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Tag: Life Hack

  • Why Work-Life Balance Is a Myth That’s Making Entrepreneurs Miserable | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    We’ve seen all the think pieces about work-life balance. We’ve heard plenty of opinions from burned-out employees and concerned health experts, and even seen travel blogs touting countries like New Zealand and South Africa to find the perfect utopia where ‘work to live, not live to work’ exists.

    But what if none of it is real? What if everything we’ve been led to believe about work-life balance is just a myth, and thinking we are failing in the mission leaves entrepreneurs miserable and unfulfilled?

    I remember feeling this way when I first started my company, BriteCo. I was plagued with the thought that I was not giving enough hours to my business or that I was not committed enough as a father and husband when I was at home, if I spent too many hours at the office. The ideology bogged me down until I shifted my perspective and began to think of this preconceived “work-life balance” as “work-life mastery” instead.

    Related: 10 Myths About Work-Life Balance and What to Do Instead

    It’s not one or the other — It’s both

    The breakthrough came when I stopped asking, “How do I separate work and life?” and started pivoting to “How do I make work worth integrating?”

    Everyone talks about work-life balance as two polar entities: You have your work life and your home life, and they’re completely separate, never to meet. But that belief is where burnout happens.

    Instead, learning to blend the two and finding ways to integrate and intersect is where there is real power and personal reward. This doesn’t mean you have to work 24/7/365. It means being intentional about what deserves your attention — and when.

    Related: Are You Overlooking the Mindset Shift That Transforms Good Leaders Into Great Ones?

    Making work meaningful

    First and foremost, you should enjoy your work. As entrepreneurs, this is pivotal. You’re going to invest many, many hours, especially in the beginning, so rather than begrudge it, embrace it.

    Having a strong passion for your business and the services or products you offer will help drive your success: It will help you solve problems and keep your curiosity firing. However, the other benefit is that when you enjoy what you do, the rules for structuring work are thrown out. You’ll soon realize you don’t have to gate work outside your life but can keep both doors open and accessible at all times.

    Finding time for personal time

    It should go without saying that you should absolutely schedule personal time — take days off, take vacations, show up for family time. But maybe taking a day off leaves an hour for a board meeting before you go. Maybe weekends also offer a chunk of time to catch up on menial tasks, so they don’t waste your attention during the work week.

    When I go home every night, I sit down and have dinner with my family. I’ll still throw the baseball with my son and make time to coach his baseball team. I’m not working during that time, but that doesn’t mean that whole evening or that whole Saturday is completely checked out. It doesn’t have to be a full workday, but the purpose is to be flexible with my time and optimize my efficiency.

    When I take vacations, I don’t completely shut off. I’ll still enjoy time away with my family, but I’ll check emails while we’re getting ready in our hotel and look for updates before going to bed. Doing so helps me stay even tangentially connected and offers a much smoother transition once I’m back to the office because I avoid the burnout of playing catch-up.

    Aligning business goals with personal growth

    What would shift if you viewed your business as part of your life’s purpose rather than something stealing from it? You’d probably have a whole new appreciation for what you do and the value it adds to your life.

    If accomplishing business goals doesn’t give you a rush of endorphins and a huge sense of personal accomplishment, you may want to reevaluate whether your current line of work is the best fit for you. If your work successes don’t also make you want to level up in the gym, at home or in your personal hobbies, then it’s time to start finding that inspiration and fusing it into your whole life.

    Whereas the old “work-life balance” model assumes work and life compete with each other and that you must escape one to enjoy or focus on the other, it’s time to flip the switch and invest in meaningful work that can energize your entire life.

    We’ve seen all the think pieces about work-life balance. We’ve heard plenty of opinions from burned-out employees and concerned health experts, and even seen travel blogs touting countries like New Zealand and South Africa to find the perfect utopia where ‘work to live, not live to work’ exists.

    But what if none of it is real? What if everything we’ve been led to believe about work-life balance is just a myth, and thinking we are failing in the mission leaves entrepreneurs miserable and unfulfilled?

    I remember feeling this way when I first started my company, BriteCo. I was plagued with the thought that I was not giving enough hours to my business or that I was not committed enough as a father and husband when I was at home, if I spent too many hours at the office. The ideology bogged me down until I shifted my perspective and began to think of this preconceived “work-life balance” as “work-life mastery” instead.

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

    Dustin Lemick

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  • This Is the Leadership Trick That Even Top CEOs Swear By | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Most leaders travel alone for business. But how many leaders have intentionally taken a true solo vacation? No family, no work, no obligations. Just you, alone, facing your inner world and expanding your leadership potential.

    I recently did exactly that, spending two weeks solo in Peru and Ecuador. The impact was profound, reshaping how I approach leadership, decision-making and strategic thinking at StoneAge, the employee-owned company I run. Here’s why I believe every leader should take a solo vacation and how doing so will make you more effective and impactful.

    Solitude creates strategic clarity

    Leadership is fundamentally about making clear decisions. But how can you make smart, strategic choices if meetings, emails and daily demands constantly clutter your mind?

    Hal Gregersen wrote in a recent Harvard Business Review article, “Cultivating silence increases your chances of encountering novel ideas and information and discerning weak signals.” When you take a solo vacation, you find yourself sitting in silence, often with room to think and ideate. Bill Gates credits his famous twice-yearly “think weeks,” which are periods of intense solitude and reflection, with inspiring some of Microsoft’s most groundbreaking innovations.

    During my solo adventure, without work emails or meetings, I finally had the mental space to outline my next book, clarify my vision for StoneAge and develop new leadership frameworks. The solitude sharpened my strategic clarity and renewed my focus in ways impossible to achieve amid daily distractions.

    Related: How Taking Solo Retreats Away from Work Benefits You and Your Business

    Breaking routine enhances cognitive flexibility

    Routine is comfortable, but comfort rarely breeds innovation. Leaders often underestimate how rigid routines stifle creative thinking and limit growth.

    According to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, exposure to novel and diverse experiences enhances cognitive flexibility — a crucial skill for innovative and agile leadership. During my solo trip, navigating unfamiliar places, cultures and languages forced my brain out of autopilot mode, dramatically enhancing my creative problem-solving abilities. I returned home able to view business challenges more clearly and approach them with fresh, innovative perspectives.

    Being alone strengthens self-leadership and emotional resilience

    As leaders, our external effectiveness hinges on internal strength. Self-leadership — how effectively we manage our emotions, behaviors and decisions — is the cornerstone of successful leadership.

    Traveling solo tests and develops self-leadership. When a canceled flight threatened my meticulously planned itinerary, I had to trust my instincts, solve problems quickly and stay emotionally regulated. I leaned into discomfort, managing loneliness and vulnerability without distractions. Each challenge enhanced my self-trust, emotional intelligence and resilience, qualities directly beneficial to leading my team through uncertainty and stress.

    Presence creates authentic connection

    Presence is a leader’s greatest currency. Yet, constant connectivity ironically often leaves us disconnected from those around us.

    My solo trip forced me to be present in the moment. Without phone service, I engaged fully with strangers on trains, at restaurants, in markets and had deep, authentic conversations. Each interaction reminded me of the power of presence in building genuine connections. Practicing authentic presence with strangers strengthened my ability to be more fully present with my team at StoneAge, creating deeper trust, empathy and effectiveness as a leader.

    Stillness generates breakthrough ideas

    We’ve glorified hustle culture, but true leadership insights rarely come from constant activity. Instead, they arise from stillness and quiet reflection.

    During my trip, moments of boredom and solitude gave rise to some of my most innovative ideas. Research supports this; cognitive scientists have found that boredom and stillness are crucial for creativity and innovative thinking. Leaders who embrace quiet moments cultivate deeper, more impactful insights.

    How leaders can maximize a solo vacation for strategic advantage

    1. Choose a destination that challenges you: Go somewhere that is culturally, physically or spiritually challenging. Stretching yourself boosts your cognitive flexibility and innovation capabilities.
    2. Fully disconnect from work: No emails, no meetings. Disconnecting entirely allows your brain to relax, fostering deeper strategic insights.
    3. Schedule intentional reflection: Allocate time specifically for journaling, meditation and quiet reflection. Structured reflection cultivates strategic clarity and emotional awareness.
    4. Engage with strangers to build presence: Talk to people you meet. Engaging authentically with strangers develops your emotional intelligence, presence and interpersonal skills.
    5. Observe and reflect on your inner experiences: Notice when you feel lonely, bored or uncomfortable. Reflecting on these feelings enhances self-leadership, emotional resilience and decision-making skills.

    Related: How to Start (and Run) a 7-Figure Business While Traveling the World

    Final leadership insights:

    • Solitude isn’t a luxury; it’s a strategic leadership advantage.
    • Breaking routine fuels innovation and creative thinking.
    • Effective leadership starts with deep self-awareness and emotional resilience.
    • Authentic presence strengthens your connections with your team.
    • True leadership breakthroughs come from stillness and reflection, not relentless hustle.

    I returned from my solo trip not only refreshed but fundamentally changed. The clarity, confidence and creativity I gained now directly enhance how I lead StoneAge and engage with my employees. A solo vacation isn’t just good for your soul; it’s a strategic imperative for effective, innovative leadership.

    Book your solo trip. Your team, your company and your future self will thank you.

    Most leaders travel alone for business. But how many leaders have intentionally taken a true solo vacation? No family, no work, no obligations. Just you, alone, facing your inner world and expanding your leadership potential.

    I recently did exactly that, spending two weeks solo in Peru and Ecuador. The impact was profound, reshaping how I approach leadership, decision-making and strategic thinking at StoneAge, the employee-owned company I run. Here’s why I believe every leader should take a solo vacation and how doing so will make you more effective and impactful.

    Solitude creates strategic clarity

    The rest of this article is locked.

    Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

    Kerry Siggins

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  • 3 Simple Tips to Unlearn Bad Self-Care Habits and Escape Burnout For Good | Entrepreneur

    3 Simple Tips to Unlearn Bad Self-Care Habits and Escape Burnout For Good | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    We all love the idea of self-care, but seriously — who has the time? A younger, hungrier, success-at-any-cost version of me would be nodding my head reading that statement. The more established, experienced, post-pandemic version of me who sits here today knows that’s just an excuse.

    Stress and busyness

    We’re culturally indoctrinated to accept chronic stress as a part of our life cycle. During that pivotal phase of life from 20-50 years of age, we juggle college exams, the pressure to land a good-paying job, moving up the ladder, balancing career ambitions against the biological clock, starting a business, being a good leader, parent, partner and friend.

    All of these pressure triggers are a natural part of life, right? Well, I can agree that they are a natural part of life, but these events don’t have to feel so stressful. They only feel that way because the foundation holding it all up isn’t as solid as it could — and should — be. Constructing and reinforcing that foundation can happen at any time, but the best time is right now.

    Our business-first culture glorifies the external face of success while often disregarding the sacrifices it took to get there. The body that carries us, and the constantly revolving mind that fuels our great ideas, they require respite. The problem is that we don’t believe we can afford to pause with purpose and still be successful. That’s because we don’t know where to look for good examples.

    Related: How Learning to Take Care of Myself Helps Me Take Care of My Business

    The hunt for a self-care role model

    In my work, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing several women who are doing self-care right. Recently I spoke with Erica Diamond, a practiced professional who has helped countless women, including Arianna Huffington, prioritize their own well-being, first. Diamond practices yoga and meditation to calm her central nervous system. I spoke to Karena Dawn, an entrepreneur who built a fitness empire by encouraging women to work through generational trauma through movement. These are just a few of the women who are showing us a better way to function in a world where overwhelm is normalized.

    Unlearning bad habits

    Before adopting the self-care practices we see others emulating around us, there’s a deeper job to do. We have to unlearn the bad habits we’ve collected over a lifetime. This can especially be true for women, having learned from our mothers that taking care of others comes first.

    If you could time travel and ask a housewife in the 1950s what her self-care routine was, she’d likely tell you, “It’s called Mother’s Day.” Incidentally, Anna Jarvis’ campaign to recognize Mother’s Day in the U.S. was funded by a department store owner. The business sector co-opted the holiday, and Jarvis spent the rest of her life railing against its commercialization.

    The moral of the story is that when a holiday that was created to show appreciation for the most selfless people in our lives gets exploited as a business opportunity, then our cultural priorities deserve a second look. It’s time to take back taking care of ourselves.

    Related: Self-Care Isn’t Selfish — It’s Essential for Sustaining High Performance. Here’s How to Avoid Burning Out.

    3 self-care tips to avoid overwhelm

    Overwhelm is typically the entry point into a self-care journey. It’s the chronic fatigue, the inability to shut down, snapping at people for no reason. If you run a business then you know what it feels like. The good news is that you can incorporate practices that will bolster your ability to move through potential stressors with more grace, and with practice, avoid overwhelm altogether.

    • Stop making excuses: If you’re experiencing overwhelm, don’t wait to address it. This can lead to more serious problems down the road. Face it now and take one small action to address it.
    • Practice mindfulness: This is a fancy way of saying “be present.” Meditation has been scientifically proven to reduce stress levels, and it’s a common practice among burnout recoverees. Journaling is another great way to center yourself, and it’s helped me tremendously over the years.
    • Move more: Yoga, stretching, swimming, jogging and walking in nature are all effective ways of releasing pent-up overwhelm healthily. Studies show that once you get into a routine with movement, you’ll be better able to manage stressful events without succumbing to overwhelm.

    From self-care shame to shameless self-care

    The voices promoting our need for self-care have never been louder, and that’s a good thing. However, it also means that self-care has become a double-edged sword. We’re almost being shamed into it.

    If you’re an entrepreneur and you’ve been interviewed, no doubt the “What’s your self-care routine?” question has been raised. Knowing what it takes to run a business, balance relationships and do and be all the things, it wouldn’t surprise me if half of us weren’t lying through our teeth about our self-care habits.

    We have to really step back and look at how we plan our day. Time is currency, and being busy doesn’t mean we’re important or even doing important things. When we see the signs of burnout, start a conversation. We need to do a better job of supporting balanced lifestyles among our professional peers.

    Related: 5 Self-Care Habits of Every Successful Entrepreneur

    Find what works for you

    There are a billion methods, books, podcasts and workshops designed to help you adopt a self-care practice. The problem is that we’re all individuals, so there’s no perfect formula for the masses. Finding what works for you starts with unlearning the behaviors that don’t consider your well-being and reversing the cycle. Then, you just have to try on different self-care hats and see what fits.

    If something works for a while, know that it might not work the same way in three years. Pivot, but don’t give up. Self-care isn’t a cookie-cutter thing. One size does not fit all. It’s personal, and it’s an ever-evolving, ever-integrative process. Start with what’s doable for you now. A solid self-care foundation that will help you live and work more sustainably starts with one achievable step at a time.

    Ginni Saraswati

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  • How to Turn Your Hobby Into a Business | Entrepreneur

    How to Turn Your Hobby Into a Business | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    A few years ago, my friend Sabah turned her passion for cooking into a chef-on-demand business. She started off serving her local Cleveland area, quickly grew to cover other major Ohio cities and plans to expand even further. She is just one of the many people I know who have turned their passion project into a successful business.

    We all have our passion projects. We do them because they’re fun, or we like the challenge, or they’re our way of doing some good in the world. From time to time, though, our niche interests and hobbies lead us to marketable ideas. For many, that’s as far as it goes; they don’t know how to take the next step.

    Sabah had a shortcut — she’s married to my friend and business partner, who knew not only the next step to take but all the steps after that. If you’re not lucky enough to have a spouse or friend who can help, here’s how to turn your passion project into a successful business.

    Related: Ten Tips To Turn Your Passion Project Into A Business

    Hobbies that make great side hustles

    So you have a niche hobby, and you’re wondering: How can I make some money from this? It’s important to remember that not all hobbies are created equal, financially speaking. And a niche interest that might have driven profits 20 years ago (collecting Beanie Babies, say) could be a financial sinkhole today.

    By keeping a pulse on the zeitgeist, you can anticipate trends and hobbies gaining public interest — and capitalize on those trends. Some, like the following, are side hustle ideas you could start at any time.

    Photography

    Senior portraits, weddings, special events, professional headshots — quality and affordable photography never lacks in demand. With a website highlighting your work, you can book clients and start earning money from your passion.

    Coding

    From bug bounty programs to website design, freelance coding offers major earning opportunities. A background in HTML, Python, Java, C++ or a myriad of other coding languages can be a financial boon.

    Home design

    If you designed your home to belong in an issue of Architectural Digest, others will take notice. Consult on color palettes, furniture selections, room layouts and lighting — and bring your curated aesthetic to the masses with a home design business.

    Video and audio production

    Whether promoting a brand on social media or starting a podcast, freelance producers can bring a marketing campaign to life. Sell yourself with past work, and mention your experience with programs in the Adobe Creative Suite or Pro Tools.

    Gardening

    Your green thumb could put some green in your pocket. The landscaping and gardening industry was valued at more than $250 billion in 2024, according to Mordor Intelligence, and if your own garden is thriving, you can fill a niche in your own (proverbial) backyard.

    Writing

    Can you construct clear and concise copy for a variety of clients? If so, the opportunities are as vast as your vocabulary. Wordsmiths can serve as speechwriters, copywriters, technical writers and ghostwriters, as well as assist with any editing needs.

    Baking

    Your beautiful cakes, cookies and baked goods could be more than delicious treats; they could be a source of income. Many entrepreneurs found success with home baking during the pandemic, and with proper planning and consistent clients, you can join them.

    Vetting if your hobby could be a business

    Before you make any hard commitments or major financial decisions, consider if your niche hobby can earn consistent money. Who is the target client? How much are current practitioners charging? How much money do you have saved? How much do you expect to make?

    It’s crucial to be clear-eyed about expectations before investing your own money into your venture. The following steps can help you assess whether or not to turn your passion project into a side hustle — or even a career.

    Run it by friends

    When we have that eureka moment, it sometimes blinds us to flaws in our logic. To get a quick check, run your idea by a few trusted friends. They might be able to point out roadblocks you didn’t think of or know a way to bring your idea to life. For Sabah, that meant asking other chefs for input. Avoid relying solely on one or two peoples’ opinions, but do gauge your friends’ enthusiasm. After all, close confidantes have your best interests in mind.

    Analyze the market

    Chances are, others have had your idea. Sabah wasn’t the first to think of a chef-on-demand service, but when she analyzed the market, she realized her idea could still work. Market analysis requires thoroughly researching consumer trends and expectations, market size and the demand for your offering.

    To truly excel, you must conduct a thorough analysis of your rivals. Although they might offer a comparable product, your goal is to surpass them. Analyze their customer feedback to identify gaps. When you look hard at similar businesses, you might find opportunities to fill the gaps they’re leaving.

    Network

    Networking with others who have launched their business or product can be invaluable. They’re ahead of you on the journey and can help you avoid costly missteps. If you’re lucky, you might find someone with similar experience and a willingness to mentor you. A good mentor can help you find the path forward when you hit a roadblock. Keep the lines of communication with your network and your mentor open. They know the twists and turns and can save you headaches and expenses.

    Devise a business plan

    Don’t invest significant money into a project before creating a detailed business plan. Prior steps, such as analyzing the market, will help you write this document, and you’ll want to come away with clear financial expectations. Do the math — calculate your startup and overhead costs, insurance, marketing budget, earnings expectations and taxes. This will give you some base-level expectations and a roadmap to funding, if necessary.

    Getting your side business off the ground

    You’ve done your research. You’ve talked to friends and other entrepreneurs. You’ve analyzed the market and built a business plan. Now it’s time to take the first big step: getting your side business off the ground.

    Turning passion into profit takes work. Don’t be discouraged. There may be moments of doubt and anxiety as your business slowly ramps up. Lean on mentors, and consult your business plan. Like Sabah, if you’ve done the proper pre-launch work, you can keep your head down and follow the roadmap. The following steps can position you for success when turning your niche hobby into a business.

    Build an MVP

    In the software development world, a minimum viable product (MVP) is a way to test your idea with a small group of early adopters. It’s essentially an early product version with just a few core features. For Sabah, the MVP was a limited menu with a select set of chefs — and she was one of them. Once she proved her idea would work, she hired more chefs and added more meals to the menu based on the feedback she got from her customers. Early and genuine feedback is the goal of an MVP. After all, it’s easier and less expensive to make changes at the beginning of the development cycle than in the middle of it.

    Related: 5 Tips for Solidifying MVP, and Why It’s the Most Important Aspect of Building a Startup

    Set achievable goals

    Be realistic about your first-year financial expectations. In fact, it’s common for new businesses to lose money in their first year of business as they pay back initial investments and build consistent customer bases. Sabah set goals — both financial and personal — that she could reasonably achieve. But don’t mistake this for easy goals. You should be ambitious but practical when planning to achieve your goals.

    Get help

    Sabah didn’t build her business alone. She knew she needed help building the web applications her fledgling company needed and outsourced that work. Trying to do everything leads to stress, burnout and costly mistakes. It also takes you longer to get to market and could mean competitors beat you to the finish line. Engage freelance help or outsource product development to a team with the knowledge and bandwidth to quickly build a high-quality product.

    Knowing when to get help involves recognizing your strengths and weaknesses. Maybe you can build the product but need help with market analysis. Or maybe you need help with building a brand identity and marketing the product. Outsourcing some of the work frees you up to focus on what you’re good at and can take stress off your shoulders.

    Related: Asking For Help Is Good For You and Your Business

    Keep your finger on the pulse

    Markets and trends can shift rapidly, so it’s essential to keep tabs on competitors and monitor your customers’ needs. The last thing you want is a product that’s outdated by the time it launches or a business plan built around last year’s “it” thing. By staying up-to-date on market and cultural trends, you can be ready to shift priorities when the time is right.

    It’s been a joy to watch my friend’s business grow. She’s met challenges with grace and never lets setbacks slow her down. And that, too, is key to turning your passion project into a successful business: believing in your vision enough to stick with it, no matter what.

    Bidhan Baruah

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  • How to Use Rejection as a Tool For Success | Entrepreneur

    How to Use Rejection as a Tool For Success | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    When I was 22, I had a boss who taught me to crave rejection. At that time, I was in a sales role and had shared with her that I felt all I ever heard was the word “no.”

    The following month, she ran a competition to see who could hear “no” the most. And yes indeed, I was the victor. So much good came from that experience. I realized that rejection is a part of sales, and it’s also a part of life. I learned that highly successful people know this and aren’t miffed when they’re told no. In fact, they embrace rejection and even learn from it.

    Successful people use rejection to get stronger. However, many people don’t feel this way about rejection. If you’re struggling to feel good about being rejected, here are four steps you can take to completely rewire your brain.

    Related: 5 Ways to Turn Rejection Into Resilience

    1. Don’t take it personally

    Often, we struggle with rejection because we feel it’s personal. But rejection usually isn’t personal.

    When rejected, it’s easy to wonder what the rejection says about us. But often, rejection doesn’t say anything about us. Instead, it says something about the other person. Frequently, we ignore or discount the reasons we’re given for the rejection. Instead, we look for another reason (the real reason). Usually, another reason doesn’t exist.

    If someone says they don’t want the product or service we’re selling because they can’t afford it at that time, they usually mean it. If someone says they can’t attend the event we invited them to because they’re too busy, they usually mean it. Spending time beating ourselves up and wondering what the rejection really says about us and how likable we are is often a tremendous waste of time. When we trust the reasons we’re given for the rejection, we can move on and strike out again much faster.

    2. Get excited about being rejected

    Rejection usually doesn’t feel good. For many, that’s why it’s hard to imagine what (if any) good can (and will) come from it.

    Remember: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. Recognize that you have a choice in how you feel about rejection. Whatever story you tell yourself about rejection comes from you. It’s up to you to interpret the information that exists in your world. You have the power to flip the script, change the narrative and tell yourself a different story.

    You can choose to view rejection as a good thing — it means you put yourself out there, asked a tough question and exuded courage. It means you got out of your comfort zone, which always helps us grow and evolve. It means you got to practice a skill (the skill of asking, influencing or selling). That practice will help you grow thicker skin and hone your craft, making you stronger and tougher. With that in mind, you can choose to view rejection as a good thing.

    Related: How to Overcome Rejection and Move Forward With Your Big Goals

    3. Ask why — and learn from it

    Most people feel pain when rejected. When we experience any kind of pain, our first reaction is often flight or fight. We either walk away, as quickly as we can, or we double down and argue. When it comes to rejection, neither approach works well.

    Here’s what does: Engaging the person who rejected you from a place of true curiosity. Questions such as: “What was the biggest factor in your decision?” or “What, if anything, would’ve made you say yes?” or “What could I offer or do next time that would excite or interest you more?”

    These questions are great tools to help you learn from rejection. Perhaps you can give feedback to your boss that your product’s price point isn’t appealing or the benefits aren’t meeting market demand. You might learn that a slightly altered product or service would’ve garnered a yes, and perhaps you can negotiate an exception from your company that allows you to go back and offer the client what they really want.

    Every so often, there is something you could’ve done or said differently that would’ve been persuasive. Getting information about how to proceed more effectively next time is a win. With that mindset in mind, rejection is actually a good thing — it helps you improve.

    4. Know that things can change

    Remember that most things in life aren’t permanent and people’s situations can change dramatically from one year to the next (or even one month to the next). Just because someone turned you down once doesn’t mean they’ll turn you down every time.

    Ask permission to reconnect or touch base again later. Maybe your friend can’t make time to see you this month, but they’ll be able to next month. Perhaps the client you’ve been trying to sign all year will be in a different financial situation next year. Recognize now simply might not be the right time for whatever you’re proposing, and while that’s okay, it may not always be the case.

    Related: 4 Ways to Handle and Overcome Your Fear of Rejection

    5. Adjust your strategy

    After you get enough information to learn following a rejection, you get to employ what I call PDCA — plan, do, check and adjust.

    Once you’ve been rejected and know why, you can adjust your strategy. You might learn that making calls at lunch time isn’t effective because no one answers the phone. You might learn you’ve been targeting the wrong demographic and need to pick different prospects. You might learn prospecting on the weekdays isn’t as effective as prospecting on weekends.

    Rejection, if used correctly, can be an excellent teacher because it can guide us to make changes to what we do and how we do it. You might decide to start frequenting community events or join a networking group to be more successful. In the end, if being rejected causes you to do something new and different, that’s another win.

    Having a healthy, strong relationship with rejection is a true game changer. If you adopt these five philosophies on rejection, you’ll find rejection isn’t nearly as painful as it once was. You might even begin to look forward to rejection.

    Amy M Chambers

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  • Discover the Cognitive Benefits a 'Silent Retreat' | Entrepreneur

    Discover the Cognitive Benefits a 'Silent Retreat' | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Each summer, I take a few weeks off as CEO of Jotform, travel to my family’s farm in Turkey, and do my best to truly check out. Instead of tending to my inbox, I tend to our olive groves and go for long nature walks with my kids. As this time off unfolds, I inevitably begin to feel refreshed and re-energized. Upon returning to the office, this form of life hack produces thinking that’s reliably sharper, and I’m increasingly convinced that much of this has to do with the absence of noise, both internal and external.

    Their grounding in the principle that “…natural quiet has become an endangered species and needs to be protected” (as Condé Nast Traveler writer Sarah Allard phrases it in a 2023 article on vacation trends), “silent retreats” are on the rise. And though many of these literally encourage no talking, it seems that their effectiveness stems from a lack of informational/digital noise. A fascinating El Pais story by Silvia López Rivas includes a 2011 observation by then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who pointed out that until 2003, humans had produced an amount of information equivalent to five exabytes — the same quantity generated every two days in 2011. It has been estimated that by 2025, we’ll be creating 463 exabytes of information every single day. In short, the sound of information, already deafening, is poised to get much louder.

    Related: Did You Mess Up? Use This Astronaut’s “30-Second Rule” to Feel Better and Refocus

    The benefits of quiet

    Meditation retreats, even when they’re not totally silent, have been shown to deliver multifold benefits. One comprehensive study published in a 2016 edition of the Journal of Psychosomatic Research found that meditation retreats reliably reduced symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression, in part because of their ability to foster mindfulness — being fully present and engaged in the moment. It is, after all, virtually impossible to focus on creative work when your mind is racing. Mindfulness, meanwhile, leads to clearer and more innovative thinking.

    Many retreat participants additionally report that an extended experience of silence helped produce a better night’s sleep, and it’s no secret to anyone reading this that rest is fundamental to sharp cognition. A telling 2004 study from the University of Lübeck involved asking subjects to complete math problems that relied on algorithms, with shortcuts hidden deep within formulas. About 25% of the subjects discovered them at the outset, but given the chance to get eight hours of sleep, that figure rose to 59%.

    Related: You’ll Never Achieve Work-Life Balance — and You Shouldn’t, Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian Says

    Go easy at first

    It’s challenging to quit noise cold turkey. That’s why silent retreat organizers approach the process gradually. For example, they recommend that participants, especially first-timers, ease into the practice by refraining from checking phones for a few hours before arriving.

    Even if you’re not jetting off to retreat in a 16th-century castle in France, there are ways to proceed gradually into encouraging quiet, say by carving out just 15 daily minutes away from devices, emails, meetings, social media and news notifications.

    It’s tricky for me to commit to anything that isn’t scheduled, so I make regular appointments to have silent time. For me, mornings work best before the day has a chance to catch up. When the appointment pops up, I’m not deciding whether or not I’m in the mood to be silent; I just switch off devices and begin.

    Objectively observe your internal dialogue

    Making time for yourself in this way is, on its own, an achievement that will deliver myriad benefits, but applying some actionable advice can help take the practice one step further.

    During silent time at the office, I use some of the practices from Vipassana meditation — scanning my body from head to toe and paying attention to sensations. If my shoulders ache from a morning training session or my stomach grumbles after a skipped breakfast, I take note while tuning into what’s happening in my mind.

    The key is to not react, just observe, as many have found that engaging in this discipline helps both body and mind better tolerate painful and unpleasant situations.

    Related: How to Stop Information Overload in its Tracks

    Get comfortable with discomfort

    In our incredibly noisy world, sitting in silence can be jarring, and it’s not unusual to experience a knee-jerk need to escape from it. In a 2016 Guardian article, one journalist attending a silent retreat in New Zealand admitted to having the urge to run through the hall screaming. It’s perfectly natural to want to give up when you’re first engaging in this process, and that’s okay. The trick is to stop expecting perfection and learn to be with things as they are, which can reduce stress and anxiety and boost creativity and the need for productive connections with others.

    Related: A Simple Practice to Overcome the Fear of Uncertainty and Daily Stress

    Aytekin Tank

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  • How to Project-Manage Your Personal Life | Entrepreneur

    How to Project-Manage Your Personal Life | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    If you audit time in terms of what you said you’d accomplish versus what you actually did, it’s not uncommon to see deltas like, “I only completed to my satisfaction 20% of what was needed: 70% got pushed to the next week, and 10% wasn’t done well.” Normally at a corporate job, this level of productivity is a recipe for unemployment, but when it comes to personal lives, we tend to extend ourselves so much grace that it can border on self-sabotage.

    Why? Well, because we can. There’s simply less accountability within a personal space not governed by a passion to be more effective and efficient with time (efficacy here essentially means “I’m getting it done,” while efficiency translates to “I’m getting things done faster and better”). And the only way someone can ever truly embrace both is by leveraging the tools and systems connected to how we operate on a granular level. This is what good project management does.

    Define objectives and create deliverables

    The first step in applying better management to your personal life is to clearly define objectives. This includes breaking them down into smaller deliverables and defining the time needed to achieve each one. Say you need to clean out the garage: Instead of saying, “This is a goal, and I’ll do it this Saturday,” a better mechanism might be detailing that “Garage section 1 will take 40 minutes, and section 2 will take 50 minutes.” You’ve broken tasks down, assigned a duration to each, and can now monitor whether it took less or more time than anticipated.

    Related: Why Inner-Mastery is the Key to Self-Growth

    I’ve found that the two most important things about setting objectives are:

    • Ensuring what needs to be done is detailed, as lack of information leaves room for ambiguity. In other words, make sure goals have a defined scope.
    • Emphasize measurement: that dates, durations and progress can be attached to the objective.

    Prioritization

    Among the most challenging parts of project management is beating the “I know what to do, there’s just not enough time to do it all” syndrome. Such a phrase is a common indicator of an overwhelmed calendar and a lack of prioritization. Suppose deliverables are schedule-arranged according to the level of importance. In that case, there will be a strategy for choosing immediacy or delay and a schema to dictate later calendar development.

    One organizing method I apply is the “P1 to P5” scale:

    • P1 (Critical): Anything that needs to be addressed immediately
    • P2 (High priority): Important but not time-sensitive
    • P3 (Neutral): No immediate deadline, but it still needs to be addressed
    • P4 (Low priority): Should be completed when there’s time
    • P5 (Unknown): No estimated or outlined deadline

    Related: How Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Project Managers

    Schedule curation

    Creating a comprehensive timetable can be tedious, partly because of shifting priorities attached to deliverables, taking longer than expected, forgetting pre-requisites (what needs to be completed first) and the inevitable fact that people won’t always adhere to what we forecasted for their time. Investing in a project management scheduling tool for personal matters is great, as it introduces automation to help recalibrate these many variables. This is not to say that manual intervention will not be required on occasion; it is just that more detail will be captured and better managed over time.

    A few tools to consider are Wrike, Asana, Trello, Monday.com and Smartsheet — their principal assets include:

    • Ease of schedule updating, as it lives in the cloud and can be categorized by master or sub-schedules, allowing for both high- and low-level granularity.
    • Quantitative assessments can be made to show, for example, how many tasks were planned versus accomplished, along with time overruns and scheduling delays.
    • Resource tracking can help hold people accountable for completed tasks.
    • Incorporating the often overlooked, such as potential risks, will make it easier to create contingency plans.
    • Connectivity to existing schedules on Google or Outlook Calendars to provide additional visibility.

    Related: 5 Best Project Management Tools of 2023

    The payoffs

    Any capable project manager makes it a point to document rigorously, including lessons learned, and the same should apply to ways personal lives are organized. This may seem at first like a needless expenditure of effort, but consider the business corollary: If you were late on deliverables 25% of the time or if high-priority items were not being handled well, the effects would be dramatic. Putting better systems in place requires consistency, discipline and focus. Still, you’ll find that practice quickly becomes a habit — that what once seemed fussy translates into real-life improvement and better results in all of its aspects.

    Nickie Rowley

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  • How a Business Coach Can Help You Set Better Goals | Entrepreneur

    How a Business Coach Can Help You Set Better Goals | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Entrepreneurship is one of life’s most thrilling but complex challenges. The world is rapidly changing, competition is fierce, and technology is evolving seemingly faster than the global economy can keep up. Leaders, including small company owners, need more than just business acumen to stand out and grow; they require a uniquely strategic mindset to anticipate shifts and set the right goals.

    The good news is that this doesn’t have to be acquired in a vacuum: Business coaches have the potential to provide a wide range of expertise and support, including helping make tough decisions and plotting company trajectories.

    Core principles

    Business coaching is a dynamic and personalized professional relationship, and its goal is to help individuals — particularly entrepreneurs and other business leaders — unlock their full potential and achieve specific goals. Good ones provide insights, strategic guidance and skill development techniques, and great ones offer motivational support to help maintain a positive mindset. Perhaps most importantly, these professionals serve as accountability partners by ensuring that clients stay focused and committed to goals, both personal and professional.

    It’s important to understand how such coaching varies from traditional mentoring and consulting. The former is typically more of an informal relationship in which a seasoned individual shares know-how and advice with someone less experienced. Consulting, by contrast, tends to be a formal and specialized service in which an expert is paid to provide specific solutions and recommendations.

    By contrast, a business coach’s mandate often embraces a non-directive approach — leading clients to find their own solutions and insights. Over the last hundred years, this profession has transformed from straightforward performance issues problem-solving to providing proactive strategies for both professional and personal growth, emphasizing leadership and soft skills. Many integrate positive psychology into a holistic approach that maximizes intellectual flexibility and nimbleness.

    Related: 7 Ways to Promote a Company Culture of Accountability

    Leveraging a coach to enhance goal-setting

    While setting performance benchmarks is essential for any leader, this can be an especially challenging feat for entrepreneurs, as their egos are often tied up in the success of businesses. For this reason, many tend to set unrealistic and overly ambitious goals. Even with the best intentions, this can backfire, leaving feelings of defeat and frustration in its wake.

    One of the most effective ways to set realistic goals for a small business is to follow SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) methodology. Still, even with such an analysis in place, an outside perspective can be invaluable. A coach’s job is to understand your aspirations, help translate them into achievable benchmarks, lead you through the goal-setting process and hold you accountable for achieving them.

    Related: What Are SMART Goals and How Can You Set and Achieve Them?

    The right choice

    Not surprisingly, there are thousands of professionals in this sector, and it’s vital to consider carefully before settling on one. A great place to start is having a firm grasp of your unique needs or objectives, both personally and professionally. If the goal is to transform a business into a socially responsible organization by implementing ESG strategies, for example, be rigorous in establishing that candidates have demonstrable bone fides in that area. In short, evaluate credentials because there are legions out there who — though perhaps charming and otherwise persuasive — can’t back up success claims. So, a thorough vetting process must include obtaining accounts from past clients who have benefited materially from their services (or not).

    Once you have a potential candidate, arrange an initial consultation. This is the perfect time to understand how completely this person understands what you are trying to accomplish and whether there is good conversational chemistry. Be ready to engage in often deep and vulnerability-provoking conversations: You must feel comfortable opening up.

    Related: 4 Keys to Successful and Lasting Entrepreneurship

    You’ve spent blood, sweat, tears and funds investing in success, and seeking help to foster ongoing improvement and growth is a transformative step for any professional. Leveraging the expertise and guidance of a business coach can be the most impactful decision you make for your journey to be as fruitful and enduring as possible.

    Nicholas Leighton

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  • Master the Art of Saying No and Balance Life on Your Terms | Entrepreneur

    Master the Art of Saying No and Balance Life on Your Terms | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In today’s world, there are a host of demands placed on us. Between our bosses, best friends and families, there’s no shortage of people asking us to commit time to various projects, events and activities. In some cases, we’re not only asked but rather told what our top priorities should be. This works just fine when we agree and feel aligned with those requests, but what about when we don’t?

    Failing to prioritize ourselves and our desires can leave us feeling overworked and burnt out. Perhaps more importantly, endlessly saying yes to others robs us of joy and fulfillment. It can prevent us from feeling passionate, empowered and energized. Our families and loved ones often pay the price.

    Today, many mental health experts encourage us to set boundaries with others. That can be a scary prospect, especially for those of us who were brought up to be people pleasers. If you want to set better boundaries with others but not torch your relationships, here are a few things you’ll want to do.

    Related: 5 Expert-Backed Strategies for Setting Boundaries at Work

    1. Figure out what you truly do (and don’t) want to do

    You’ll find it’s nearly impossible to set boundaries with others if you don’t first know what your boundaries even are. Sometimes, setting boundaries means telling others no. This is easier to do when we have a “greater yes” in mind. But that means we must know what our “greater yes” is.

    Anytime you’re asked to do something, consult with yourself before anyone else. Ask yourself: “How do I feel about this? What do I want to do? What do I feel is the best decision?” Once you’ve decided these things, you’re already in a better place to communicate. But just wait until you’re asked. Regularly have these discussions with yourself, even before you get asked.

    Become very aware of how much bandwidth and capacity you actually have during any given season. The more you spend regular time identifying your most important priorities and values, the more strongly you’ll feel about them and the easier it will become to articulate them.

    2. Make an agreement with yourself that it’s okay to disappoint other people

    Before you can have an effective conversation with others about your boundaries, it’s important to accept the possibility that they might be disappointed by what you say. Remember: That’s okay. People don’t have to agree with all your decisions, including those who love you. Someone else disliking your decision doesn’t make it wrong.

    Recognize that others may not respond favorably when you set boundaries. When you say, “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be able to do that this weekend,” others might do a variety of things ranging from asking follow-up questions to becoming upset or angry to attempting to convince you to change your mind. When you plan on these things happening before the conversation, it makes it easier to handle them if and when they occur. Understand that other people’s reactions are often more about them than about you. Those reactions don’t mean you’ve done anything wrong.

    Related: Why Setting Boundaries Is the Secret to Preserving Energy and Focusing on What Matters

    3. Communicate your position respectfully

    Verbally articulating our boundaries with others is an important part of the process. You get the opportunity to share how you feel about something presently happening, and you also get the opportunity to set expectations for the future.

    Perhaps you don’t like the nickname an acquaintance has given you. They think it’s a clever joke, but you find it offensive. Perhaps you are uncomfortable with how close a colleague often sits; you feel it’s an invasion of your personal space. Maybe your friends routinely stay far too late when you invite them into your home or your mother insists on visiting you every Sunday, but you no longer want her to.

    Whatever it is, sharing how you’re feeling about the behaviors, asks or demands of others is important. That’s because, when done well, it can lead to change. This allows the relationship to improve. Oftentimes, we’re afraid to set boundaries with others because of how they will react. We can assuage these fears by remembering that setting boundaries is not about others; it’s about us.

    There’s no need to criticize or attack others. Rather, we can simply share how we’ve been feeling and what we’d like to see change. It’s especially helpful to be specific. Instead of saying, “Mom, I just feel you’re too involved in our lives,” you can say, “Mom, I’d like to have some more time to myself to read, clean and spend time with the kids. You being at our home every Sunday has been tough on me. I’d like to ask that going forward, you only come twice a month instead of every weekend.”

    Related: How to Teach Your Employees to Set Boundaries Instead of Always Being ‘On’

    4. Learn to feel good about it

    I’ve noticed that many of us feel guilt or even shame when we try to set boundaries. These feelings discourage us from doing it. As you contemplate setting boundaries, instead of worrying about everyone else, remember to consider yourself first. It’s less important that everyone else around you is “okay” with it, and more important that you feel good about it. If someone or something is wreaking havoc on your life, you don’t have to simply “put up with it” at the expense of your happiness. It’s an act of bravery to ask (or say) what you want and need, and you should choose to feel good about having the courage to do that.

    Setting boundaries with others can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it’s a key part of building a better life. We only get one shot at this life, and every moment matters. When we spend months or years tolerating things that make us uncomfortable, our worlds tend to shrink. Identify what’s most important to you and take these steps to advocate for it. Believe it or not, you’ll often find that doing this leads to better and more honest relationships with those around you, not worse relationships.

    Amy M Chambers

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  • Why Successful People Engage in These 7 Types of Hobbies | Entrepreneur

    Why Successful People Engage in These 7 Types of Hobbies | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Not all hobbies are created equal. Over the last decade, I’ve obsessively studied success (and what successful people do) by reading a book/month on the topic, researching it (so I could write my own books on it) and being mentored by both CEOs and executive coaches. I’ve found nearly all successful people are intentional and deliberate about how they spend their time. When it comes to their hobbies, watching television or reading tabloids doesn’t rank high. Here’s what does.

    Related: Every Entrepreneur Needs a Hobby Separate From the Company — Here’s Why

    1. Creation, not consumption

    Amy M Chambers

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  • Too Many Responsibilities? This Simple Life Hack Will Help You Reclaim Your Life | Entrepreneur

    Too Many Responsibilities? This Simple Life Hack Will Help You Reclaim Your Life | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Once in a while, everyone experiences a moment when they realize the need to reconsider something about their life to make it more enjoyable and productive. Re-contracting is a strategy that allows an individual to single out tasks, patterns and people that are draining energy and holding them back.

    Originally rooted in the teachings of the Roman philosopher Seneca, the concept of re-contracting has withstood the test of time. Seneca once wrote to his student Lucilius, “A good man will not waste himself upon mean and discreditable work or be busy merely for the sake of being busy.”

    Today, this idea is a foundational pillar in executive coaching. Programs advocate for regular re-contracting with clients. The power of this technique is in its simplicity and minimal time investment. For all that, it’s powerful enough to help you declutter your time, escape from energy-draining obligations and distance yourself from toxic relationships.

    Related: How to Spring Clean Your Life in Just 15 Minutes

    Identifying hidden contracts

    To apply re-contracting to your life, find weak spots in the three main areas. Here’s what you need to do:

    1. Self-evaluation: Make a list of tasks you routinely do but despise. Reflect on their necessity and value. Tip: Unsure where to start? Maintain a time diary. Documenting your daily activities can help pinpoint time-consuming tasks.
    2. Business evaluation: List out all business and operational tasks. Consider if they can be eliminated or delegated. Tip: Review your calendar and task management apps for recurring events and responsibilities.
    3. Relationship audit: Identify professional and personal relationships that aren’t benefiting you. This encompasses work colleagues, family, clients, associates and acquaintances like gym partners. Tip: Recollect when you feel exhausted after a conversation or meeting with somebody. Think if it was caused by the person or by other circumstances.

    The three pillars of re-contracting

    Now, let’s move on to eliminating the obligations that don’t work. There are three primary ways to re-contract:

    1. Give it up: This encompasses outright elimination. For instance, if a hobby drains you, consider quitting. End the contract if a demanding client is more trouble than they’re worth.
    2. Renegotiate: Consider a trade-off for tasks you loathe, but others might enjoy. The aim is to swap an undesirable task for a more pleasant one.
    3. Buy or delegate: If purchasing a service or tool can save you time, invest in it. Delegation, though sometimes requiring hiring assistance, can be invaluable in freeing up mental and temporal bandwidth.

    I’ve already applied those strategies to a few things in my life and can share some examples to illustrate how it works. Attending trade conferences affected my health, so I shifted to alternative client acquisition methods. A client was taking too much of my headspace, so I found a subcontractor to take care of his account. I had been taking voice lessons, and while they provided some benefits, the commute wasn’t worth the effort.

    Sometimes, we hold on to duties, people or ways of doing things out of habit or because we feel obliged and consider any discomfort a normal part of life. Letting go is not easy for some of us, but it’s a good skill that may take you to the next level in life.

    Related: 7 Rules for Entrepreneurs to Delegate Effectively

    An important note on habits

    On the one hand, acquiring good habits and quitting bad ones is all the rage, and there are multiple books and science behind it. They can truly be a savior of your time, happiness and vitality. On the other hand, it’s also easy to become a habit maniac and get burned out.

    Write down habits you’re trying to adopt or break into your re-contracting list. Reflect on their effectiveness, long-term value and the energy they consume. Also, sometimes, we want to adopt a habit out of pure desire to follow our role models or to feel better about ourselves. However, habits that serve others right and sound good in theory may not work for you. One size doesn’t fit all; what makes Mark Zuckerberg productive and happy may wear you out.

    What’s next?

    Upon freeing up time, you might wonder how to reallocate it. Consider listing activities and individuals that energize you.

    For those looking for unconventional advice, Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, suggests a unique approach in his book, Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life. Adams champions the idea of embracing embarrassment as an antidote to monotony, suggesting, “If I’m bored, this means I’m not embarrassing myself enough.” Or you may consider occupying yourself with nothing. Rick Rubin, a famous music producer, writes in his book The Creative Act: A Way of Being that we all need time to do nothing to come up with creative ideas. Boredom may be a booster for new ideas and inventiveness.

    Re-contracting isn’t just about reclaiming time but refocusing on what truly matters in life. Doing this simple audit quarterly can have a profound effect on the quality of your life and the quality of your relationships.

    Kirill Perevozchikov

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  • Do Not Underestimate the To-Do List

    Do Not Underestimate the To-Do List

    Productivity is a sore subject for a lot of people. Philosophically, the concept is a nightmare. Americans invest personal productivity with moral weight, as though human worth can be divined through careful examination of work product, both professional and personal. The more practical questions of productivity are no less freighted with anxiety. Are you doing enough to hold on to your job? To improve your marriage? To raise well-adjusted kids? To maintain your health? What can you change in order to do more?

    Anxiety breeds products, and the tech industry’s obsession with personal optimization in particular has yielded a bounty of them in the past decade or two: digital calendars that send you push notifications about your daily schedule. Platforms that reimagine your life as a series of project-management issues. Planners as thick as encyclopedias that encourage you to set daily intentions and monthly priorities. Self-help books that cobble together specious principles of behavioral psychology to teach you the secrets of actually using all of the stuff you’ve bought in order to optimize your waking hours (and maybe your sleeping ones too).

    Underneath all of the tiresome discourse about enhancing human productivity or rejecting it as a concept, there is a bedrock truth that tends to get lost. There probably is a bunch of stuff that you need or want to get done, for reasons that have no discernable moral or political valence—making a long-delayed dentist appointment, picking up groceries, returning a few nagging emails, hanging curtains in your new apartment. For that, I come bearing but one life hack: the humble to-do list, written out on actual paper, with actual pen.

    First, cards on the table: I’m not an organized person. Much of the advice on these topics is given by people with a natural capacity for organization and focus—the people who, as kids, kept meticulous records of assignments and impending tests in their school-issued planners. Now they send out calendar invites to their friends once next weekend’s dinner plans are settled and have never killed a plant by forgetting to water it. They were, in my opinion, largely born on third base and think they hit a triple. I, by contrast, have what a psychiatrist once called a “really classic case” of ADHD. My executive function is never coming back from war. I have tried the tips, the tricks, the hacks, the apps, and the methods. I have abandoned countless planners three weeks into January. Years ago, I bought a box with a timed lock so that I could put my phone in it and force myself to write emails. Perhaps counterintuitively, that makes me somewhat of an amateur expert in the tactics that are often recommended for getting your life (or at least your day) in order.

    It took me an embarrassingly long time to try putting pen to paper. By the time I was in the working world, smartphones were beginning to proliferate, and suddenly, there was an app for that. In the late 2000s, optimism abounded about the capacity for consumer technology to help people overcome personal foibles and make everyday life more efficient. Didn’t a calendar app seem much neater and tidier than a paper planner? Wouldn’t a list of tasks that need your attention be that much more effective if it could zap you with a little vibration to remind you it exists? If all of your schedules and documents and contacts and to-do lists could live in one place, wouldn’t that be better?

    Fifteen years later, the answer to those questions seems to be “not really.” People habituate to the constant beeps and buzzes of their phone, which makes rote push-notification task reminders less likely to break through the noise. If you make a to-do list in your notes app, it disappears into the ether when you finally lock your phone in an effort to get something—anything!—done. Shareable digital calendars do hold certain practical advantages over their paper predecessors, and services such as Slack and Google Docs, which let people work together at a distance, provide obvious efficiencies over mailing paperwork back and forth. But those services’ unexpected downsides have also become clear. Trivial meetings stack up. Work bleeds into your personal time, which isn’t actually efficient. Above all, these apps and tactics tend to be designed with a very specific kind of productivity in mind: that which is expected of the average office worker, whose days tend to involve a lot of computer tasks and be scheduleable and predictable. If your work is more siloed or scattered or unpredictable—like, say, a reporter’s—then bending those tools to your will is a task all its own. Which is to say nothing of the difficulty of bending those tools to the necessities of life outside of work.

    My personal collision with the shortcomings of digital productivity hacks came during the first year of the pandemic, when many people were feeling particularly isolated and feral. Without the benefit of the routines that I’d constructed for myself in day-to-day life in the outside world, time passed without notice, and I had trouble remembering what I was supposed to be doing at any given time. I set reminders for myself, opened accounts on task-management platforms, tried different kinds of note-taking software. It was all a wash. At the end of my rope, I pulled out a notebook and pen, and flipped to a clean page. I made a list of all the things I could remember that I’d left hanging, broken down into their simplest component parts—not clean the apartment, but vacuum, take out the trash, and change your sheets.

    It worked. When I made a list, all of the clutter from my mind was transferred to the page, and things started getting done. It has kept working, years later, any time I get a little overwhelmed. A few months after my list-making breakthrough, I tried to translate this tactic to regular use of a planner, but that tanked the whole thing. I just need a regular notebook and a pen. There’s no use in getting cute with it. Don’t make your to-do list a task of its own.

    All of this might sound preposterously simple and obvious. If you were born with this knowledge or learned it long ago, then I’m happy for you. But for people like me for whom this behavior doesn’t come naturally, that obvious simplicity is exactly the genius of cultivating it. Your list lives with you on the physical plane, a tactile representation of tasks that might otherwise be out of sight and out of mind (or, worse, buried in the depths of your laptop). It contains only things that you can actually accomplish in a day or two, and then you turn the page forever and start again. If you think of more things that need to be on the list after you think you’re done making it, just add them. If you get to the last few things on the list and realize they’re not that important, don’t do them. This type of to-do list doesn’t take any work to assemble. It isn’t aesthetically pleasing. It doesn’t need to be organized in any particular way, or at all. It’s not a plan. It’s just a list.

    If you’d feel more convinced by some psychological evidence instead of the personal recommendation of a stranger with an aversion to calendars, a modest amount of research has amassed over the years to suggest that I’m on the right track. List-making seems to be a boon to working memory, and writing longhand instead of typing on a keyboard seems to aid in certain types of cognition, including learning and memory. My own experience is in line with the basic findings of that research: Writing down a list forces me to recall all of the things that are swimming around in my head and occasionally breaking through to steal my attention, and then it moves the tasks from my head onto the paper. My head is then free to do other things. Like, you know, the stuff on the list. There are no branded tools you have to buy, and no subscriptions. It cannot be monetized. Write on the back of your water bill, for all I care. Just remember to pay your water bill.

    Amanda Mull

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  • The 9 Power Moves You Need to Find Success | Entrepreneur

    The 9 Power Moves You Need to Find Success | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Embarking on a journey to start a business is both thrilling and challenging. As a budding entrepreneur, you have a world of opportunities waiting for you, but to succeed, you need more than just luck or passion.

    The secret lies in honing essential skills to help you navigate the dynamic business world. In this article, we will explore crucial strategies that can pave the way for your success, and we’ll call them “Power Moves.”

    Related: Don’t Sit Around and Wait to Be Noticed — Follow These 4 Ways to Be a Standout in Business

    1. Strategize your week ahead

    In business, planning is power. Instead of leaving things to chance, take control by crafting a well-thought-out weekly strategy. Embrace the habit of setting aside time each week to outline your objectives, tasks and priorities. Doing this avoids the chaos of last-minute decision-making and keeps you focused on what matters most.

    Read More: 8 Ways to Harness the Power of Fear for Personal Success

    2. Embrace calendar mastery

    An essential element of planning your week in advance is becoming a master of your calendar. Keep your schedule up-to-date, incorporating meetings, deadlines, and other commitments. This way, you’ll gain a holistic view of your week, enabling you to allocate time wisely and efficiently. Utilize digital tools or traditional planners, whichever suits you best, to stay organized and in control of your business journey.

    3. The early bird gets the worm

    Punctuality is the hallmark of a true professional. Being early to meetings showcases respect for others’ time and portrays you as a reliable and conscientious entrepreneur. Arriving ahead of schedule allows you to collect your thoughts, review your meeting agenda and approach discussions with clarity and composure.

    Related: Are Early Risers More Productive?

    4. Set alarms for success

    It’s easy to lose track of time in the fast-paced business world. To avoid the last-minute rush, leverage your smartphone’s alarm feature. Set reminders well in advance of meetings to prompt you to prepare. Take a moment to gather all necessary documents and mentally align yourself with the goals of the upcoming engagement. You’ll enter each meeting confidently and ready to make a lasting impression.

    5. The prepared mindset

    One of the cardinal rules of business is to be always prepared. Equip yourself with both physical and digital resources. Always carry printouts of essential documents to meetings, as a backup in case of technological hiccups. Simultaneously, ensure your files are accessible on a tablet or laptop. This readiness demonstrates professionalism and safeguards you from potential setbacks, positioning you as a reliable partner in any business interaction.

    Related: How to Create a Growth Mindset as an Entrepreneur

    6. Network with purpose

    Networking is a powerful tool for business success. Cultivate a solid professional network and attend relevant events to expand your connections. When networking, prioritize building meaningful relationships over exchanging business cards. Seek to understand others’ needs and offer genuine assistance. A robust network can open doors to opportunities, partnerships and valuable insights.

    The reasons for being prepared are multifold. Firstly, it gives you a competitive advantage, allowing you to respond promptly to questions or requests. Secondly, it demonstrates your commitment and dedication to the venture. Thirdly, preparedness fosters confidence, enabling you to confidently present your ideas and persuade potential clients or investors.

    Related: Effective Networking Requires Mastering These 5 Skills

    7. Embrace lifelong learning

    To thrive in the ever-evolving business landscape, adopt a growth mindset and commit to continuous learning. Stay updated on industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies. Invest in workshops, webinars or online courses that align with your business objectives. Knowledge is a formidable asset that can propel you ahead in your entrepreneurial journey.

    8. Embody resilience

    Building a successful business requires persistence and resilience. Expect challenges along the way, but view them as opportunities to learn and grow instead of being discouraged. Develop the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and bounce back from setbacks. A resilient entrepreneur can turn obstacles into stepping stones toward more extraordinary achievements.

    9. Customer-centric approach

    A customer-centric approach is an indispensable ingredient for long-term business success. Place your customers at the heart of every decision and action you take. Listen to their feedback, understand their needs, and strive to exceed their expectations. Building strong relationships with your customers creates brand loyalty and advocacy, paving the way for repeat business and positive word-of-mouth referrals. Embrace a culture of empathy and responsiveness within your organization, ensuring every team member understands the value of exceptional customer service. Remember, satisfied customers are not just one-time buyers; they drive your new business’s sustainable growth and prosperity.

    In conclusion, embarking on your journey to start a business demands a multifaceted approach, and incorporating these power moves will bolster your chances of success. Plan your weeks in advance, prioritize punctuality, and always be prepared for meetings. Cultivate a network of valuable connections, commit to lifelong learning, and embrace resilience in the face of challenges. Above all, maintain a customer-centric approach where your clients’ needs and satisfaction take center stage. You’ll create brand loyalty, drive repeat business, and foster positive word-of-mouth referrals by prioritizing exceptional customer service and building strong relationships.

    Best of luck on your entrepreneurial journey!

    Roxanne Klein

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  • You Only Need These 3 Things to Come Up With Your Best Ideas | Entrepreneur

    You Only Need These 3 Things to Come Up With Your Best Ideas | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s easier than ever to feel lost — lost in the workplace, lost in your personal life, even lost in your overall purpose and mission as a human being. I personally blame a lot of this on social media. It’s the perfect concoction for depression, anxiety and the feeling of not knowing what path is right for you.

    A couple of hours on the Zuckerberg Express (a.k.a. Facebook) and you’ll be fed other people’s successes so much you’ll start to doubt your own. A video of a fix-and-flip specialist will quickly make you think you need to stop what you’re working on, buy houses and renovate them yourself. You’ve never held a hammer and you don’t know what HVAC stands for, but if this 30-second video on Instagram taught you anything, it’s that the time is now…

    Excuse my sarcasm, but even as I’m writing, I’m reminded of the ridiculous paths I’ve gone down thanks to social media. That’s a story for another time though. Through exploring and failing on many of these voyages, I’ve learned a tried and true method to keep me goal-oriented and combat as much of the social media facade as I can: whiteboarding.

    Yes, you read that right. Structured and creative time away from all other work and life needs, with just a whiteboard, a marker and your thoughts. In my nine years as a business owner, I’ve found whiteboarding to be the single strongest tool for fine-tuning my ideas, innovating and niching down. Below are the three biggest rules I use for effective whiteboarding.

    Related: The Whiteboard Method: 5 Easy Steps to Discover Your Niche and Turn Your Passion Into a Career

    1. No erasing

    Before you start, remove the eraser from the room. It’s so easy to get hyper-critical of what you’re writing when you know you can erase it. By operating under the “no idea is a bad idea” philosophy, I’ve been able to discover new revenue streams for my business, fine-tune my goals and more. Not erasing anything is a great way to leave thoughts up on the board for further development. Sometimes an idea I quickly jotted down — that I would’ve erased in real time — just needed some further tweaking. That idea later became a huge component of my business moving forward.

    2. Time your whiteboarding sessions

    I like to do 20-minute sprints, but find an amount of time that feels comfortable for you. Remember, this exercise is for you. If 20 minutes is too long, do 10. If 20 minutes is too short, do 30. This is your time.

    Turn a timer on and turn everything else off for whatever amount of time you decide. I like to stand up in front of the board (sometimes even pace) and write as much as my brain and hand will let me. After the allotted 20 minutes, I sit down and spend time reading and digging into each thought. Oftentimes, this is where I’m able to expand a simple thought into something much more developed and fleshed out. If I feel like I hit an “aha” moment, I take a photo of the board, then erase and flesh that idea out further. If I didn’t, I spend some more time reading and digesting, then I take a photo and get back to my work. Not every time will be one of those euphoric highs we all love about entrepreneurship and finding new ideas, but the simple act of doing this frequently creates clarity.

    Related: How Journaling Can Make You a Better Entrepreneur and Leader

    3. Frequency

    I personally do these whiteboard sessions once a week. I’ve found that to be frequent enough to work through things, but not so frequent to the point of wasting time or energy on the same thoughts over and over. If I’m feeling extra lost that week, rather than adding an extra session, I prefer to jot it down to work on at my next whiteboarding session. Routines are everything.

    A lot of people talk about the power of whiteboarding in groups for creative brainstorming. I find that to also be an effective way to pull ideas out of a group, but the sessions need to be structured enough to not be a time suck for everyone and the groups need to be small pods before opening them up to bigger teams.

    When my business partner Ian Rodriguez and I launched Innovo, we’d spend hours behind a whiteboard taking turns workshopping every little detail and idea. Those days were extremely effective for clarifying who we were and what we wanted to accomplish.

    Once your business is moving you obviously can’t spend hours weekly doing those sessions though. In my opinion, the best go-forward strategy I’ve found here is to whiteboard solo, develop some thoughts and opinions, then bring your partner(s) and team in to take it to the next level. This allows for personal clarity as well as tapping into others’ skill sets and ideas.

    Ideas are good, but clarity is great. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself through whiteboarding — it’s become my secret weapon in entrepreneurship.

    Sam Saideman

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  • 5 Ways Automation Can Help You Achieve Balance and Piece of Mind | Entrepreneur

    5 Ways Automation Can Help You Achieve Balance and Piece of Mind | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    People love to discuss balance in life and business, but achieving it can feel completely out of reach. In fact, according to a recent Keap survey, most entrepreneurs struggle with having too much on their plates and not enough time, money or resources to get to it all.

    The result? They end up feeling wrong-footed and perpetually behind. The good news is it’s actually possible to find balance in your business. All you need is automation and intentionality.

    1. Peace of mind

    I’ve been an entrepreneur for more than 20 years and have experienced the full spectrum of the stresses and joys that come with it. So I can relate all too well when business owners tell me they’re constantly worried they’re dropping the ball. But even if many people feel this way, such ongoing internal tension is not only physically unhealthy but also unsustainable.

    To relieve the relentless pressure, you need a way to ensure your most important tasks are being handled. This is where automation comes in, allowing you to nurture relationships and consistently follow up with prospects and customers.

    Thanks to automation tools, you don’t have to feel that familiar knot in your stomach when you spend the day dealing with a vendor problem and don’t get around to giving your new customer a welcome they deserve. Automating most customer communications shrinks your daily to-do lists and increases peace of mind.

    Related: How to Use Automation (and Avoid the Pitfalls) as an Entrepreneur

    2. Predictable pipeline

    Ask any entrepreneur what the most stressful part of growing a company is, and they’ll usually respond with two words: cash flow. Especially when you’ve moved on from being a solopreneur to having a team, you’ll feel the squeeze of payroll and the responsibility of providing other people’s salaries. So, what’s the fix?

    A big piece of the puzzle is making sure your pipeline is predictable. Having reliable sales lined up for the foreseeable future assures you that you’ll have money in the bank to pay your bills. You can make this happen by using automation. By capturing leads automatically and tracking sales consistently, you won’t have to wonder whether you’ll be able to cover your monthly expenses or continue growing. You’ll feel confident you can do both.

    3. Automated payments

    Of course, a predictable pipeline is only half the battle. You might have the work and the sales, but what about actually getting paid? For many entrepreneurs with younger companies, this is a real sticking point. Disorganization and a lack of time leave gaps in invoicing and payment collection. There’s also often a real issue with the personal side of getting paid; no one wants their relationship to go from vendor or partner to bill collector. It can be awkward, so business owners often avoid it, delaying their payments even longer.

    Automation can be the intermediary for you. Instead of having to personally track payments and then follow up when they’re late, an automated system takes care of it all. You no longer have to chase your customers to get paid, and your cash flow is suddenly smoother, stronger and healthier.

    Related: Automation Is Becoming a Business Imperative: Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late

    4. Stress-free scheduling

    Many business owners struggle with the inconvenient back-and-forth required to schedule appointments. This is another area where automated tools can save the day.

    Instead of emailing a customer to ask about their availability or playing phone tag, you can provide them with a link to automated appointment scheduling. If you have a flexible system in place, you should be able to configure this to offer a variety of appointment types, time frames and date options that you already know work well with your own schedule. No more checking calendars and waiting for responses; customers can book with you automatically without you having to lift a finger.

    Furthermore, using this feature works great with automated follow-up. Set your sequences up to automatically remind customers about your meeting, and they’ll be more likely to show up. Then, set up an automated email to check in with the customer a few days after the appointment, and you’ll be nurturing your relationship like a true professional.

    Related: The Benefits of Automation for Digital Marketing

    5. Reallocation of your time

    When you start using automation to take repetitive tasks off of your to-do list, you’ll free up your time. As your technology handles things like lead capture and follow-up, you get the hours back that you would’ve spent on those areas yourself. If you could have two extra hours per week, what could you do with them? What about four or five more free hours per week?

    Small businesses that automate repetitive tasks have been found to save as many as ten hours a week. With more than a full day of work now freed up, think of the big-picture, complex or creative tasks you can actually get to — and how far focusing on those tasks can take your company.

    Achieving balance in your business doesn’t have to be a pipe dream. By being intentional about using automation to handle customer follow-up, keep your sales pipeline predictable, manage payments, handle scheduling and more, you’ll do a lot to reduce your workload and stress.

    So, are you ready to make balance a priority? It’s within your reach.

    Clate Mask

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  • Make 6 Figures Right Out Of College With This Job | Entrepreneur

    Make 6 Figures Right Out Of College With This Job | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Congratulations! You have graduated from college… Now what? This is a question asked by many new graduates every year, with many struggling to reach that ideal 6 figure pay for years! Don’t get stuck in the system and break out using this method. I will teach you how to make over $100,000 per year by practicing and finding a fully remote job for “appointment setting.”

    Appointment setting

    All you need to do for this job is bring potential clients and a dedicated salesperson together. An appointment setter plays a crucial role in the sales process and acts as the first impression for the brand. You will be in charge of generating leads for the sales team to follow up with.

    With this job, you can make large amounts of money from commissions without having to have the experience and skill of the actual salesperson. This job serves as a great introduction to a career in selling, with a massive potential for growth in career and salary wise.

    Related: The Appointment Economy: Customer Engagement

    Learn the skills

    To find success in appointment setting, you need to have the skills. Fortunately, these skills require no degree or certification and can be mastered quickly. Use free resources like Youtube and Google to learn about the job and how to sell.

    This alone is good enough to find a 6-figure job right out of college, but if you want to learn more about the intricacies of selling and how to win, read these books on sales that shaped me into the salesman I am today: 100M Offer by Alex Hormozi, The Challenger Sale by Matt Dixon and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Sharpen your skills by practicing selling to your friends, family and eventually to ideal clients of your desired field; more on that later.

    Related: 7 Tips for College Graduates Looking to Jump Into the Small Business World

    Find the right company

    When getting into sales, many rookies make the mistake of working for companies that pay high commission percentages but for a relatively inexpensive product. This is why choosing a company that sells a “high-ticket” product or service is essential.

    These high-ticket products are usually in the range of thousands to tens of thousands in price, including automobiles, software, medical procedures and consulting services. This is where the real money is and where just a small appointment-setting position can yield significant amounts of commission and soar to 6 figures.

    But why stop there? With the advancement of technology and the changing office environments post-2020, finding a remote job is easier now than ever before. You can reach that 100k salary working from your home.

    Get hired on the spot with this trick

    To the anxious new grad, this all may seem too good to be true. Though finding a 6 figure remote job in appointment setting is relatively easy, you need to be good at sales to be hired. So here you have two options: One, you could grind at a low-paying sales job until you have enough experience on your resume for years, or you could use this trick to give the company you are applying for an offer they CAN’T refuse! The trick is to show up to your interview with three potential clients under your belt who are ready to schedule a demo with the sales team.

    Not only will you prove you can sell their product, but you will also have made them some business before they even hired you. To accomplish this, research your company closely and find ideal clients for their product through Google and social media.

    Once you find these clients, cold call or message them asking if they would be interested in a demonstration with the sales team. This could take some work, but remember you don’t have to sell the product to these potential clients, just a meeting with the sales team. Reach out to as many people as possible, and once you have three interested people, schedule your interview with the company. With this trick, you have an extremely high chance of being hired on the spot right out of college.

    Related: 3 Books That Made Me 6 Figures That Aren’t About Business At All

    In closing

    Start making six figures this year by becoming a fully remote appointment setter and nailing that first interview with three clients ready to go. The best part is it doesn’t have to stop there — mastering selling will benefit other aspects of your life and career. Once you reach that 6 figure goal, you can spend the time you saved where you would have been grinding with a low wage for years to enhance your skills further and reach your next goal faster!

    Sean Boyle

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  • How to Master the Art of Leading Yourself | Entrepreneur

    How to Master the Art of Leading Yourself | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Self-leadership is about more than just being able to lead yourself. It involves taking care of yourself to optimize your personal and professional life, recognizing personal values and aligning them with business goals, organizing yourself, and being your best self.

    Entrepreneurs are constantly on the go. Since we work long hours, we can get lost in the demands of the business and need to remember to take care of ourselves. However, self-care is crucial in self-leadership. When business leaders don’t practice self-care, they become overwhelmed and burnt out, which means a decrease in productivity, creativity, and overall happiness.

    Related: Why Self-Leadership is Essential to Your Success

    Know yourself and your purpose

    Becoming aware of your thoughts and emotions can be challenging, but with practice, it becomes easier. Meditation and journaling are tried and tested ways of becoming self-aware. By practicing meditation and writing down your thoughts, you can learn to observe your thoughts and emotions without judgment, leading to greater self-awareness and insights into your behavior.

    Once you have identified your values and purpose, you can align them with your business goals. This alignment leads to greater fulfillment and success in personal and professional life.

    Related: 6 Ways Self-Leadership Can Help You Take Control of Your Life and Business

    Take care of yourself

    Leaders and entrepreneurs prioritizing their physical and mental health can perform at their best and lead more effectively. Self-care is not a luxury. Leaders and entrepreneurs who prioritize self-care set an example for their team and create a culture of well-being. Moreover, taking care of yourself leads to greater productivity, creativity, and resilience, allowing you to perform at your best.

    When you ride a plane, one of the safety instructions is always “put your mask on first before helping others.” The same is true in business. Leaders and entrepreneurs prioritizing their physical and mental health can better serve their teams and customers. Physical fitness means higher energy levels, reduced risk of illness, and better stress regulation. Regular exercise, healthy eating, and adequate rest are the foundations of being physically fit.

    Mental well-being is just as important as physical health. Leaders and entrepreneurs prioritizing mental health can better manage stress, think more clearly, and make better decisions.

    There are many strategies for self-care, and it is essential to find what works best for you. For one, there are plenty of ways to keep fit — you can participate in team sports, lift weights at the gym or walk for a few miles during the day.

    Healthy eating — planning meals and eating whole foods — is equally essential in keeping yourself healthy. Finally, getting enough sleep and scheduled downtime can help your stress management.

    Stress is a part of life, and chronic stress can lead to burnout. Fortunately, business leaders prioritizing stress management can prevent burnout and maintain well-being.

    Related: How Self-Leadership Can Help Move The Needle Forward On Your Vision And Goals

    Organize yourself

    Organized leaders manage their time effectively, prioritize tasks and make better decisions. By being organized, we set an example for our teams and create a culture of efficiency and effectiveness.

    Setting goals can help you stay focused and motivated. Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Once you have goals, you can create a schedule that helps you accomplish all your weekly tasks.

    Prioritization is crucial for managing time effectively. You can prioritize tasks by assessing the urgency and importance of each task, delegating tasks when possible, and breaking down large tasks into smaller, manageable ones. Creating a schedule can help you manage your time effectively and avoid procrastination. You can create a schedule by blocking time for specific tasks, breaks, and even your leisure time.

    Avoiding distractions is also vital. Distractions can derail productivity and waste time. You can prevent distractions by turning off notifications, setting aside time for specific tasks, and utilizing productivity tools like the Pomodoro technique.

    Be your best self

    Being your best self is a critical aspect of self-leadership. Leaders and entrepreneurs who strive to be their best selves can create a positive work environment, build strong relationships with their teams, and achieve their goals. Effective self-leaders possess certain qualities, like punctuality, honesty, openness, and consistency. These qualities are essential for developing a high-trust relationship with teams since they make you predictable as a leader: Being punctual demonstrates respect for others’ time and shows a commitment to professionalism. Meanwhile, honesty and openness will prove that you have no hidden agenda and everyone is on the same page. Finally, consistency in behavior and decision-making builds a stable work environment without negative surprises.

    Finally, supporting team members can create a culture of positivity and productivity. Leaders and entrepreneurs should provide resources, guidance, and feedback to team members when necessary. This goes both ways, though—building a support system of mentors, peers, and friends provides a positive feedback loop of guidance, motivation, and continuous learning.

    Self-leadership is a habit

    Self-leadership is not a one-off activity but a habit needing consistent practice. It is also crucial for optimizing your personal and professional life. Practicing self-care, knowing yourself and your purpose, organizing yourself, and being your best self are all essential components of self-leadership. By making self-leadership a habit, leaders and entrepreneurs can increase their productivity, creativity, and overall happiness, leading to more success in their personal and professional lives.

    Roland Polzin

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  • 3 Simple Methods To Achieve Work-Life Balance And Combat Decision Fatigue | Entrepreneur

    3 Simple Methods To Achieve Work-Life Balance And Combat Decision Fatigue | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s 8 pm on a Wednesday night. Let’s imagine you’re having dinner with a good friend passing through town for work. Your entrees have just arrived, you clink wine glasses and toast to the occasion. But just as you’re about to pick up your fork, the needy vibration of a cell phone forces you both to pause.

    Hot food. Buzzzzzz…

    Good company. Bzzzzzzzz…

    Decisions, Decisions.

    If this sounds like the setup for a corporate-style Choose Your Own Adventure book, then guilty as charged. Because the reality is that we live (and relive) these choices multiple times per day. If you answered the call, turn to page 27. If you hit Decline and put your phone in your coat pocket, turn to page 32.

    Page 27: “Ah, sorry, let me just take this quickly,” you tell your dining companion. “It’ll just take a second,” you say assuredly. As a polite gesture, your friend waits for your call to finish as the steam noticeably stops billowing from your dinner plates. Four minutes later, the call ends. “Now, where were we?” you ask as you prod your fork into a room-temperature floret of broccoli.

    Page 32: You look at your phone with a hint of curiosity but then quickly decline the call and remove your phone from the table. Your friend grins from across the table as you excitedly dig into your hot, mouthwatering dish. Your friend’s eyes widen, “Oh, wow! This is amazing, you have to try it!” she exclaims with delight.

    Ok, I admit that one was easy. I didn’t say who was calling, and assuming you turned to page 32; you likely noticed my clear bias for a hot plate of food and a good catch-up. I’m well aware that these micro-decisions we face throughout the day aren’t always so obvious. They can make us feel pulled in opposing directions.

    Enter work-life balance and decision fatigue. Trying to strategically and repeatedly toggle the scale between responsibility and urgency can still leave us questioning whether or not we’re doing it “right.” That’s because the life-work balance is profoundly personal and ever-evolving. Situations fluctuate in both arenas. How do you handle it when your VP hands in her notice and her last day conveniently coincides with your long-awaited vacation? What do you do when your assistant calls in on the same morning you’re supposed to supervise your 9-year-old’s class field trip to the zoo?

    Related: Work-Life Balance Is Simple. To Succeed at Work, Get a Life.

    Unfortunately, I don’t have simple solutions to help you with any of the above. But I do know that this constant pressure to make the right decisions is emotionally exhausting. Decision fatigue is a real issue recognized by the American Medical Association. Not only does it make us feel drained, but it also wears on our cognitive ability to make good daily decisions. This overload results in procrastination, impulsivity, avoidance, and, ironically, indecision.

    We need clear parameters when it comes to what we do and do not do when work-life swerves into our home-life lane. The “right” choices for you, the ones that won’t send you into a mental fury of second-guessing yourself, are the ones you make based on your values. And a values-based life enables harmony to exist in both places, but most importantly, within yourself.

    1. Sync your personas

    Try not to compartmentalize your life. My friend and client, Karlee Fain, calls this a “Split-Labeling Disorder.” It’s that need we feel to adapt who we are to where we are. But switching between “business-you” and “home-you” all the time takes up valuable energy that could be put to other uses. Imagine how much easier life would be if we stopped juggling two versions of ourselves and embraced one.

    Think about where your work self and your home self converge and lean into that whole self. Be vulnerable every once in a while, and show off your humanity. Not only does this help foster more authentic workplace relationships, but it also creates ease and cohesiveness. Create an environment where employees have the same space to incorporate their personal and professional lives. A space that’s driven by meaning that recognizes full-spectrum humanness inspires harmony.

    Related: A Work-Life Balance Will Help You Keep Employees

    2. Focus on Relationships

    Putting more effort into cultivating positive work relationships is a win-win for everyone. Research shows that investing time and effort into social capital in the workplace results in higher retention, happier employees and reduced burnout. In his podcast, Jay Shetty addresses the topic, revealing that people who feel they have a good work-life balance work 21% harder than those who don’t.

    3. Designate your spaces

    Create purposeful spaces and use each space for its intended purpose. When we work at the kitchen table or eat lunch at our desks, we’re confusing our brains. Sociologist Martha Beck explains, “There’s a reason service dogs mustn’t be petted or played with when they’re wearing their work vests: They need to be clear that they’re on the job. But when the vests come off, service dog owners must play with their animals in order to keep them from becoming exhausted and depressed. You’re the same way: Having clear boundaries will help you work enthusiastically, then truly rest.”

    Rather than feeling like you’re always one step away from tumbling off the work-life balance beam, try reframing things from the lens of harmony. When you can hone in on a singular self, it naturally invites more authentic relationships to develop. And those interactions, whether in your designated workspace or the car on a family vacation, will help you build a much stronger foundation for success in all aspects of your life.

    Related: What’s Happened to Work-Life Balance? Here’s How to Help Employees Find It.

    Ginni Saraswati

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  • How to Achieve A Deep Level of Focus by Breaking Habits and Taking Breaks | Entrepreneur

    How to Achieve A Deep Level of Focus by Breaking Habits and Taking Breaks | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As an entrepreneur, time management is crucial for achieving success. As an immigrant founder, I understand the importance of hard work and dedication to make your business thrive. However, it’s important to remember that working nonstop without taking breaks can lead to long-term negative effects. Studies have shown that prolonged work sessions can lead to burnout, decreased productivity and even physical and mental health issues. To be truly successful, finding a balance between working hard and taking time to rest and recharge is crucial.

    We all must start taking more breaks during our work day and disconnect for a bit. Rather than following the traditional belief that you should only stop when you’re tired, I think taking small breaks before you even start to feel tired is essential.

    This can help prevent burnout and increase productivity in the long run. I have seen the benefits of taking regular breaks and disconnecting from my own business, and I encourage others to do the same. It’s essential for us as successful entrepreneurs to lead by example and prioritize our well-being to continue achieving our goals.

    Related: Increased Productivity Will Increase Your Happiness

    It’s important to remember that everyone is different, and what works for one person may not work for another. However, finding activities that break out of our routine and give us a glimpse of the fun and judgment-free spaces can benefit everyone. This can be anything from walking, meditating, reading a book, or even taking a quick power nap.

    The key is to find something that helps you relax and recharge. It’s also important to take some time to disconnect from work and social media. This can help us to focus on ourselves and our well-being without any distractions. By finding activities that work for us and taking regular breaks, we can increase our productivity and enjoy the journey of being an entrepreneur.

    Below I’m sharing the three most unique time-off break ideas I can recommend:

    1. Making coffee and washing the dishes

    Taking a break from work is essential for maintaining focus and productivity. But instead of scrolling through social media or checking your phone, try something unconventional like making a coffee or washing the dishes. A recent study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology found that performing simple, mundane tasks such as washing dishes can positively impact our well-being. The repetitive motion of these tasks can be meditative, allowing you to focus on the present moment and release any pent-up stress or tension.

    Making coffee (a favorite activity of mine, especially a good iced espresso latte) can be a great way to break the monotony of work and give yourself a bit of pleasure. Plus, it’s a great way to take care of daily tasks and disconnect from technology. The aroma and the taste of freshly cursed coffee can help to enhance our mood and decrease stress.

    So, next time you need a break, try making a coffee or washing the dishes. You’ll be surprised how it can help you to relax, refresh your mind and increase your focus. There are great brands that offer a selection of decaf coffee beans and ground coffee for a more anxiety-free experience.

    Related: 3 Reasons Espresso Could Be Your Shortcut to Productivity (It Works for Elon Musk)

    2. Taking your dog for an unexpected walk

    It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind of work and responsibilities, which can lead to feeling burnt out and unproductive. Taking your dog for a random walk is a unique activity that can help break the cycle and increase productivity. Not only does it give you and your furry friend some much-needed exercise and fresh air, but it also provides an opportunity to step away from your work and disconnect from technology. It’s a small change that can make a big difference in your work-life balance.

    These unexpected walks can also help to return to work with a fresh perspective and renewed energy, which can increase productivity and a better work-life balance. So, next time you feel stressed or unproductive, try taking your doggy for an unexpected walk, and you’ll see the difference it makes.

    Related: Why You Need More Exercise as an Entrepreneur (and 7 Creative Strategies for Getting It)

    3. Disconnecting and enjoying hookah

    Smoking hookah is a unique activity that can be a great way to take a break from work and relax. Hookah, also known as shisha or waterpipe, is a traditional method of smoking flavored tobacco enjoyed for centuries in the Middle East, India and other parts of Asia.

    Smoking hookah is often considered a social activity, and it can be a great way to bond with friends or colleagues while taking a break from work. Preparing and smoking hookah is a ritual in itself and can be a great way to disconnect from work and other stressors.

    In addition to being a fun and social activity, smoking hookah also offers several benefits for your overall well-being. Here are two benefits of smoking hookah during your time off:

    1. Stress relief — Smoking hookah can be a great way to relax and unwind after a long work day. The act of inhaling and exhaling smoke can be soothing, and the tobacco flavors can help to calm the mind.
    2. Increased focus and concentration — Preparing and smoking hookah can be a great way to clear your mind and focus on the present moment. This can help to improve your concentration and focus when you return to work.

    Smoking hookah can be a unique and enjoyable way to take a break from work and relax. Whether you are smoking alone or with friends, smoking hookah can offer several benefits for your overall well-being and help you return to work refreshed and focused.

    In conclusion, taking a break from work is essential for maintaining focus and productivity. Making a coffee or washing the dishes is just one unconventional example of how to do this, but there are many other ways to break your routine and refresh your mind.

    It’s essential to find activities that work for you. Take the proper time to experiment with different options and find what works best.

    Pierre Subeh

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  • This Is the Best Way to Form Powerful Habits That Stick | Entrepreneur

    This Is the Best Way to Form Powerful Habits That Stick | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Our brains are lazy — but not without good reason. Comprising only 2% of the body’s mass, the brain gobbles up 20% of its energy. About 86 billion neurons fight to fulfill their staggering metabolic needs. Laziness is an energy-conserving necessity for the brain.

    If we want to create powerful habits that stick, it doesn’t make sense to waste that energy. But that’s what most of us do when trying to change our habits. We scold and punish ourselves into adopting new habits. We bend over backward trying to justify unhealthy ones. These mental gymnastics deplete vital mental energy. We engage in thoughts, beliefs and actions that don’t actually support change. Instead, they stifle it.

    Leah Borski

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