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If you're an entrepreneur or solopreneur, you probably work many, many more hours than you did when you had a job. Often in overwhelm at the enormity of creating a successful business with no steady income coming in, the tendency is to work longer hours. But it's a tendency that isn't viable over the long term.
In his book The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, author Stephen Covey talks about the importance of self renewal. The metaphor he uses to illustrate his point goes like this: a woman sees a man in the forest who is exhausted, from trying to saw down a tree. The woman suggests he take a few minutes to sharpen the saw but the man says he can't, he's too busy sawing. What he doesn't realize is that his job would be much easier if took a few moments to sharpen the saw.
If you don't want to end up like the man in the forest, then it's important to take time to look after your physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual life. In fact it's imperative, if you want to have the resources to continue being successful at anything. Regardless of what you do for a living, but especially if you're an entrepreneur, and the one solely responsible for your income, you must regularly preserve your greatest asset -you. You are the fountain from which all success springs.
This means eating well, limiting your bad habits and exercising on a regular basis. Scientists tell us that exercising helps release endorphins, which make us feel happier which in turn leaves us more resourceful for the ups and downs that a rich and vibrant life brings.
There are additional benefits to taking time to replenish, other than the physiological. All work and no play not only make for a very dull individual, but it also doesn't allow for any space, a necessary component for creativity. Creativity seldom comes when we are booked wall to wall in meetings. All successful CEO's and business people create time and space to nurture their creativity and to strategize what's next.
Quiet, focus and no distractions allows this process to take place. Stephen Spielberg, the famous director, was quoted as saying that many of his creative ideas come while driving LA area freeways. As a consequence, he carries a dictaphone in his car, to record his great ideas.
Despite your passion for your work, another reason it's important to take a break is that by doing so, you find yourself eager to get back to work. This seldom happens when you never take a break and every day's the same. Taking a break exposes you to different environments, different people and different ideas. These in turn spark new ideas and new income streams that you wouldn't have been exposed to or thought of sitting alone at your desk.
To increase your chances of success, consider doing the following. Make a list of some physical, social, emotional, spiritual or mental activities that you love to do and schedule at least two within your week. This could be riding your bike, going sailing, doing a jigsaw puzzle or the New York Times cross ward puzzle. Write them down in your day timer to increase the chances that you'll actually do them.
At the end of the week, look first at whether you did them and second at their impact. How much better do you feel as a result of doing them? Which ones produced the best results? Next find space for those activities and people within your week and you'll find yourself with more energy and passion for your work, which will increase your chances of success.
About this Author
Kathy Santini, the CEO of Savvy About Success knows that success leaves clues, making it easy to model and replicate. She takes the mystery out of success by showing success-oriented individuals and business owners how to be more successful by teaching them what successful people know and do.
As a coach/educator, Kathy offers coaching, group coaching and mastermind programs, and hosts teleseminars and telesummits on the subject of success.
To learn more about her offerings, to subscribe to her weekly Ezine, full of success tips or to get your own copy of her FREE report, 101 Ways to Become More Successful - Learn What Successful People Know and Do visit http://SavvyAboutSuccess.com
Kathy's expertise has been profiled in Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, on Canada's national broadcaster, CBC Radio; in newspapers across North America and on radio stations across Canada. She is a former coaching columnist for The Business Examiner Newspaper and Exceptionalife Magazine, has written guest columns and articles for various publications and been a guest on numerous TV programs.
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