I’ve officially been a woman-owned small business owner for 7 years!
Here are 7 lessons from 7 years of my entrepreneurship journey to help YOU in your work and wellbeing.
1) Celebrate your wins… and save proof!
Life is too short and there is always more to achieve. If you don’t acknowledge what you’ve done to get where you are, you’re never going to feel fulfilled.
Save those happy emails and any data of those wins… and take pictures when possible. The photo below is from February 2016 commemorating the first time I received payment for my own business. 😊
One way to integrate this into your regular workday? Start your weekly team meeting by asking everyone to share one win. It builds connection, community, and helps retrain your brain to start to look for the positive.
2) It’s okay, and beneficial, to cringe.
There are MANY things I did when I started that I cringe at now. It reminds me of when I found the resume that I submitted when I first applied be a career coach in 2007 … I had an interests section that listed “the internet” #eldermillenial
We all started somewhere and were novices at some point. If you look back and cringe, it’s a good sign of all the skill development and expertise you’ve gained along the way.
3) Be kind to yourself
Most of us have a feed running in our minds filled with negative self-talk. In a world that pretends perfection is attainable, let’s dispel that myth and honor that we’re human and to be human is to make mistakes.
There are over 2000 studies on the power of self-compassion for improved wellbeing and professional development.
Life is hard enough - have your own back.
4) Ask for help
Oooooo… growth edge anyone? <<raising my own hand>>
My thanks to my best friends and family for being my unofficial board members at the start of my business. This isn’t new advice for most, but my invitation is to explore how much you’re implementing this on a regular basis in your personal and/or professional life.
5) Zoom out
You've likely heard me preach about doing career wellness check-ins. I said I never wanted to have my own business. My interests and values shifted, and I've changed my professional life to align with those shifts.
You're not the same person at 43 that you were at 23. Give yourself space to see what you want your work to mean and how it is or isn't aligned.
6) You can have too much of a good thing
It’s less talked about, but you can absolutely burn out from doing what you love.
How can you create boundaries to not let work take over?
7) Live your life
We’re human beings not human doings. You can work hard AND have hard boundaries about when it’s time to rest. When you learn how much happens when we sleep, it becomes clear how productive rest is and how critical a component it is to achieving.
Often, we don't take this to heart until life puts it in perspective for us...
Take the vacation. Close the laptop when you’re fried and just mouse-moving. There will always be more unread emails.
Be okay leaving things on the to-do-list and reconnecting to things on your who I want to-be list.