Entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint of heart. You must show up for yourself every single day in order to see the fruits of your labor.
Showing up for yourself in business daily is equivalent to planting seeds, tilling soil, and watering a garden until the blooming season.
There are several steps and things you need to do in order to reach your goals. When you know how to show up for yourself in entrepreneurship, that’s when the magic happens.
It’s difficult to build a business from the ground up. When you’re betting on yourself to make your dreams come true, you can be your own worst enemy.
Many times, we get in our own way of achieving success. Imposter syndrome, procrastination, and fear are all factors that have the potential to impede upon meeting our goals.
When you have a plan and vision for your business, you need something to anchor yourself to. Discipline, resilience, and self-motivation are traits and habits most highly successful people possess.
What’s preventing you from showing up for yourself every day?
Think about your why and how you will feel when you meet all your goals. Whatever that may be, is your anchor.
10 practical tips to show up for yourself as an entrepreneur
1. Prioritize your health
There will be no business without you. Prioritize self-care and your well-being above everything else.
Show up for yourself by taking care of your mental and physical health. One of the easiest things to neglect as an entrepreneur is a healthy diet, rest, and daily exercise.
All too often, entrepreneurs become fixated on reaching lofty goals and their wellness gets put on the back burner.
They wake up and hop on a call or open up their laptop to continue the work from the day before.
An adequate amount of sleep isn’t as important as meeting the deadline they’ve set for themselves.
Rather than taking the time to prepare a hearty, healthy meal, they pick up fast food on the go.
Unaware that they’re missing out on foods that will replenish their bodies with energy, nutrients, and vitamins that they can benefit from long-term.
Waking up with work, goals, and attaining success on your mind every morning is a recipe for disaster. Not only are you unable to be present or content with who and where you are in your life, you’re neglecting your soul.
Yes, goal-friends, our spirit needs nourishment. Successful entrepreneurs aren’t just focused on monetary gain, but on their personal growth as well.
Sustainable businesses don’t get created overnight. Entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a race.
When you show up for yourself, you don’t compare your progress to others, and you’ve defined what success looks like for you and only you.
When you’ve set the foundation for your mental health, and understand that taking care of your body is just as important as launching a new product or marketing strategy, success is inevitable.
Hustle culture and ‘girl boss burnout’ are dead for a reason. If you’re tired, take the day off. If you’re stressed out, take a step back to reset.
Arriving at your final destination in one piece, with your sanity and health in check, should be the goal.
2. Follow a strict schedule
Creating a strict schedule in your business requires self-discipline and strategy. It’s easy to write a quick to-do list or daily schedule in your planner with little thought or intention behind it.
Entrepreneurs are concerned with the ROI of what they invest their time in.
Let’s take content creators, for example. How many hours will they dedicate to content creation in order to increase their following or viewership? How much money will they put in marketing to reach their target audiences?
Entrepreneurs set intentional goals in order to move the goalposts in their businesses. Remember, slow and steady wins the race, right?
Weekly and monthly business goals determine which action steps they add to their daily schedules.
Actually, following and adhering to these strict schedules is key. Stephen King wrote at least 2,000 words per day as an aspiring author. He’s one of the best-selling authors of all time.
Motivation and discipline go hand in hand. Show up for yourself and your business by following a strict daily schedule.
3. Set business milestones
It’s not uncommon for the first couple of years of business to move pretty slow. Set your expectations, but keep them realistic, too.
The quickest way to give up on your dreams is having the inability to deal with failure. Show up for yourself as an entrepreneur by building resiliency and learning from your mistakes.
They did not build Rome in a day. You won’t be able to build a successful business in less than 24 hours, either. Pursuing entrepreneurship can seem like an uphill battle if you don’t pace yourself and celebrate your wins.
Whether the business milestones you’d like to meet are quarterly or annually, they need to be set.
Maybe you have sales goals, the desire to build an email list, or a new venture you’d like to embark upon in your business for the year.
Your business goals should be SMART. The milestones you set should be attainable, but motivational enough for you to keep going. Be bold when setting your business goals and challenge yourself to achieve them, too.
4. Give yourself grace
If entrepreneurs do nothing else, they will be hard on themselves. This is, unfortunately, a mistake of many novice business owners.
They don’t allow enough room for error. If they take a day off, they beat themselves up about it, even if their bodies are yearning for rest. Self-degradation might as well be a part of their daily routine.
If you’re new to starting a business, don’t do this. Please celebrate your wins for all the things you complete. It could be as small as writing and sending out a monthly newsletter to your customers or audience.
Indulging in the simple pleasures is a way to show up for yourself as an entrepreneur – consider them rewards.
When I don’t check everything off on my task list, I don’t beat myself up about it. Instead, I reframe my thinking by being proud of the effort I put in. I’m even happier when I don’t sacrifice my self-care to work additional hours in my business.
Stress and overwhelm are the thieves of joy when you’re an entrepreneur. I’ve been there, done that, could write a book about it – no more!
Show yourself grace, ladies. You’ll love yourself more in the end!
5. Show up for others
Owning a business is a two-way street.
You need support from your customers or audience in order to thrive. But you also need support from your peers, and encouragement from your friends and loved ones as well.
You won’t get very far pursuing your business goals alone, but you’ll go much farther with a team.
Entrepreneurs need to know how to show up for others just as much as they do for themselves.
5 ways you can show up for others as a business owner:
- Don’t make promises you can’t keep
- Professionalism and impeccable customer service at all times is best
- Don’t compete, support other creatives and entrepreneurs in and outside of your industry
- Show appreciation for the support and motivation you get from family and friends
- Give something of value free to your customers quarterly
When you give back and are grateful for your team, family and friends, and customers who’ve helped your business to thrive, blessings will continue to pour in overtime.
You may be an entrepreneur, but it’s never a one woman show.
6. Make room for joy
Workaholics are no fun. We’ve all heard of the saying “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Well, it applies to boss ladies, too.
Everyone understands that work has to get done, and it can be even more difficult when you’re a business of one.
Quarterly vacations or trying different activities or events in your hometown on the weekends will suffice.
What’s your idea of fun? Maybe it’s binge watching a new television show, reading, couch surfing with your partner, or a girl’s night on the town.
Showing up for yourself includes making time in your hectic business schedule to enjoy life.
7. Pivot as needed
We all know it takes time for our dreams to come to fruition, but business owners need a strategy in place.
What’s plan B,C,D, and Z, goal friends? Let’s be real. Sometimes, our business ventures don’t take off.
Smart, savvy entrepreneurs are aware of the possibilities of failure before they give their all and have several backdoor options in place.
Determination will get you far in entrepreneurship, but you have to be flexible.
A downward spiral in sales for months on end, or a significant decrease in engagement or profit, means that something needs to change.
It’s counterproductive to keep holding onto business strategies, partners, or ideas that aren’t working.
Unless it’s a passion project, ROI is everything. Showing up yourself means learning to let go to move on to greener pastures. It’s best to be resourceful.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket and be fearless when you need to pursue a different route.
8. Kick fear in the face
Fear prevents many entrepreneurs from starting or scaling their businesses for long-term growth.
How many times have you allowed someone else’s failures to paralyze you from making strides towards your business goals?
Many aspiring entrepreneurs suffer from analysis paralysis.
They get overwhelmed by all the ‘what ifs’, being perfectionists, and never get their feet wet because they don’t feel worthy of success or bog themselves down with excuses.
Conducting research and watching YouTube is a starting point, but if you’re stuck taking notes months later with no action, then it’s not a lack of knowledge that’s holding you back.
Fear has a firm grip on you, and at some point, you have it to the curb.
9. Develop a financial strategy
How cool would it be to make six-figures out of the gate?
Most entrepreneurs don’t see this kind of profit until they’re a few years in business, but with a strategy in the right industry and niche, it could happen sooner rather than later.
As a new entrepreneur, you can show up for yourself by doing things right the first go-round.
Here are a few things you can do to ensure a positive financial outcome for your first year of business:
- Create a business plan
- Open up a business banking account
- Use a bookkeeping app to track your expenses
- Get on a budget and keep your expenses low
- Put earnings away for your taxes
- Legally protect your business (purchase LLCs, trademarks, domains, etc.)
10. Commit to long-term goals
Where there is no vision, the people perish – Proverbs 29:18
Where would you like to take your business 3-5 years from now?
It may seem like a premature question when you’re just starting out, but it’s worth pondering if you plan to be in business for a long time.
When creating a business plan, building a brand strategy is important. Are you leaving enough room for opportunity and future growth?
Your business idea may be a part of your vision, but it’s best to think about the direction to stay on track with your goals.
Every business move or pivot should relate to your brand. Developing a long-term business plan is a way to show up for yourself as an entrepreneur.
Keep your business goals broad, but also ensure that your brand is cohesive regardless of what industry or niche you’re in.
How much of success is showing up?
80% of success derives from remaining consistent and overcoming obstacles.
Showing up is never wavering from your routines, taking action steps towards your goals, and problem-solving.
The other 20% is simply staying the course and not aborting the mission altogether.
The 80/20 rule of success applies to both your personal and professional life.
Define what success means to you first. It looks different for everyone.
Why is it important to show up for yourself?
If you don’t show up for yourself in life, in your career, or your relationships, no one else is going to do it for you.
No one wants to lead a meaningless life, let alone wallow in discontentment. It’s important to be intentional when you’re building your business from scratch.
Are you opening a new business to help others? Will it be an additional stream of income? Will the new business allow you to change your lifestyle?
They rarely offer success on a silver platter, and it’s difficult to sustain without self-motivation and discipline.
Are you ready to be more productive in your day-to-day business? Grab your copy of the Side Hustle Planner here.
I teach entrepreneurs how to simplify their life and business with less + own their time and maximize productivity towards their personal and monetary goals.
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