Do you do it often enough?

Because if you don’t, you need to get better at it…

An entrepreneur lights a candle and has 5 minutes of peaceful contemplation…

As we close out the week that saw us celebrating International Woman’s Day 2023, I’m feeling very thoughtful…

It’s been a fabulous week and I have read such inspiring posts, listened to the podcasts and watched the videos. Thousands and thousands of women standing loud and proud behind the #embraceequity theme for the year.

I hope that the day has resulted in the start of, and the continuation of changes to improve the access of women around the world to things from, basic sanitation and schooling, through to technological access that is necessary to move us all ahead. I hope that the reverberations of the day ripple out into the rest of the year and beyond.

But now I want to ask about you…and that’s male or female…

How are you?

Not that perfunctory, throwaway, I’m probably not listening to your answer anyway, ”how are you?”

I mean a proper, whole to goodness, HOW ARE YOU?

People often say, it’s lonely at the top and we entrepreneurs generally give a wry grin, shrug our shoulders and brush it aside.

But the truth of the matter is, it really IS lonely!

There’s often no one you can talk to about the things vexing your mind - your partner is probably fed up of your work talk, your friends nod in a supportive, ‘please don’t bore me any more’ type way and the dog does a pretty good job but has an infuriating habit of running off, just when you think he’s finally got what you’re on about.

So that just leaves your own self-talk rattling around in your head - worried you might make the wrong decision and knowing that whatever decision you make, someone will end up not liking it regardless.

I feel your pain, it’s not nice, especially when it’s big chewy issues that you’re grappling with.

So today, I encourage you to check in with yourself and just ask yourself how you are - and actually listen to the answers - just the same as you would if someone comes and sees you with an issue.

And then, do something to change things…

• If you’re missing time with your family, work on a plan to change that, it’s not as hard as you think it is.

• If you’re not getting enough exercise, make time to do some - get outside, get some fresh air, walk around your desk if you have to - but just get moving somehow.

• If you have a mountain of work on your desk, look at what you can do to delegate or get rid of. Think about the resources you have around you and if they have no capacity, is it time to employ

  someone? When you compare the value you could add, if some basic admin tasks weren’t yours any more, it’s quite eye-opening.

• When did you last do nothing? Granted everyone has a different version of nothing, but remember what yours is, and plan to actually DO IT.

• Buy or make yourself a treat - have little celebrations when you succeed at something and cheer yourself up if it didn’t go your way.

• Talk to someone - a problem shared is a problem halved and all that - but make sure that they have the capacity to understand and interest levels in what you’re actually asking about.

• Write down what you achieve each month and then go back and look at it in those times when you are in the space where everything you touch goes to mush!

• Lastly, remember that being an entrepreneur is like riding a roller coaster sometimes, and that’s OK - for every down, an up will inevitably appear soon.

So, let’s try again, I’m Emma and I’m asking, how are you?

Why not let me know in the comments below?

Thank you for reading and thank you for listening.