“Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death,” said Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our generation.
Although erring on the side of the dramatic, it’s a statement that many entrepreneurs can identify with. As a small business owner, your days can bring huge highs and lows, sometimes at the same time, and having the energy to confront those challenges is an essential ingredient for success.
So here are five simple and healthy ways to boost your energy daily.
1. Adjust Your Body Language
According to a recent Canadian study, even the way we walk and move can influence our mood. Nikolaus Troje PhD, found that subjects who were asked to walk in a more depressed way, with less arm movement and shoulders rolled forward, experience worse moods than those who did not.
So the next time you feel a bad mood or lack of energy start to creep in, try this easy exercise: Stand with your back against a wall. While looking straight ahead imagine a string pulling up your head and elongating your whole body, down to your toes. Then roll your shoulders back and down and take three deep breaths. This simple easy posture adjustment will have you breathing and feeling better in no time.
2. Simplify Your Workspace
It’s a well-known fact that a cluttered desk crates a cluttered mind. A survey from retailer Office Max recently found that 77 per cent of their respondents said that clutter damages their productivity, and more than half said that disorganization impairs their state of mind and motivation levels.
So take a drawer, a stack of papers or even your internet browser bookmark folder and do what you need to do to make if organized. It the paper or item you come across calls for immediate action, stop and do it. If you return it to a pile it will likely stay there for a while and those unfinished areas will create draining anxiety.
When you’re finished you won’t only have a tidy and more productive workspace, you’ll have also completed a lot of those tasks you kept meaning to do, but haven’t, leaving you free to breathe a little easier.
3. Smile More
Even a fake smile might be better for you than no smile at all, according to a study from the University of Kansas. The study suggests that smiling may actually influence our physical state, lowering your heart rate levels and reducing stress, regardless of whether your feel happy or not.
Although not a cure or chronic stress or to overcome a major life event, it is almost impossible to be really angry or really stressed with a big smile on your face.
4. Surround Yourself with Positive and Upbeat People
Motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, famously said “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”.
That’s a pretty powerful responsibility those five people have on your life. And if you think about it, if you are constantly surrounded by negative and complaining people, what does that say about you?
Take a moment to write down the qualities of the people you spend time with. Would you call them positive? Happy? Do they support you? Do you feel energized after spending time with them?
We’re all different so what makes you happy, might not make another person happy. And your idea of support may vary from other people’s. They key is to find the people that work for you.
5. Make Time for Creativity
Find a comfy chair, put away the phone, the iPad, the computer, grab a pen and paper and take a breath. Allow your mind to wander and think creative thoughts. What do you hope to achieve?
Where do you see yourself and your business in X years? Don’t try to structure your thoughts, just allow for those moments of calm.
Let’s face it, life is busy. You’re working as hard as you can to stay on top of all of those things that demand your attention, but sometimes no matter how important it is or how much you want to get it all done, you simply run out of steam. So before you turn to that caffeinated drink, try one of these five energy boosting tricks and get the pick-me-up you need to get you going again.