This transcript is computer generated and may contain errors and not be an exact representation of the audio
Hi this is Welcome to Self® and I’m your host, Dr Hayley D Quinn, the anti-burnout business coach. I’m a speaker, author, former clinical psychologist and a late identified auDHDer.
Welcome to Self ® is a podcast for business owners like you who want success but not at the cost of your well-being. This is about transforming self and transforming business. I’ll be here to remind you that you’re human first and as well as being a business owner, you have different roles in your life that need your attention and to manage those well, you need to take care of yourself in the best way possible.
Here you’ll learn about practices that’ll help you navigate not just your business but your non-work life as well and you’ll realise that you’re not alone in the ways you struggle. You’ll have your curiosity piqued on various topics as I chat with wonderful guests and bring you solo bite-sized episodes.
I’m here for service-based business owners and entrepreneurs like you, to help you increase your self-care and compassion, change your relationship with yourself and your business, and elevate your business to a new level so you can live the full and meaningful life you desire.
This is a place of nourishment, growth and helpful information. A place where you can learn ways to assist you and your business to thrive.
We’ll talk all things mindset, strategy and well-being and I’m so excited you’re here. If you haven’t already, go and hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode.
So, let’s get started
Hi and welcome back, It’s lovely to be bringing you these weekly episodes, and at the time of recording, the plan is that these will also be up on YouTube, which is why I’m doing the solo episodes on video. I don’t really love doing that, and when I watched back the previous episode, I realized that my eyes dart around a lot, and I’m not even reading a script. So that was interesting. It can feel uncomfortable sometimes when we observe ourselves doing something, but it can also be good to do that, because we can learn from it, and we can expose ourselves to it so it actually becomes less uncomfortable. Or maybe it doesn’t.
Maybe it continues to be uncomfortable and we just proceed anyway. Can we do things in service of our values, even if we feel a bit uncomfortable. And I think yes, we can. So this week, another bite sized episode, and I wanted to talk about, why is it important that we take care of ourselves in business? I’ve been talking about this for probably the past five years, and more and more people talking about this now, which is fantastic.
But why is it important? I think one of the barriers to this can be that people think, oh, here we go. Add self care. This is another thing for my to do list. It’s going to feel cumbersome. It’s going to be one more thing that perhaps I don’t get around to, and then I’m going to beat myself about but it’s really not about that. The way I like to think about self care is really about knowing ourselves and checking in regularly and doing our best to do the things that are going to be helpful, not harmful to us. And there are some real benefits to taking care of ourselves. So today I’m just going to touch on a few of those. And as we progress through the episodes, I’ll talk more and more about this. But some of the things that are the great byproducts of us taking care of ourselves are we can have more energy. And this can be more energy for getting the tasks done in our business or for the things we need to do in our non work life. This can be having more energy to spend time with your children, if you’ve got children or your partner or your friends, or having the energy to do something you enjoy after work, rather than feeling like work is over and you’re so exhausted that all you can do is perhaps manage to scrape together some dinner and go and crash on the couch. I hear this so much from women, this lack of energy. I wish I had more energy. And I think when we find ways of taking care of ourselves and ways of running our business that are more sustainable, we reclaim that energy Then we will have that available to us for whatever it is that we want. Now I’m not saying sitting on the couch at the end of the day is a bad thing. That’s something I actually know is important for me. I have some downtime. It’s a very passive I like to watch some television. It’s a very passive way of me to relax. It’s just about really knowing that you’ve got the energy to do the things you want. I certainly don’t want to feel like that’s all I’ve got energy for. The other thing that can be a byproduct of us taking care of ourselves is access to more creativity when we have more energy, we can access our creativity more as well. And when we can access our creativity more, we can come up with better ideas for our business.
We have a broader outlook, we can start to brainstorm better, because it’s not just that physical energy is you know, our brain can be functioning better. We’re not getting so tired. So cognitively, things are easier. We might also have time for creativity in terms of activities that we want to do. Maybe you’re somebody that loves to write or paint and you just don’t have time for that, or you’re feeling too worn out, but just get keeps getting put to the back of the list, and maybe by engaging in some of these creative activities that allows you to take better care of yourself, and then, in turn, helps you more creative in your business. So instead of being on that hamster wheel of oh my gosh, I’m just going around in circles getting nothing done. What if you were actually on this cycle of when I engage in creativity, it nourishes me, it fills me up. It actually energizes me, and then that frees me up for more creativity. In my business, I get better ideas, my problem solving improves. Wouldn’t that be great? Another thing I find when working with women in business is, the more you take care of yourself, the less resentment you’ll be feeling. This can build up over time when you’re when that flow of compassion is always going out to other people, and your focus is always about meeting other people’s needs and not your own.
Resentment can build up. That can also lead you to feeling not great about yourself, but when we’re taking care of ourselves, when we prioritize our own needs, when we realise that the flow of compassion needs to go out, but also in and within. We can find ourselves feeling less resentful when somebody asks you for that next thing you don’t get that sense of like, oh, another thing that I have to do for someone else, remember the energy you’re probably going to have more energy. You’re probably going to feel more willing. But also that reminder that just because somebody wants you to do something, asks you to do something, doesn’t mean it needs to be an automatic Yes. Even if you’re feeling fantastic, it’s still important to check in. Is this something aligned with your values? Is this something that you have capacity for? Is this something you want to do?
But if you’re feeling like you’ve taken care of yourself, it’s more likely that if it’s a yes, it’s going to be a willing and wholehearted Yes, taking care of yourself can be going back to basics. Are you drinking enough water? Are you eating nutritious food? Are you moving your body enough? Now the drinking water and the moving my body enough can be tricky ones for me, so I always make sure I have some water close by, and I’ve started getting into a routine again of doing regular walks. I’m fortunate enough to live at the beach, so I get to walk along the beach, and I’ve been having a dip in the ocean, which has been really, really lovely. But this is something I have to keep coming back to and connecting with my values about, because I do struggle with it. But when we come back to basics, hydration, nutrition.
Our movement, our physical, emotional and mental well being. This increases our overall well being and our overall capacity for doing the things we want to do, not just in business, but in your non work life as well. Another important one is if you’re taking care of yourself, you’re going to have longevity in business, and that’s good for you, and that’s good for the clients and customers that you serve as well. It takes a lot to start and build a business. There’s a lot of sacrifices, there’s a lot of learning. You put a lot of yourself into it, hopefully not too much, but we do put a lot of ourselves into it, and if you then can’t sustain that and you have to close your business, then nobody benefits from that you don’t get to keep doing what it is that you enjoy doing, and the people who need or want your services can’t access them anymore. You are your greatest asset in your business, and it’s important that you treat yourself as such. Now you might be already really good at this, and if you are fantastic, but many, many women I speak to are fantastic at what they do in their business. They are amazing, intelligent, remarkable women, and they often neglect themselves. And I get it that was me, always focusing on what I needed to do and what other people needed. And I paid a big price. Burnout hit me hard. It cost me a lot, and it took me a long time to recover, and it took me a long time to really learn how to do it differently, but I am so glad I took the time and learnt how to do that, because now I get to have a business I love that fits in with the lifestyle that I want. I really want that for you as well. So I invite you to think about where are the areas in your life that you are currently neglecting yourself. And if your mind goes straight to your business, just notice that. And then come back to what are the areas where I’m currently neglecting myself? And perhaps just write them down. Or if you’re listening on a walk or in the car, do your best to hold them in mind for later. For anything like me, they’ll probably have dropped out your head by the time you get home. So you might want to re listen to this episode when you can recognise what those things are.
I want you to then think about what is one small thing just has to be small. It’s not another big thing on the to do list. It’s not something that you need to feel overwhelmed by, just one small thing that you could do today in service of your overall well being. Whether that is drink an extra glass of water, have something nutritious for your meals. Connect with somebody socially if you’ve been isolating. Perhaps, just sitting for five minutes, focusing on your breath, allowing yourself to slow down and just be with yourself. Just pick one small thing for today and then when you’ve done it today, see if you could do it tomorrow and the next day as well. Sometimes you just need to start. You need to choose something small and allow yourself to do it differently, knowing that the outcome could be really beneficial. I hope this has been a helpful little reminder. I’d love to hear how you go with this.
Go well and go gently with yourself, and I’ll see you again next week.
Thanks for sharing this time with me today, I hope it’s been helpful and supportive.
If there’s been something in this episode that you have found helpful, I encourage you to share it with your business besties so they can benefit too. Shares, ratings and reviews really help to increase awareness and reach of the podcast, meaning more people can benefit from the information. I really appreciate you taking the time.
If you’d like to know about the ways we can work together, check out my website at drhayleydquinn.com, I’ll pop the link in the show notes, and you can also join my mailing list from there and be kept up to date with all that is happening.
I do need to say (because you know legal stuff), this podcast is solely for the purpose of education and entertainment. This podcast is not intended as a substitute for individual advice or advice of health professionals or other qualified professionals.
OK now we’ve got that formal stuff out of the way, I love hearing from listeners so don’t be shy, reach out and let me know your thoughts on the episode or what else you’d like to hear about. I wish you well in your relationship with yourself and your business and may you go well and go gently and remember if you thrive your business will too!
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