Being in business is not for the faint hearted. It requires steely determination, forceful drive, long nights of planning and big leaps of faith. Often overlooked but equally important is the ability to manage and reduce stress, so that you can get up day after day and do it all over again, while maintaining your quality of life.  So, we’ve compiled some easy ways to deal with the stress of running your business, because helping yourself is helping your business.

Eat, Sleep, Stay Healthy, Repeat.

You are the engine driving your business. You wouldn’t neglect the health of your business so why would you neglect yourself? Business owners too often opt to live on coffee and a poor diet, being too distracted on delivering the day to day. Recognizing that your body and your mind need quality nutrition and decent rest to not only function but put on a top performance will  drive your stress down and health up.

Establish good boundaries.

Any business owner will agree that  you have to give 100% effort and commitment; that they worked 24/7, especially in the first year. Be wary of giving any venture your absolute all – burn out is a bona fide risk – one of the greatest risks facing every business owner. So establish good boundaries and carve out a regular routine that is reserved for your own personal relaxation time and guard it, not with your life but for your life. You need time for you.

Don’t take shortcuts, make smart moves.

Shortcuts nearly always end up costing you more money, more time and more stress in the long run. If you are not an experienced expert in a particular field, you don’t need the hassle of trying to master every single skill involved in running a business successfully. If accounts make your head spin, look to providers such as Colibri to make accounting a fulfilling, rather than a chilling, activity. Make smart moves and make your money work productively for you.

Celebrate Wins and Learn from Failures

Having your own business is a journey, not a destination. Along that journey there’ll be times when you are giving your all, overcoming huge challenges, and success is hard won. Celebrating these wins is central to keeping you and your team’s satisfaction levels high and your stress levels low. Likewise adopting a policy of learning from failures helps you accept them and avoid the same situation recurring, keeping your stress down along the way.

Stay objective, not subjective

This may well be the hardest stress reliever to master, since it’s your business and your livelihood. Staying analytical in times of trouble will help you overcome obstacles easier as you’ll have clarity on the real issues instead of getting caught up in the blame game. Resisting the urge to react and taking time to listen will pay dividends not just for your business but for your stress levels too.