5 Things Every Entrepreneur Should Do For Self Development
One of the biggest problems I notice with entrepreneurs is that they spend so much time in their business that they forget to spend time on themselves. The thing that many entrepreneurs fail to realize is that you are your business. If you don’t take the time to invest on your own development, your business can only go but so far.
It's also important to note that your growth is not a one time thing and you should be constantly striving towards stretching yourself each and everyday. You’ll need to continue to educate yourself, build relationships that can help you, and use the right tools in your business.
Let’s take a look at five easy ways to invest in your self development which will have a tremendous affect on the success of your business:
1. Seek Mentorship
One of the best ways to shortcut your decision-making "trial and error" is by investing time in finding and taking advice from a mentor. This isn’t a new concept but it is most certainly time-consuming to set up. It will require an initial investment of potentially weeks or even months of cultivating a relationship but will allow you to easily seek out advice and guidance from someone that has been in your shoes, hopefully multiple times before, allowing you to make better decisions, faster.
Depending on the challenge I'm facing, I have a few mentors I can go to. Having a mentor has really helped me tremendously. I'm able to get advice on the specific thing I'm going through. I don't always listen to their advice but having that sound board before you make a critical decision for your business can save you a lot of time and money.
2. Read More Books
I don’t care what you read, just read. It’s a great habit to form and you can truly learn something from any book you pick up. Normally, half the books I read are around the industry I'm currently, the other half consists of self-help books and leisure. The variety helps me in growth areas of my business and myself. The industry books provide me more insight around the history of the industry, seeing companies that have failed and understanding why they failed, so I don't make the same mistakes. While the self-help books help me explore what I'm capable of, and where my limitations lie so I can smash through them.
2. Continue building on your learnings
Outside of books, you should continue building on what you already know and the things you don't know, consider investing in them. I learned this the hard way when I became an entrepreneur. I thought I could just teach myself everything (and I could.) But it may take me a lot longer then just asking someone that specializes in it. The decision always came down to learn it myself (which could take weeks or months) or I could learn it in a few days if I just decided to pay someone for their service. Since I didn't want to pay someone, I wasted so much of my time trying to convince myself I could learn it in a few days and in reality all I did was take time away from my business and making money. The most important thing you can take away form this article is, stop thinking you can do everything and learn to invest in things that will take you a lot further, such as online courses, services, coaching and digital/physical products.
4. Build a network
As you know, developing your business network is essential in growing your company. Well, developing your personal network works the same way. The best way to build a valuable personal network is to first identify personal growth areas. Once you're able to identify the areas you need to develop to be that person in your vision, finding the people to surround yourself becomes simpler. Like, finding a mentor, cultivating a solid personal network takes time. The more you put yourself in opportunities where you can meet new people, that could possibly help you, the more likely you are to build a solid network. (*Note: building a valuable network is not a one way street.)
5. Cultivate Wellness
From the time you wake up to the time you go back to be, somewhere in between there needs to be time blocked out for improving your relationship with yourself. I know, I get it, you don't even have time to eat and you want me to find time for myself. Yes, believe it or not, your business will only go as far as your body allows it.
I remember plenty of times where my body would give up on me and I would crash for a few days. That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that it took me an additional few days to reboot and then a few more days to be productive again. Originally, I thought I was saving time thinking I didn't need a break from being an entrepreneur but instead lost so much time and money because I didn't have else in place to take me away from work and focusing on my health. Whether you set some time aside to walk, go running, or simply moving around. Find ways to cultivate wellness in your day if you want to be successful in the long term in your business.
What are ways in which you're investing in your self-development? What are some things you've discovered about yourself or your business in doing so?
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