The life of an entrepreneur is far from being a long, quiet river. You can quickly get tripped up and no longer enjoy your job. However, to ensure the sustainability of your business, it is important to act with pleasure and efficiency.
Believe me, for a long time, I thought it was normal to work hard and that it was the only way to succeed.
However, with hindsight, I now know that it is entirely possible to have a high-value business, which gives us pleasure and which does not harm our mental health. It's not just a matter of implementing the latest productivity hacks (although that helps 😉) but of really thinking about what your business needs to continue to grow.
In this article, I share with you the 5 CEO habits that allow me to act with pleasure and efficiency.
Take a long-term view
The term vision is very popular in entrepreneurship. It may be a little vague but one thing is certain, having a clear vision of your business is important.
First of all, what is your company’s vision? Behind this concept is simply the question “where do you want to take your business?” ". In other words, you have to answer the question “what do you want your business to look like in 2 years, 5 years or ten years?” ".
Indeed, when you are a business manager, this means that you must analyze your market, know how to trust your intuition to analyze and act strategically.
This is particularly important for developing your business but also for calling on service providers to support you. Indeed, if you don't know where you are going, you will have difficulty bringing together a team to move forward together in the direction you have defined.
Furthermore, when you imagine the direction of your business, do not put aside your personal aspirations. Embarking on entrepreneurship is a wonderful human adventure, but never lose mind that your business must serve your life goals. Therefore, when you think about your business vision, you also need to think about the life you want to lead.
Always keep in mind that your business is only a means to achieve your life goals. You can have started several businesses, you will still only have one life. This is why it is important to think about a long-term vision.
- add a paragraph on the long-term vision linked to your personal life. Because work-life balance is important. And my business serves my life and not the other way around. It should show through here.
Practice deep work
I realize it more and more: time is an ultra-precious resource. It can slip through your hands at incredible speed. In the end, you're left with only regrets and that's too bad.
In short, what is deep work? This is when, to carry out a mission or a precise and complex task, you decide to put yourself in ultra-focus mode. When you do this, it implies that you have optimized your organization beforehand. Indeed, when you put yourself in deep work mode, all your actions are geared towards achieving your high value-added mission.
For example, when I create a training course, I have 100 % focus. To achieve this, I set up working times during which I am fully in this mission. Beforehand, I identify the time when I am most productive (for me, it's the morning, after 4 p.m. there's no one on my mind lol). Then, for 1.5 to 2 hours, I only do this specific task according to the progress schedule that I have developed.
Since I have done this, I have better control of my time and my projects progress more quickly. Furthermore, it allowed me to reduce my working days to around 4 to 6 hours.
If you want to discover my method and apply it to your activity, you can download my planner for free.
Put a call to action here for the planner, right?
Do things with intention and clarity
Since my work as a positive parenting coach, I have understood how meaningful it could be to take the time to become aware of what we are doing. Indeed, the fact of setting an intention in relation to an action undeniably directs the result.
In other words, it is no longer a question of doing for the sake of doing but of doing for.
For example, you may want to transform your face-to-face training into online training, but that will not be enough to give you the motivation to do so. Conversely, if you say to yourself I am transforming my online training to increase my income and impact more clients, your intention is clear. Therefore, once your intention is set, your goal and your actions become more fluid. Its chances of coming true then increase mechanically.
What I would especially like you to remember here is that life paths are rarely linear. For my part, deep down I have always had a deep desire to help others.
I went from director of a magazine to coach in non-violent communication and then to trainer. Of course, it wasn't easy and I had to agree to question myself to find out what really drives me... Each action I take must make sense to me so that I give the best of me- even. In short, you will have understood, I now know why I have the niack! 😎
This paragraph is a little too light in my opinion. It should be expanded a bit. Speaking of my journey as an NVC trainer and coach?
Take some time off
I think I can never say it enough: allowing yourself real moments of disconnection away from your screen is essential. I know what I'm talking about since for a long time I was someone who thought I could never do enough.
Moreover, what we too often forget is that these moments off are essential for our brain to rest and our ideas to take off again. When you're self-employed, being productive and creative is not an option. If you don't allow yourself these moments of disconnection, it's a bit like your cell phone is always on reserve. We all know that our cell phone needs to be charged to work properly again.
For my part, since I have the chance to live in Mauritius, we organize an excursion every week to discover the wonders of this island. I think that what is essential is really to clear our minds and bodies in order to release the pressure that weighs on our frail entrepreneurial shoulders. 😬
Surround yourself with positive and ambitious people
In psychology, there is a concept called “emotional contagion.” This concept refers to the fact that as a social being, human beings can be affected by the negative but also positive emotions of those around them.
Popularized by psychology researcher Christopher Haag, the latter demonstrated that it takes barely 21 milliseconds for two people to synchronize their emotions. It has also been shown that negative emotions are those that spread on a larger scale...
Now that you know this, you easily understand the importance of surrounding yourself with positive people. Each of us carries wounds and that is normal. On the other hand, we always remain free to turn these wounds and our trials into strength.
I can never say it enough but entrepreneurship is not a peaceful journey. So, try as much as possible to surround yourself with light, caring and motivating people at the risk of capsizing the ship before it arrives safely.
On a daily basis, you can also apply the principles of positive psychology to help you take care of yourself and your mental health without further delay. 😁
For my part, I have also had the opportunity to meet a good number of entrepreneurs since I started. I now have a small circle of business friends with whom I communicate with complete confidence. I am also lucky to have my partner who supports me 100% and whom I managed to convince to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. 🎈
We are coming to the end of this article. I would like to suggest one last habit to put in place: never rest on your laurels. We can tend to believe that once our business starts to grow, the game is won. This is not the case.
Constantly question your vision, it may evolve depending on the market but also on your personal aspirations.
Whatever happens, always remember to place yourself at the center of your thinking to do what really resonates within you. We only do things well that we really enjoy doing.
In this paragraph you can put a link to my article on positive psychology which is very well referenced by the way.
We keep in touch ?
Two solutions:
⚡️ Join me on my Instagram account;
⚡️ or download my planner offered to help you stay focused and determined on a daily basis.
