“Every day you reinvent yourself. You’re always in motion. But you decide everyday: forward or backward.” – James Altucher

There is a poetic vibe to the term ‘life in motion’. It conjures up beautiful imagery of movement. But, in reality, our lives in motion often feel far from beautiful but rather a collection of bashes and bruises from crawling through the mud to make it to the end of another day.

Well that’s how it feels sometimes. Let’s be honest.

Social media is amazing for portraying the beauty and the accomplishments of our lives, but very rarely show the bits in between. That’s ok, because no one really wants to see your dirty laundry. But in light of helping other people feel close to normal, I think it is necessary to open up sometimes and tell it how it is. For most of us.

Almost 3 years ago I decided that I needed to take the massive leap and establish my own business. I had been managing other people’s businesses for 10 years and decided that I could do it alone.

Let me give you a little bit of background to my situation at that time. I was living on a remote Island, had a mortgage, 2 small children, and my husband was working part time. As I write this, I am pondering the craziness of that decision. But I had full faith in my own ability to make things work. It’s what I do. I solve problems and I knew that most people have a lot of business problems that need solving.

Interestingly, many people decide to take the leap into entrepreneurship, or owning their own business during some of the most challenging personal moments of their lives. There is a common trait amongst us that we are either starting or have started a new family. Money is often tight. There is a lot of risk involved. But as you know, big risks reap big rewards. Here’s how I have managed to make it all work to date.

 

Managing the stress of business and life

Growth comes from pressure. Anyone who is into going to the gym to workout will tell you this. Muscles do not develop in a pressure-free environment. As new business owners, or entrepreneurs we need to get very familiar with pressure. Trying to avoid the stress and pressure of our everyday lives is not an amicable mindset. Learning how to manage the pressure is. This includes navigating the constant demands that come from outside of the business including friends, family and social ‘norms’.

One of the hardest things I find is trying to manage my friendships while needing to commit every ounce of spare time I have for education and business growth. My direct family understand this but some of my extended family and friends – not so much. I have reduced the amount of socialising I do. I limit the amount of alcohol I consume, and try to be disciplined with the amount of sleep I get. Some people won’t understand. That’s ok. Your success will explain your actions eventually.

 

Developing Good Habits

I commit myself to daily exercise. As a digital strategist, I sit at a computer most of the day. Our bodies are designed for movement. My advice here is find something that gets you out, gets your body moving, your blood pumping, and make sure it is something you can enjoy doing. Everything is hard before it is easy. Having a routine helps you create this healthy habit. For me, it’s a combination of running and yoga. I alternate, but both are done late in the afternoon or evening as a way of managing my thoughts and the pent-up energy that has been created from sitting at my desk all day. Most people recommend exercise in the morning. It has never worked for me. You need to find what works for you. I also try to eat well. What you put into your body makes a big difference to your overall mental capacity.

I write. Daily. And by hand, in a journal. It is a habit that I have recently re-committed to after reading the book ‘The Artists Way.’ I have always loved writing and found it useful in the past, so I developed the habit again, just recently. I aim to write 3 pages every day and I find it is an amazing tool for processing thoughts. My blog reflects my habit (you can check it out here: forjmblog.com) This habit is helping me develop my craft. It helps me develop thought processes that lead to better strategy for my own business and businesses that I am working with. I do this first thing in the morning to motivate me to take on the day with a good attitude and good mindset. Most days it works. J

 

Know your Limitations

I am constantly learning to understand my limitations. Like most new business owners or keen entrepreneurs, we are usually gung-ho but our bodies don’t seem to keep up. Earlier on in my business, I was sick for 6 weeks. I was incredibly run down, stressed out and not being honest with myself or my clients about my own limitations. It was a very big wake up call for me when I had to go home from work one day feeling like my brain was breaking. Not good. This is when I got serious about setting boundaries and self-preservation. You are no good to your clients or your customers (let alone your family) when you are scraping the bottom of the barrow.

 

Growth Mindset

I am committed to constant learning. I am proactive in connecting with new people who think bigger than me. People who have more experience than me. I ask a lot of questions. I also try to associate with people in different industries to me so that I broaden my perspective of the world and how the world functions. Twitter has been amazing for making connections with a wide cross-section of people globally.

I list areas that I recognise in need of personal growth and I research them. I find new books to read. I have recently started listening to podcasts. Life in motion is all about forward movement. To succeed you need to put in the hours to develop yourself personally so that your business can continue to evolve.

There are thousands of success business people in the world. I want to be one of them.

In the end, I am results driven. It’s my personality. Once I get a vision for something, I cannot let it go until I have achieved the goal. This drives me forward. Life is incredibly short and I want to optimise every moment. I look around and see so many people I admire and aspire to be like. They are normal people with extraordinary belief in themselves and their teams, passion and commitment to working hard. Why can’t we be one of them?