female entrepreneur – Arctic Horizons Counseling, LLC

Working as an entrepreneur can be extremely challenging, and getting caught up in your business is easy, allowing it to consume your life. When I start to feel burnt out with my business, it’s a sign that I have been neglecting my hobbies. Hobbies are healthy and essential for entrepreneurs because they help us keep things in perspective. We should never forget who we are outside of our business ventures.

As an entrepreneur, getting caught up in the day-to-day tasks of running a business is easy. With so much on your plate, finding time for activities outside of work can be challenging. However, hobbies are crucial to your well-being and can benefit you personally and professionally.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss the five crucial benefits of having a hobby as an entrepreneur.

1. Reducing Stress

Running a business can be stressful, and stress can lead to burnout. Hobbies provide an opportunity to unwind, relax and recharge. Whether gardening, reading, painting, or yoga, engaging in a hobby you enjoy can help reduce stress levels, lower blood pressure, and improve overall mental health.

2. Boosting Creativity

Entrepreneurship is all about creativity and innovation. Engaging in hobbies that require creativity, such as writing, drawing, or playing music, can help boost your creativity and inspire new ideas. Working on something you’re passionate about outside of work can help you approach problems and challenges at work from a different perspective. Check out this video on my YouTube for a DIY calming jar tutorial. Watch HERE

3. Building New Skills

Hobbies can also help you develop new skills that can be valuable in your business. For example, if you take up photography as a hobby, you may develop an eye for aesthetics and design that could help your marketing efforts. Or if you learn a new language, it can help you communicate more effectively with clients and partners from around the world.

4. Networking Opportunities

Engaging in hobbies also provides opportunities to meet new people and expand your network. Joining a local club or group related to your hobby can introduce you to people with similar interests who could become valuable contacts or potential clients. It can also help you develop social skills that can be helpful in business settings.

5. Work-Life Balance

Finally, having hobbies can help you maintain a healthy work-life balance. It’s important to have interests and activities outside of work that you enjoy, and that provide a sense of fulfillment. By making time for hobbies, you can avoid burnout, maintain a positive outlook, and be more productive and effective in your business. Learn more about setting boundaries with this article. READ HERE

In conclusion, having hobbies as an entrepreneur is essential for your mental and physical health, creativity, skill development, networking, and work-life balance.

Making time for activities you enjoy outside of work is critical, as it can ultimately benefit your business in the long run. So, whether it’s hiking, cooking, playing an instrument, or dancing, find a hobby that you love and make time for it in your busy schedule.

There comes a point in every entrepreneur’s life when we become anxious about the future. This anxiety can lead to fear, frustration, and the lack of motivation or focus on the tasks that need to be completed today in order to reach our goals. It may seem like there is no way out, but sometimes all it takes to feel better is a small shift in perspective.

The tips below show you how to take 3 steps towards preventing anxiety from stopping your goals.
When I discuss primary elements of executing goals for clients, we always circle back to the importance of aligned actions.

What are aligned actions? Great question: these are the actions you take every single day that are in alignment with your future goals. For example, if you wanted to start an online business tomorrow, it wouldn’t materialize instantaneously with your desire to start the company. You would first need to make a list of actions you need to take to get the business up and running and then begin following that plan of action.

Aligned actions do not need to be grandiose in size. They can be as simple as setting your alarm at the same time each day to keep your circadian rhythm steady, allowing you to have a consistent amount of energy.

These small, consistent steps will continue to build on top of each other until your goals become your reality.

Unfortunately, anxiety can spark fear and, as a result, get in the way of completing these aligned actions.

By now, most of us know anxiety can be completely debilitating and can invade your healthy headspace. But as I always remind my clients: thoughts are not facts.

If you experience anxiety while attempting to carry out aligned actions, I challenge you to try these three steps.

Step 1: Acknowledge the existence of the anxiety.
If I told you right at this moment not to think of a white elephant, what do you think your brain would end up doing? It would struggle with the natural urge to picture a white elephant.

Anxiety is similar in this regard. The more we pretend that it does not exist within us, the more it exacerbates until it hits its ultimate boiling point.

Once we have acknowledged and validated the anxiety, we can utilize our favorite coping skills, such as breathing exercises, to help soothe the anxiety symptoms.

Step 2: Give yourself a pep talk!
By talking yourself through your anxiety, you remind yourself why you are putting yourself out there in the first place and setting goals for yourself.

Try it with a goal you are currently working on by saying something like, “Our future self will thank us for doing these aligned actions today” or, “these aligned actions will get my business to where I want it to be.”  As long as you frame the pep talk positively, there is no wrong way to go about it.

Don’t let frustration or anxiety prevent you from achieving your goals. Set reasonable boundaries and make realistic plans to reach your goals. Check out this blog on setting boundaries!

Step 3: Break up your goals into 10-minute increments.
When you work on your goals, start by putting ten minutes on a timer. Once the timer goes off, ask yourself, “Do I want to continue, or is my anxiety impairing my ability to efficiently and effectively complete this task.”

If your answer is the latter, take a break. Otherwise, you will continue to spiral and only make the anxiety worse!
With aligned actions, our goals become our dreams. So try these three steps, and don’t let anxiety prevent you from all you desire!

Sometimes it’s hard to recognize that our anxiety is blocking us, but we need to become aware of it and make sure we don’t let it dictate our lives. Check out this video to get more support on your entrepreneurial journey.

Watch Here

Tag: female entrepreneur

Dive InTo Your Hobbies For Greater Entrepreneur Success