Donna Hann
So if you're listening to this podcast, you are probably a passionate and ambitious person who knows they have the potential to take their business to the next level. But you also know that the wheels can sometimes wobble stress levels can increase, and burnout might be hot on your heels. So in today's episode, I'm going to talk about the five areas of self care. And why it is so so, so important. Not only for yourself, but for your family, and your business too.
Donna Hann
Hello, and welcome to today's podcast episode. My name is Donna Hann, I am your business buddy. And I'm excited to be here to share with you some tips on self care for savvy business owners just like you. I know I when I mentioned self care. For some of you, you might be visualizing bubble baths and face masks. And that stuff is great. And absolutely, it has its place. But what I'm really talking about here is making time to pause and to listen to your soul to peel back the layers to take off the mom hat to take off the business owner hat and just tune in to you, the woman underneath it all because she counts and she matters. But sometimes she can get lost. And I can bet that at some stage through your business journey, you felt lost in yourself, that your identity is your business perhaps and that your identity is being a mother. And you felt overwhelmed and stressed and like you're constantly playing catch up, you may have felt like there has never been enough hours in the day to get everything done, or that you're constantly task switching and too exhausted, to do anything nice for yourself.
Donna Hann
Now, as I've mentioned many times on this podcast, I've been there, in fact, I still have periods, when it all becomes too much for me, you know, we're all human. And life gets busy and crazy and chaotic. And we get thrown curveballs. And so you know one of those which you might have been following on my Instagram stories lately, if you have been, you'll know that I'm in the midst of a full house renovation, like full house renovation. And my gosh, it has been chaotic. And at some points quite overwhelming. I have been getting pulled in every direction, having to make pretty huge decisions on the renovation side of things. But also, you know, trying to keep all the other wheels turning as peacefully as possible. Being a mum and being a business owner and supporting my clients. And I can tell you with hand on heart that being in the midst of a full house, Reno, has 100% sent me spiraling into overwhelm. And it has been tricky to put myself first. But the most important thing to recognize when it becomes too much. And when you feel you can feel yourself like bubbling on that brink of overwhelm and maybe even, maybe even burnout. If you've been sort of living and existing in that state of overwhelm for too long, it can tip us to the brink of burnout.
Donna Hann
So once you know the triggers for yourself, which will be different for everybody, right? But it's about practicing that self awareness to really know what the early triggers of overwhelm mean for you. And see that as a sign to pull back and reconnect to your soul. Even if it's as little as just a couple of minutes a day, just a couple of minutes a day to reconnect your soul. Tune in with us yourself. And just kind of ask yourself, How am I feeling? How am I feeling right now? When we label our emotions, it can really help us then to understand where we're at, and put some action steps in place to pull ourselves out of that overwhelmed spiral. I often ask my clients what do you find the hardest about self care and these are some of the common responses that I get. The first one is always finding the time never having enough hours in the day so it feels like you're constantly playing catch up. Also, never actually applying self care to your life. So therefore you're like actually don't know how to relax like I find it really hard to relax because, you know, being business owners, the ladies that I work with, often have their brains racing with lots of new ideas. yours, right. And then also, the other one that often comes up is so many responsibilities, that you're task switching all the time. And you get to the end of the week, too exhausted to it to do anything nice for yourself.
Donna Hann
And then I hear the justifications for why they can't. And often that is things like, I know I need to rest, but you know, I'm exhausted. But if I take my foot off the accelerator, I might miss out on some sales, or my customers might be disappointed if I don't reply within 10 minutes. Or maybe you're worrying that you're leaving your customers high and dry. Another common justification of why you can't stop is that like, I know, I need to rest, and I'm completely exhausted. But if I stop, I feel like I could just unravel. And I want to know that I see you, I really see you and I feel how that feels. I know you have big dreams, I know you have the potential to grow your business. And to be an absolute Superwoman. And I know you have the capabilities to really go to the next level, there's no doubt about that. And I'm sure that you feel that in your soul as well. But if you're not taking time for self care, to unwind, unplug, to rejuvenate to rest, which is so crucial. And important, it's essential, it is so essential, because you need to be the best version of you. In order to reach those big dreams, you need to be the best version of you in order to grow your business, within the potential that you see that it has. And to really go to that next level. And you won't be able to do that if you don't honor your own self care. So knowing that we know that right, we always we know that. And this is the thing that always amazes me and Dr. Libby Weaver who's an amazing person, if you don't know of her, you should go check her out, she has this book called The Invisible load, which I love. And you may have heard me mentioned it before. But she says why do we do the things we do? And we know the things we know. And we know that self care is important. But why don't we do it? Why do we put self care at the very bottom of the priority list? When we know it's so important? Because somehow, society has led us to believe that self care is a selfish act. And for some people, there's shame associated with that.
Donna Hann
So what is selfish about pouring your energy into other people, you know, other things, neglecting and neglecting the one person who really matters, which is you, right? When you are functioning at your best you can give your best to others, and the things that need to be done with energy and a sense of calm. So the question I have for you, if you find yourself wracked with guilt, or maybe shame around self care, tell me what is selfish about making sure that you are functioning at your best. So then you can give your best to others, to your business, to the things that need to be done, and to do them with a sense of calm. And with a sense of joyous energy. What selfish about that? And let me ask you another question. What's the worst thing that would happen? If you spent time on self care? Maybe it might be that your customers don't get a response from you after a couple of hours. What about if you could put some automations in place for that, to let them know that you'll be in touch on Monday, and to direct them to what they need as a short term solution for them, which could be directing them to a particular page of your website, if you you know that you're promoting something at the moment that people are going to be inquiring about, think about the ways that you can put some automations in place so they get a response. You let them know your boundaries that you'll be back in touch with them on Monday, or maybe the next business day and give them a short term solution. Another thing that, you know, you might be thinking of the worst thing that could happen is that things don't get done. And I know, and I know that, you know, the list will still be there on Monday, or the list will still be there tomorrow.
Donna Hann
The list will never end. You know, it is a never ending list. Because we know this as a high achiever. There will always be things that we want to do better. Always be things that we want to expand ourselves into, and maybe experiment with so the list will always grow and it will always be there. But I've got some tips. for you on this, and I'm going to share those with you in just a second. But to me, self care is all about honoring you. And that's so important, I really, really want that to land for you. I've got some simple ways that you can do that, I'm going to share with you some practical things that you can start doing today, that's going to help you. So when I get back from the break, we're going to come back and we're going to look at the different areas of self care, the five core areas of self care, I talk a lot about these in my ready to rise program, and also with my private coaching clients as well, because they are so impactful, I'm going to share with you what they look like and how you can implement them into your life. And I'm going to do that after this break.
Donna Hann
So I'm sharing with you the five areas of self care that I have been, I have found to be really crucial for success. And also to enable that beautiful work life blend. And as a business owner, we really need to always be working towards that work life blend. Now, you'll always hear me say that I don't like the word balance when we're talking about work life. And that's because there will never be a perfect balance, that we can have a blend of work of being present with the people who mean the most to us and also having self care. So obviously, we're talking about self care today. So let me share with you, the five core areas of self care that I know when you apply them to your life will help you to get more of that work life blend, which is ideal and unique to you.
Donna Hann
So the first one is physical self care. So this includes things like exercise, eating well, and getting enough rest. As a business owner, it's easy to fall into the trap of neglecting your physical health because you're so focused on your business. And I have to really work hard on this myself. But taking care of your body is essential for long term success and sustainability. Love yourself like you would love others, and your body will thank you for it, we only get one body, think of it as your home, our body is the home for our soul. And we want to have that home and look after that home so that we can still exist within it when we're in our 80s and 90s. And maybe even beyond. So we have to really take care of our body because it is our vehicle, which essentially is how we exist in the current state that we find ourselves as being a human being.
Donna Hann
So the second one is emotional self care. This involves taking time to process your emotions and deal with any kind of stress or anxiety that you may be experiencing. So this can be things like therapy, meditation, journaling, or simply talking to our friend, this is a really big one, if you watched one of my lives that I did. Last week, I talked about emotional self care in kind of a different way. But I had had an overwhelming moment. And for me, I'm a crier. I don't know if you're a crier, but I am an emotional being. And when things get a little bit too much for me, my stress release valve, I guess you could say is a good cry. Sometimes I just need to have a cry. And I will always generally feel better afterwards. It's kind of like, I don't know, when you feel as though you're a bit of a pressure cooker. And the steam is released. For me the steam being released is having a bit of a cry. So you know, having a sense of what your emotional self care looks like for you is really important. So you know, I went out with friends for dinner that night, I talked about how I was feeling. And that was a step in emotional self care for me at that point in time.
Donna Hann
And the third one is intellectual self care. So this involves engaging in activities that stimulate your mind and allow you to continue learning and growing. These could be things like reading, taking an online course or attending conferences, joining a business group, you know, like I have the ready to rise program. I also have the soaring to success, monthly membership. These are types of things that you can join to allow yourself this space and the connections with other people who also value intellectual self care. Also, you know, having a business coach can really help you in supporting and fulfilling your needs in this area. So if you're interested in working with me, all of the links are in the show notes and I would love to hold space for you and help you to move closer towards your business goals and dreams but do it in a way that really aligns to your work life blend that is ideal for you, as you've heard me speak about before. Okay, so that you're not burning yourself out in the process of reaching those big business goals. So reach out to me if you would like some support.
Donna Hann
The fourth thing here is social self care. So this involves spending time with loved ones, and building meaningful relationships. As a business owner, it can get really, gosh, it can be so easy Kennett to get caught up in your work, and neglect your social life. But having a support system is crucial for your overall well being and time spent connecting with family and friends doesn't have to be extravagant. You know, it could be as simple as calling a friend on an afternoon drive, or pressing pause with your partner for a drink and a chat. Connections, increase our endorphins. And it gives us a sense of belonging, which is really important for human beings. So next time, you have a beautiful moment of connection with your family and friends, just take a second to notice how it lifts your mood, and the inner joy that you feel from that moment of connection. And see how you can infuse more of that spotted throughout your week to help you to manage your self care.
Donna Hann
The last one is spiritual self care. So what I'm talking about here is taking the time to connect with your inner self. And finding that meaning and that purpose for your life. So this can be as simple as practicing some gratitude. Like there are some really great gratitude tools out there to help you if it's something that's new. So I know that at Kmart, they have sometimes these really cute little gratitude journals, and they're like less than five bucks. inside them is like just some questions like it's the same on every single page. But it just helps you to go How was my day to day? What did I love about today? What am I going to remember about today and put it in the memory bags, because it really made me feel great, what is my intention going to be for tomorrow. So it just really helps if you find that practicing gratitude is not something you currently do have a look around for some tools that can help you to do that can really make a big difference to your spiritual self care. The other thing that can really help with this is spending time in nature. So for me, it's the beach. Or, you know, if I am nearby to a rainforest, or something that feels just really grounding a place, find what your place is in nature, and go there. It may also be engaging in a spiritual practice, which can be different for everybody, but find out what it is for you. So those are the five core areas of self care.
Donna Hann
Now, I would suggest that maybe you experiment with playing with a different one of those each week and see what feels really good for you. Now that we understand the five areas of self care, I want to talk to you about three ways that you can optimize your self care as a business owner. So let me just summarize for a second because we're kind of covering a fair bit here today.
Donna Hann
So we talked about physical self care. We talked about emotional self care, intellectual self care, social self care, and spiritual self care. So the the way to kind of infuse this through your life is firstly, we need to prioritize self care. And this may seem obvious, but it's important to make self care a priority in your life. So shedule some time in your daily weekly plan for self care activities, just like you would schedule a meeting or a work task. Put some time in for in the calendar for you. You may have used my productivity tool that you can find by going to donnahann.com/free planner. This is something that I use every week. And it's something that I've shared a lot like there's been hundreds of people who have downloaded it and I know have gotten lots of value from it. When you are mapping out your week, good self care in there for you as well. And treat it as a blackjack trader, just as you would an appointment with a client. Don't cancel on yourself. You are equally as as important as that 10am meeting with your client, and you wouldn't consider canceling on them. So don't consider canceling on yourself. Pretend that you're your own client, you know and make it the priority.
Donna Hann
The second thing here is setting boundaries. As a business owner, it can be easy to work all the hours of the day in the night because we love what we do right But setting boundaries around work hours and sticking to them can help you create a healthier work life blend. And sometimes boundaries also need to be set outside of work commitments. So, if you're craving time alone, you know, if you are people to out, which is totally understandable, I get peopled out from time to time, and I just want to be alone to rejuvenate and to feel grounded after having a really busy week, then it's okay to say no to social invitations, that's totally fine. Your friends and your family will understand and appreciate that. And, you know, explain to them if you feel you need to, that currently you've just had a really busy week, and you just need to unplug and have some alone time, they'll get it if they get you they'll get it.
Donna Hann
The third thing is practicing mindfulness. So mindfulness involves being present in the moment and fully engaging in the task at hand. And this can help you to reduce stress. And it can help you to increase focus. So it could be as simple as rubbing essential oils on your wrists and doing some deep breathing at your desk for a few minutes, or putting some essential oils on the palm of your hand and rubbing your hands together to create that heat. And that will help to you know, release those essential oils, I do that. And I simply just like cut my nose and my mouth with my hands. And I breathe in deeply for a few moments. And it really grounds me and it helps me to find my inner calm. So you could try that too. Again, if you have to shedule these breaks throughout the day for yourself. And I guarantee you, you will find you are more productive despite taking those few minutes of not completing tasks. But instead, that time those couple of minutes into mindfulness. For some getting out early for early morning walk might be something that you can do to connect to your thoughts to connect with nature. You could listen to the She's in Business podcast, if you like whilst you're walking just to set yourself up for a really successful day. And but one of the things I love doing is creating a playlist that lifts my energy and makes me feel good. And I play it when I'm getting the kids ready for school. If we've got a busy day ahead, a busy workday, you know, I will try and put at least one song on once the kids have gone to school and I've made myself a coffee and I'm sitting down at my desk and just getting into the headspace. A song can really help me to do that too. And I just think it's great to help you to switch your mindset and music is a great way to do that really quickly.
Donna Hann
Before I wrap up for today, I just gosh, I really just want you to know that your sparkle is your uniqueness. It's your personality. It's your vulnerability. It's your truth. It's who you are born to be in this world. It's your courage. It's your confidence. It's your resilience. It's loving who you are, and giving your most honest and authentic expression of you out into the world. It's also your self leadership. And, you know, that can be real and raw and it can be lots of fun. And at the same time, there can be moments where we completely unravel I want you to be honoring your sparkle as your uniqueness. I want you to be honoring the fact that in order for us to keep our sparkle shining, we need to honor self care.
Donna Hann
And remember that self care is not selfish. Taking care of yourself is essential for your overall well being as a successful business owner and as a mother and just as you write. So I hope these tips and strategies have been helpful for you. And I encourage you to prioritize self care in your life starting today. In fact, I'm going to leave you with some homework. I want you to write down and shedule into your diary, a self care practice every day this week. Even if it's just two or three minutes, try and shedule them at different times throughout the week. And I would love to connect with you. I want you to share them with me. Shoot me a DM I'd love to hear about what you're doing to look after yourself and to take care of your number one person, which is you. Thanks for listening today. And until next time, remember, you are so worth it. Please take care of yourself. Have a great day. Bye
