If This Year Was Tough, Learn How To Destress For The New Year

People do not become entrepreneurs to live stress-free. Being the owner of a security guard company means that you are in charge 24/7, but the long days and weeks can eventually take a toll on your business, your relationships, and your health. Finding ways to manage that stress means the difference between success and failure.

“It’s not about de-stressing; it’s more about how fit you are to manage stress,” says Dr. Cynthia Ackrill, chairwoman of the Workplace Stress Board of The American Institute of Stress. “There’s a false assumption that we’ll finish our to-do list, everyone will like us, we’ll be enormously successful and kick back on the beach with mai tais. But by holding that out there, we only frustrate ourselves. Stress is here to stay, and the more ways you have to find joy and deal with it, the better off you are.”

Here are some tips for dialing down stress as a business owner.

Prioritize Your Wellbeing

If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be around in 10 years to take care of your business and employees, Ackrill says. Unfortunately, some business owners put self-care off until they get a wake-up call like a heart attack or other health crisis. High achievers often learn to disregard symptoms like hunger and fatigue and power through to get things done, Ackrill says, but that’s just not sustainable.  Sound familiar?

Remember that eating regularly, getting enough sleep and moving your body every day aren’t selfish actions, Ackrill says. It’s OK to take the time you need to recharge. “You’re not dwelling on yourself; you’re developing your muscles to recognize when you need to do something for yourself,” she says.

Find Ways to Re-Energize

Stress management is really energy management, Ackrill says. Your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy are all finite, and stress happens when you run out of energy to manage your work. Putting yourself first will help, but learning how to replenish your reserves of energy is crucial to let you consistently tackle the challenges you face every day.

Understanding your own values is the first step, Ackrill says. Think about why you do what you do, what your purpose is and what gives you energy. Look at the big picture — why you started the business in the first place, for example. Use those values to guide your day-to-day decisions about where you dedicate your energy and how you renew it.

Find the Best People in Your Company and Delegate

Business owners have a massive amount of responsibility, Ackrill says. They are the ones who constantly set and measure goals for the business beyond just the bottom line, and who troubleshoot when those goals aren’t met. But many of those tasks don’t serve the business’ overall strategy, which is what a leader should be concerned with.

Learn to delegate tasks to the right people to take back some of your time. Being able to hand off work to someone else frees up your time and energy to focus on more strategic issues. Outsourcing or hiring part-time employees for administrative tasks is a good first step.


High motivation drives a lot of business owners, but it can come with a cost…High achievers tend to be hard on themselves…


Cultivate Vulnerability

High motivation drives a lot of business owners, but it can come with a cost, Ackrill says. “High achievers tend to be hard on themselves and always see the gap between what they achieve and what could be better,” she says. “There’s always a fear that they won’t measure up.”

Being vulnerable and accepting failure when it happens can help take some of the pressure off, without sacrificing your overall goal. Ackrill says it can be hard for “top dogs” to find that vulnerability, and working with a coach may help.

‘Close’ Your Day

How many times have you gotten into bed thinking about what didn’t get done that day, and what’s waiting for you tomorrow? Your brain tends to hold onto what’s unfinished, Ackrill says, and that can mean sleepless nights and fatigue, especially for business owners, who always feel like the work isn’t done.

She recommends “closing the day” by writing down what didn’t get done by the end of the workday. This is a signal to your brain that it’s time to shift to your personal life for the evening. “Close your day at the office, even if it’s just in the next room,” Ackrill says. Then let it go, get a good night’s sleep and hit the ground running the next day.

Do you have your own tips for de-stressing? What are your go-to tactics for managing stress as the owner of a security company?

 

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By Courtney Sparkman


OfficerReports.com logoOfficerReports.com is a software company that provides security guard companies with an easy way to monitor their officers, better manage their operations, and win new business. Take a tour of our software to see how we combine Electronic Reporting, Real-Time GPS based Tour Tracking, and GPS based Clock In and Out into one easy to use platform.


 

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