Your own health can find itself at the bottom of your to-do list, but for a successful business and a happy life, it has to work its way up to something you prioritize.
By Jennifer Paulson
It’s no secret that being an NRHA Professional can be a 24/7 job. High-level performance horses require constant attention. Customers of all budgets expect your expert care for their animals. Staying at the top of your competitive game doesn’t happen without extra effort. And let’s not forget the time required to maintain a property and market yourself to acquire new customers. All of these factors can lead you to feeling burnt out. But more than that, they can take a toll on your physical and mental health, which can test your personal relationships and your ability to perform at your chosen career.
Carving out time to care for yourself and meet your own needs might seem impossible in your current framework, but you’re not alone. Small business owners and operators from all sectors face the same challenges. We did some digging outside the horse industry to find insights and tips that you can apply in your own business to help you care for your health and help your relationships prosper, even under the stress of being a successful NRHA Professional.
Here we’ll arm you with strategies to create time to focus on your own well-being, even if just for five minutes at a time. As you start to create these short segments focusing on yourself, you’ll see results and learn that taking care of yourself is just as important as finding the next customer or winning a big event.
Part 1: Find Exercise…That Isn’t Horse-Related
Part 3: Ditch ‘Comparisonitis’ & Limit Social Media Exposure
Part 4: Common Signs of Mental Health Concerns
Create Boundaries
It can be hard to put up walls where once there wasn’t any separation. Your customers become comfortable with calling and texting at all hours because you answer. They expect ultimate flexibility for their lessons because you squeeze them in over and over to accommodate their schedules. You become their de facto therapist because they unload their family and work issues on you, and you listen.
Those types of situations don’t serve your mental health. In fact, they add more burden for you to bear and don’t allow time for you to recharge to give your business—and personal life—the attention it needs.
Just as with exercise, start small. When an “emotional vampire” (someone known to emotionally unload on you) starts on a rant, find a way out. Ask an employee or your partner to text or call you requesting help with a fictional problem, or create your own exit, and politely excuse yourself. Set days and blocks of time for things like lessons, answering phone calls and texts from customers, and other things that can eat up your time without adding to your productivity.
Further your boundary-setting by designating days when you’ll be “out of commission.” For example, the 48 hours after you return from a show become “non-contact” days. Sometimes it’s helpful to have your partner involved in this endeavor and enforce it. You deserve to have a life outside your career just as much as your customers expect to have in their own lives. Set the boundaries to make it possible.
Read the rest of this article at the links above.
