5 Reasons You Need to Practice Self-Care As You Build Your Business

Have you ever felt like you needed to figure out a way to balance this whole entrepreneur thing? I get it. You’re so excited to get your passion project off the ground. You feel so good every time you work on your website, or write a true-to-you blog post, or have a consult with a new client.

But this whole “building your own business” thing is super stressful, too. I’ve been there and that’s why I’m giving you reasons you need to practice self-care as you build your business.

You (more likely than not) work alone. Your friends don’t really understand what a health coach does. You feel like you’re putting out all of this content, working your a$$ off, and just praying that it all lands somewhere.

So you think you need to work harder…

smarter…

longer hours…

You need to push, push, push until something finally works!

But then BOOM! It hits you. Fatigue, a sore back, sleepiness, a lack of energy or want to do anything. You recognize that you’re having mental health issues, and you just feel like curling up and popping on Netflix for like 8 days straight.

But then in walks self-care like a smack in the face. Self-care isn’t all about deep breathing and hours of sleep (even though those are fantastic for your stress levels and physical health!); it is here to help you find a healthy balance between #girlboss entrepreneur and balanced babe.

Reasons You Need to Practice Self-Care As You Build Your Business

Here are 5 reasons you need to prioritize yourself and find work life balance, regardless of whether you’re in launch, growth, or sustenance phase of your business.

1. What’s the point of building an empire if you’re not there to enjoy it?

This is kind of how I felt about my lifestyle as an attorney. I was working, working, working… billing, billing, billing… and, frankly, making good money doing it. But I got to a point where I realized how useless it was to be “successful” if you truly felt terrible while doing it.

Instead, I decided to practice and prioritize self-care while ALSO building a business. Those two things can go hand-in-hand. If you don’t incorporate at least some self-care elements to your routine while building your own biz, you’ll burn out in a New York minute.

Building and running a business is no joke. Trust me – I’ve built 2! And although I went through periods where I put my head down and cranked out a lot of material or built my website from scratch, I tried to come back to a place of self-care in the end. If I didn’t, my body reminded me that I needed to.

2. You Need to Feel Your Best to Be Your Best

In order to truly show up and be present for your clients, you need to take care of numero uno (that’s you!) and your mental and physical health. If you’re tired, drained, and distracted, your clients will notice. You need to be in a place where you can be totally present and engaged in your client sessions, workshops, or courses.

We also need to practice what we preach. How can you coach clients whose goals are to feel and look their best if you’re not doing the same? See #5, though, for how important it is to be authentic in how you show it.

3. Creativity Doesn’t Grow in Stressed Environments

I don’t know about you or other small business owners, but whenever I’ve let my self-care lax, I feel totally brain-dead. When you’re brain-dead, you don’t come up with new blog post ideas, new course topics, or marketing schemes. You’re just brain-dead.

It’s kind of funny what happens when you take your foot off the gas and start practicing self care. You start hanging out with other humans for some much-needed social interaction, you sign up for some classes or studios, and you actually start to think about things other than email sequences, lists, website page views, and new client consultations.

You might think to yourself, “But Sam — how can I possibly take my foot off the gas & stop thinking about those things?! That just seems like time wasted!”

But what if I told you I’ve come up with all of my business ideas, blog post topics, and everything in between when not “working”? (Also, spoiler alert: when you own your own business, you’re really always working.)

By giving my mind some space to breathe (and exposing it to other people, places, and ideas not related to online business), I was able to see things clearly that I couldn’t see at all before.

B.Y.O.B. Tip: Getting out and about in your community is also a great way to conduct some “field research”. Sometimes I go to cafes, gyms, studios, or enjoy a walk around the block and just observe. What are people gravitating towards? Away from? What do they need? What are they looking for? Chat with people who are in your niche to ask some of these questions. Can you think of a solution to their problem?

4. Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

This is something I need to tell myself like 3934 times per day. Hey, I don’t claim to know it all or to be perfect. Far, far from it. I’m still learning and setting goals, and I’m just here to share my journey with you, in the hopes that it resonates and helps you, too. But part of self-care is self-compassion. And knowing that “Rome wasn’t built in a day & so your business won’t either” is a form of self-compassion that’s vital for entrepreneurs, especially those in the beginning stages (because building and maintaining your biz is a long term project).

You do NOT need to get everything done at once…

• Your website doesn’t need to be perfect.
• Your copy doesn’t need to be catchy right away.
• Your Instagram feed doesn’t need a theme.
• Your course doesn’t need to have a landing page, an email list, an automated sequence, drip content, and videos all at once.
• You don’t need to have it all figured out.

Let me repeat that one: you do NOT need to have it all figured out. Not now, not ever. You also shouldn’t suffer through sleep deprivation as you try to research ALL of the things. I would argue that it’s better if you don’t have it all figured out. Remain flexible and see where your business goes. Conduct that field research I talked about in #3 and see what’s needed. I just encourage you to get started on something and keep your eyes peeled along the way.

5. It’s Good Advertising

I hesitated to put this one in here… because there are so many reasons to take care of yourself other than financial ones. BUT, it’s true. By authentically living your life and practicing what you preach, you will relate and speak to more potential clients than you would of otherwise.

Maybe it’s your Instagram pics showing your healthy eats, or your blog posts breaking down how you handle a certain element of healthy living. Your clients will see how you walk the walk in real life. But this part is crucial: it has to be authentic. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not (on social media or otherwise) simply to attract clients. They will see right through it.

But this part is crucial: it has to be authentic. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not (on social media or otherwise) simply to attract clients. They will see right through it. But I’m guessing if you’ve gone through the trouble of becoming a coach or wellness practitioner, you do this stuff already anyway. You just need to figure out how to best present it to your niche.

Why else do you think self-care is important while building your business? What do you do to priortize your self-care while #girlbossing it up?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments!