We’re the centre of our business universe. We’re likely also the centre of our family universe. We need to be strong. We need to support everything else that is happening around us.
So what are the habits of high performing business owners?
From my experience working with them as clients, and as colleagues in coaching programs and masterminds – this is what I have for you.
Let’s talk first about our personal physical wellbeing.
This is the stuff you’ve heard so many times it goes in one ear and out the other.
It’s the annoying stuff that sounds so simple you ignore it. Or think you’re doing it – without actually doing a review and checking the stats.
Yes – it’s eating well. It’s sleeping well. It’s exercise. It’s hydration.
But really hear those 4 things. Really really hear them and take them in.
Nutrition
Are you eating for fuel? Eating for performance? And no that doesn’t mean 100% of the time – but hopefully about 80% of the time.
And what does eating for performance really mean? It means getting enough protein, and vitamins and leafy greens. It means eating the rainbow and not settling for a peanut butter sandwich because that’s what they kids are having alongside their chopped vege today.
It means meal planning and meal prepping and having delicious simple ingredients on hand to make really nutritious meals. Meals that support the brain function you want. Meals that support the activity and performance you want to maintain.
OK so – the challenge – the action for this one – (because you know I’m all about implementation) – set a time for meal planning and a time for meal prepping.
Quality Sleep
I know, I know. This is the Mumstyle Business podcast. There’s just going to be sometimes, some seasons where 8 hours of sleep is literally impossible. If due to kids sleeping patterns, you cannot currently hget 8 hours of sleep, feel free to bookmark this one for some time in the future when your little one is sleeping through the night.
For everyone else, if you are not physically getting up for children in the middle of the night, and you don’t have other health issues (like me at the moment being pregnant and needing to use the bathroom what feels like 17 times a night) then there is no reason for you to not be getting 8 hours of decent sleep per night.
This cannot be optional. I know you can function off 6. It doesn’t mean you should. It doesn;t mean it’s good for you. It doesn’t help you be more productive, or more efficient, or more focussed, or more emotionally grounded and nice and kind and patient with your family. All those researchers cannot be wrong. We need the sleep. Prioritise the sleep. Get the sleep.
So guess what the action item it – yeop – bedtime alarm. Bedtime alarm 9 hours before you need to get up. Then you’ve got 1 hour to wind down, and get that light off with 8 hours to go.
This one can be really hard to stick to. But we’re talking sustainable success habits here. If that’s what you want – sustainable success – you need to sleep.
Exercise
Again, I can feel the eye roll. Don’t. I’ve done quite a few episodes on movement so I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty here.
The base of it is – we need 30 minutes of movement per day. At a minimum. Get it in the morning if possible. And yes, it’s movement. Not huffy and puffing and hating life doing 600 burpees in a row. I’m talking about moderate intensity movement. Pilates, walk, run, boxing, swim, stretch … whatever floats your boat – but MOVE. Every day. Yes, every day.
Why? Because our bodies were not made for sedentary and do not work well when we don’t move. Practically everything about our physical and mental health is improved when we move our bodies regularly.
So guess what the action item is – move. Yep, everyday this week, pop 30 mins of exercise on the calendar. Then set alarms for each, and do it. Tag me in your post workout selfie when you do – I will be cheering you on like you won’t even believe!
Don;t tell me you don;t have time – you do. Make a call while you go for a walk if you need. Make the time. You’re worth the time. As my mentor Kelly Roach says – we cannot sacrifice our health to gain wealth.
Hydration
Now this one isn’t actually banged on about so much – but it IS just as important. Hydration is vital to our survival. So many of our daily niggles can be solved by staying hydated.
Tired? Have a glass of water. Hungry? Have a glass of water – you’re possibly thirsty not hungry. Brain fog? Have a glass of water. 3pm slump? Have a glass of water. Sugar cravings? Have a glass of water.
SO many things are linked to our chronic dehydration. It’s amazing once you look into it. Our brain literally cannot function properly without the right amount of water.
So drink up babey! Action item? And I’m doing this too … set hourly alarms during waking hours and drink a glass every time it goes off.
Yes, it means you’ll go to the toilet more. But you’ll also adjust to the new volume of water as it becomes the new norm and you hopefully won’t have to go as often. But oh well, if you do, just think of how well filtered everything is and how much your body is loving it!
OK so that’s the basics of physical wellbeing which I know you’ve heard before – so do the action items and experience the incredible cumulative difference these things make when you do them again and again and you combine them all. The difference is like night and day. I challenge you to experience it. Go on – give it a go for 4 weeks and let me know how much of a different person you feel.
Mindset Over Mechanics
When it comes to business practises, it needs to be mindset over mechanics – every single time.
Every high performing entrepreneur I know has some sort of mindset practise. Whether that’s meditation, goal setting, gratitude activities, mantras, visualisation or some other practice.
Staying connected to the bigger vision for your life, the overall purpose of why you do what you do is really important.
For one – it helps you push through the tougher times and keep going.
Two – I think staying connected to what you really want is a good filter for the daily activities you’re doing and the decisions we make.
For example – for me, if one of your dreams is to be an author – and you need time to write in order to do that, you’re going to be more mindful as to what you put on your calendar. If your goal is to be an International Speaker, you’re going to be very conscious of people and work and clients that pull you away from that, and those that are on the path taking you closer to that.
This entrepreneurial journey is a rollercoaster – especially when we’re getting started. It’s a rollercoaster emotionally, energetically, financially and all the rest.
To get through with high performance, in whatever that looks like for you, we need to have the stong positive mindset to support us. Mindset is everything. It’s everything in how you show up on camera, it’s everything in the way you work with your clients and how you make them feel, it’s everything in getting people to say YES to you and your product or service in the first place.
If we don’t believe in ourselves, in our product or service and ability to make a difference in people’s lives – why would they believe us? It all starts with mindset. It starts with the foundation of belief in ourselves and our ability to fulfill our highest potential.
But this belief isn’t a one and done, you need to be cultivating these beliefs and attitudes every single day. How you do that is going to look very different for each person. For me, it took some experimenting and some practise to make it a habit. And does it happen every single day? No. But most days, yes it does.
For me it’s time connecting to God, and then getting present with my big crazy goals. I write them as if they’ve already happened and I’m living them. They’re not just professional either. They’re things like being strong, healthy and fit. Being a fun, calm mother. Being a caring and generous friend. Having a joyfilled and sexy marriage.
By stating these things and connecting with my intentions for each area, when I’m yelling at my kids – it’s not in alignment and I realise. Not all the time, but more than I would if I didn’t sit with this reality. It’s the same as not making time for my husband. If I’m saying to myself each morning that I have a joyfilled marriage – and every interaction is business like and transactional – well again, it’s not in alignment. So I’m more inclined to give extra higs, or send a cheeky text message or do something nice.
For me, it’s about being the person I want to be, now. Living out that higher reality now. Not waiting for a certain client base or bank account balance, or weight on the scales or for our house to be built. If we’re always waiting, waiting, waiting until – we’ll wake up and be 10 years older and not have lived each day to its fullest. Not have been our best.
So the action item – put mindset work on the calendar every day. Even 10 minutes is enough to make a massive difference. Just think – living each day to the fullest could be achieved through a 10 minute morning practice. Wow, that’s pretty cool.
If you’re not sure what’s going to work for you – experiment. Try something for 3 days and see how it fits, then try something else. There’s no right or wrong. Play around – and let me know what you’re doing because I love hear other people’s versions of this.
Sharpen the sword – Professional Development
Every single high performing entrepreneur I know makes the time to hone their craft. Whether it’s the actual craft – for me – that would be marketing, or whether it’s another area of their professional life.
This could be leadership, or financial management, or creativity, or selling, or speaking on camera, or some other area relevant to running your business. Every single great leader I know is obsessed with getting better. Obsessed with learning and developing and growing.
If we’re not growing, we’re dying. If we’re not expanding, we’re shrinking. We need to be continuing to invest in our professional skills to grow them as we grow our businesses. Even if we’re not looking to grow our business in size – there are always ways to do things smarter, more efficiently. Ways to leverage what we’re already doing. Ways to use technology better. Ways to connect with our audience and our network better.
I used to own and manage training companies. As part of the compliance requirements, continuous improvement was an element that needed to be monitored and documented and attended to. I think we should all have our own version of this, because it’s so important. We need to innovate.
With the barrier to online business so low – we cannot afford to be resting on the way we’ve always done things. We’re going to get left behind, our staff will move on and we’ll be left wondering why.
For me, at least 30 minutes per day is focussed on learning. This is everything from the book I’m reading, the podcasts I’m listening to, the coaching I’m engaging with – and usually a combination of all of these things.
Then on the weekends I’m learning for pleasure. Not that the professional side isn’t enjoyable. I love it. I love what I do and every day I pinch myself that I’m so blessed to be able to do it. But we can’t always be striving. We can’t always be pushing. We need down time. Down time for everything we’ve been learning to sink in. Down time for expanded creativity. Down time to rest and recharge our batteries. And down time for balance.
So the action item is … put 30 minutes of learning on your calendar 5 days a week. Now yes you can multitask with this one. You can be folding washing or exercising like I do, or cooking or driving or whatever it is that you’d like to combine it with. So no excuses on this one!
Now the last thing I wanted to speak about is connected to this one, but different.
Know Your Numbers
The high performing entrepreneurs I know all have their finger on the pulse of their business. They make sure they know their numbers. They know where they’re at with sales, and marketing, and conversion rates. They understand where their time goes and how to leverage it. They know where they’re going and have a plan to get there.
I used to be guilty of not doing this. I was just so busy with the ‘work’ that I neglected the structure. I neglected the numbers. I didn’t even look at them until I absolutely had to. But guess what – what gets measured gets managed. We need to look at the numbers, even if they’re woeful. We need to confront the reality of what we’ve created in a neutral way. Without beating ourselves up and too, without basking in the glory of it when we do well. Now, I’m not saying don’t celebrate and pat yourself on the back. YES – do that!! But then look strategically. How can we do better? How can we instill profit and freedom into everything we do? BEcause that’s why we started our businesses in the first place right?
So if this is you – and you need to get real with the numbers. Do it. Dedicate 2 hours to analyse your business. And if you’re not sure where to get started, let’s chat. Book a call with me. Email info@anneliseworn.com and we’ll schedule a call to chat about where you;re at with your business and identify the next one thing you can be doing in your business, right now, to move the needle.
Recap
The habits of high performing entrepreneurs that we’ve gone through are:
Number 1 – A focus on physical health. We chatted here about quality sleep, good nutrition, proper hydration and moving our bodies.
Number 2 – Mindset over mechanics. This is the foundation of our belief in ourselves and fulfilling our highest potential. We spoke about doing this through meditation, visualisation, journaling and a whole heap of other suggestions as well.
Number 3 – Professional Development. Sharpening the sword. If we’re not growing and innovation, we’re going backwards. This dedication gives us an edge above the others in our market and is so important for self confidence and really leading your business well.
Then Number 4 – Being aware of the numbers. The real numbers, and the reality of that in your business. And having a plan to move forward with.
I hope this has been a good back to basics for you today and I really look forward to connecting with you on social to learn how you’re doing this in your own lives and in your own businesses.
See you next week mummas!
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