8 Tips for Entrepreneurs over Christmas

Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.
– Winston Churchill

Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends.
– Margaret Thatcher

Christmas can be a time to open our minds and hearts. Just like the rest of the year.

Most entrepreneurs are devising last minute strategies as the Christmas season is approaching. It can be the busiest and the most stressful time for some entrepreneurs, while others may simply relax and enjoy the festivities and celebrations going around. It can be hard for entrepreneurs, business owners to switch off over Christmas or any holiday period.

I have been an Entrepreneur since I was 13 when I realized packing fruit was not only boring it was alsonot creative. I remember the day clearly in the small country town of Dowerin in Western Australia.  I was earning pocket money in the one and only fruit and vegetable shop every Saturday morning. My job was to go through the fruit and throw out any marked, bruised pieces before making the shelves beautiful by stacking one piece of fruit at a time ready for the days shoppers.  The shelves were on a 70 degree angle behind the counter for the shopper to see the quality. I was often told that I didn’t need to make the shelves look perfect and that my job was to get the fruit out in the quickest time so I could get onto the cleaning of the fridges before finishing up my four hours. I now understand the speed and productivity level of staff from running 7 businesses with, at times, large teams to manage time, consumables and attitudes. It was while I was kneeling on the wooden floor cleaning the base of a fridge that I had the thought that I had to work smarter than this. Today I mentor women all around the world, through online and offline training so that they can run their business successfully and with happiness.

Looking back now at that scene in my head I have no clue where that  thought came from, but I suspect it came from watching my grandfather who was a travelling automobile spare parts salesman.  I watched him pay his invoices many times and I heard him say more than once that the invoices that he was sending out must always be greater than the invoices that he was paying.

My grandfather told me that I had to have bills to pay and that I needed to send out bills for other people to pay me for my services. I think I grew up knowing I must have invoices in my life. I must have invoicesto pay and I must have invoices to send out to customers.

I now share what I have learnt over the past 40 years of being an Entrepreneur and now mentoring people around the globe to be independent, passionate and on purpose whilst having money for their thrills and lifestyle.  You can only apply to be apart of my One Year Mentoring Program for Entrepreneurs

I am sharing with you 8 smart tips from what I do to give myself some real time away from my habits of daily business.Here are my 8 tips:-

  1. Tell your clients in advance

It is important to take out sometime for yourself. Everyone understands that.It is better that you let your clients know about your holiday in advance.Assure your clients that you will be checking your emails and will be available on phone in case of any urgent work. This gives your clients a sense of satisfaction, even when you are away for holidays. The purpose is to give your clients a sufficient heads up that you will be out for a holiday. It is frustrating and unprofessional if you are absent all of a sudden.

  1. Be in Touch with your work

Many people say to leave your phone and laptop at home when you are on a holiday. I think it should be the other way round. It is important to keep up with your emails and messages, only at certain times of the day, while you are in a relaxed mode. For me, I check early in the morning then again once in the afternoon. If I have a project that needs attention I do it in the morning then I close the computer and don’t take my phone with me. Like this, you can stay connected to any kind of important work and enjoy your holidays as well. This ensures that you don’t miss out anything crucial. You simply need to maintain a healthy thinking mode between your work and home. You can assign just a few hours to your work and enjoy the rest of the day. Like this, you can give 100% time to your family and friends on Christmas!

  1. Focus on your Values and Vision

In our everyday lives, we are simply busy doing our daily routines, following monotonous schedules, and struggling to achieve our business goals. When we are entangled in this web of our life, we often forget what our true Values were and what was our Vision initially. Revisit your visions, your values and your personal needs. This is the time you can use for yourself. Personally, I love to be creative, tidy up and plan when I have down time. Make the most of the time during your holiday and spend some quite hours with yourself.

  1. Assess your exercise routine

It is very common that being an entrepreneur, you don’t ignore your health and Since you are taking a break from your work, it’s a great time to assess your exercise routine and see if you need to tweak it a bit.Try out a new form of exercise or introduce a different type of yoga into your routine.There is one thing that is priceless and that is health. Money cannot buy you good health. You need to give time to think over your exercise routines. Well being is essential for interconnecting our inner worlds to the outer world, and hence it will give profitable business results.

  1. Meditate

Holidays is a good time to look out and search for some good soothing enchanting meditation music, that will help you get relieved during your stressful days once you are back to work. Google and YouTube are good tools to search out for good music of your choice. I know that at times I’d like to experiment with a new meditation or  to try chanting. The days and weeks fly past without another thought of change to improvement.

  1. Set your precise intentions

You need to have good intentions and be committed to them. Setting up big goals does not help much. Write out your intentions for the year to come and if you are taking time off during the year assess your intentions.  I teach a very easy task and doable process in my Mentoring program of how to come up with precise intentions. Goals don’t work!

  1. Take up your hobbies

Living your life as an entrepreneur makes it tough to sneak out some time for your hobbies. Ask yourself what would I do if I didn’t have this business? You must have passionate hobbies. Start at least one hobby. Use this time well to explore and enjoy your hobbies. Often Entrepreneurs have interests and are interested but they do not have time for their hobbies and to explore other aspects of themselves. Read my blog on “Simply doing what I Love to do!”

  1. Eat well during the festivities

During the holidays and especially when Christmas is around, we can tend to indulge into eating unhealthy food and miss out on your healthy eating routine. Eat well and plan what you eat over holidays to really energise your body rather than over eat and over drink.

“YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR WEALTH”

The best way out to enjoy eating guilt-free food is cooking healthy recipes. Google is full of amazing raw recipes, experiment with them during these holidays. Use this time to make and try new recipes and you can cook them later during the year with confidence and speed. I myself love to cook and try out new healthy recipes. I have shared in one of my previous blogs my family Christmas Traditions and shared traditional family recipes. Here are some eating tips for you:-

  • Avoid sugar, white foods, red meats, sauces, preservatives, colours
  • Grow your basic herbs in organic soil for example, your mints, basil, rosemary, coriander. These are the basic run of the mill handy herbs used all year around.
  • Buy in bulk when you can afford it. This saves me up to $700 per year buying all my nuts, fruits, flour and seeds in two batches every year.
  • If you have a sweet tooth always keep dried dates, or apricots or some other yummy dried fruit in your house or make something raw with dates in it. Water Kefir can be made to keep some of the sugar. It is perfect for those summer months and is a Probiotic as well.Here is how you make Water Kefir.
  • Plan your food for the week rather than running to the shop when you are hungry or about to prepare a meal. Eat organic greens and fruits when you can. Avoid white foods and consume coloured foods such as pumpkins, carrots, capsicums. Eat greens at least twice a day either in drinks or raw salads. Be conscious of eating as much raw food as you can. Days are gone where you need to spend hours boiling vegetables, baking meats for hours before we eat. Know more on how to eat raw.

So, all that I have shared with you comes from my experience of over 40 years in business and online and offline mentoring women to help them turn their ideas into reality, differentiate their lives from purpose to passion and turn them into successful She’preneurs. I would love to hear your views and experiences you down time over your Christmas period.

Hugs and love

Di

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8 Tips for Entrepreneurs over Christmas - Di Downie