a project, meet a deadline or complete action steps, good feelings are generated inside of you (more on neuroscience another time). Often, people look to external sources for gratification; and, job-well-done praise from others.

Imagine the difference in your life at home and work, if you allowed a sense of pride to shine when you honored the “small” commitments you made to yourself.

Maybe it’s switching gears to enjoy the evening at home free of work guilt.

Maybe it’s getting out for a walk, run, or bike ride to keep up with fitness goals.

Maybe it’s having one less sugary drink or “adult” beverage a day.

Maybe it’s turning off the TV, computer or mobile device a little earlier at night so you can sleep.

Maybe it’s going through your digital photos and creating meaningful albums for family.

Whatever commitments you have made to your personal well-being, find ways to persevere and take pride when fulfilling those self-care actions. Your “positive node” will expand into a “positive system” at work making a place that flourishes and grows.

30 Seconds to Be a Better Leader

Habits are made or broken through greater self-awareness. In my coaching practice, individuals are guided to find small, doable actions related to their goals, which take a minute or less to complete. Anyone can find 30 seconds in their day to do a wellness action. Yes. Anyone.

Here are 10 well-being actions that take less than a minute to complete:
Recall a positive moment from my day before stress-inducing meetings.
Relax my shoulders and take a deep breath each time I sit down in a chair.
Drink a glass of water after waking up in the morning.
Set an alarm notifying me to turn off all electronic devices at least 30 minutes before my planned bedtime.
Keep a notebook and pen beside my bed to jot down thoughts that keep me awake at night.
Look up one new joke everyday and share it with someone.
Eat a small, healthy snack when my energy is low.
Share a fun picture with a friend or family member.
Reflect on what went right in my day before going to bed.
Stand up and move (dancing encouraged!) once every 20 minutes while I’m awake.

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