It’s every entrepreneur’s dream come true to watch their business grow, but with great power comes great responsibility. Business expansion requires hiring and training more employees, bringing on new clients, and coordinating (as well as completing) a significantly larger day-to-day workload. If you’re not careful, your duties may cause you to grow increasingly stressed out and/or run on empty with little to no sleep, proper diet and exercise, or self-care to balance out the changes.
1) If you stay positive, you’ll be able to reach (and complete!) your goals.
Business expansion is a great time of transition for both you and your employees (and potentially customers too, if you own a chain of storefronts). This is not the time to come to work perpetually frustrated or take your feelings out on others. Instead, pause, take a deep breath, and stay positive. Doing this will ensure that all of your interactions are done with confidence. You will find it easier to stay focused on the task at hand rather than viewing it as too difficult to complete. Once you’ve accomplished the seemingly impossible, you’ll also be able to set new goals and benchmarks and work towards reaching them.
2) See mindfulness as a way to keep learning and growing.
It sounds a little corny to say that you are “too blessed to be stressed,” but… It’s true! No matter how long you have been in business, there is always room for growth. When you practice mindfulness, whether that means taking some time to meditate, think about everything you are grateful for, or journal your accomplishment, the end result should leave you feeling excited by the prospect of learning more new concepts and ideas and welcoming feedback. As your company grows, so should its leadership in every possible way.
3) Come to terms with the mistakes you have made.
Nobody likes to talk about their mistakes and everyone wishes they could go back and re-do “knowing what they know now.” It’s understandable, in a way, because the hurdles of life are often messy and time consuming. But, they are not without their fair share of lessons either. As you expand your business, you’re likely to run into some situations where mistakes will be made — and that’s okay! Tap into your humility and remember that this is all a part of the human process.
4) Be present.
Stress can cause our minds to react in different ways. Some may decide that the best method of action is to jump into their car to drive far, far away from the responsibilities they’re currently faced with or hide under the covers at home. Practicing mindfulness, however, teaches us to be fully present in this moment. For as difficult as the moment may be, understand that you are in it. If you need to take a break or feel as though you are being pulled in too many directions at once, then hit pause. Step away from your desk, go for a walk, or take a series of short breaks throughout the day to think and gain a little extra clarity.
5) Embrace stress — really.
This sounds counter-intuitive to say, but at its core mindfulness is defined as a state of being conscious about something. When you’re stressed, you are well aware of what’s going on. By acknowledging this feeling, it will become easier to put your mind at ease and control your stressors. Put a positive spin on the elements that make you feel uneasy or out of control. Focus on taking one step forward at a time and you’ll find that the uneasiness you felt will begin to slowly fade away.
Deborah Sweeney is the CEO of MyCorporation.com. MyCorporation is a leader in online legal filing services for entrepreneurs and businesses, providing start-up bundles that include corporation and LLC formation, registered agent, DBA, and trademark & copyright filing services. MyCorporation does all the work, making the business formation and maintenance quick and painless, so business owners can focus on what they do best. Follow her on Twitter @mycorporation.