6 Secrets to a Happy Entrepreneurial Life

Nothing is more exciting than a company following their dreams and launching a business. However, over time that initial excitement may go away when the realities of running a business settle in. After all, keeping a company afloat takes a lot of hard work and typically leads to many long days and nights of working hard. When there’s no rest in between projects or setting up an ecommerce business, blog, or the like, it’s common to become burnt out, unhappy, and anxiety-ridden.

If this sounds like you, it’s vital to figure out ways to be healthier and happier business owners. Happiness is not overrated, and researchers from the University of California revealed that if people are happy they’re more likely to be successful. This makes sense because when you are in a great mood, you’re ready to commit to new goals and find ways to stay happy even though the difficult times.

With this in mind, whether you’re struggling with finding time for happiness or are happy but just need some inspiration, keep reading for ways to discover happiness throughout your entrepreneur journey.

Relationships and Self Growth

Forming relationships and growing along the way is essential when it comes to running a successful and fulfilling company. If you take time away for self-growth, Inc. says that you’ll find much more happiness.

So if fame and money are not good reasons for being an entrepreneur, what is? I believe the answer is relationships and self-growth. When we experience “in the zone” states as entrepreneurs, there are common symptoms. The activity we're taking part in is challenging, and measurable. Also, at those moments in time we don't care what others think. When you see world-class athletes perform, you'll notice how they are able to screen out all other distractions. The motivation to succeed is produced internally. This is happiness through self-growth. We enjoy these moments as entrepreneurs because we are improving ourselves through challenging activities.

This is why people who watch excessive amounts of TV have trouble finding happiness. According to Csikszentmihalyi, watching TV rarely ever produces “flow.” Instead, to achieve the most happiness, we need new and exciting challenges that we have the capabilities to solve. Think of a tennis match. The most fun we get is when the player is close to our skill level. Too challenging or too easy and we get bored. And while money itself cannot make us happy, it can be used to help us achieve more of those moments. When our companies make more money, we get new challenges. When we have more money ourselves, we can use it to learn new skills that are challenging.

Find What Excites You

Figuring out what excites you in your business can lead to greater and bigger things, so always be seeking what can drive your passion. Medium says since we spend most of our time working it’s vital to discover your passions to keep you going.

via Medium

It starts with passion
We spend most of our waking lives at work.

It’s a big part of who we are, so it’s important that however we’re earning a living, we’re enjoying what we do.

By finding and following what excites you, you’ll help to give your life real meaning and your business its mojo. The path to a profitable business starts with recognising where your passion lies.

And don’t just think ‘what do I enjoy?’, but rather ‘which problems do I see that need addressing that get me excited?’

Neil Patel also offers advice on how to stay passionate and find what excites you about a business:

If you don’t love what you do, don’t do it. I truly believe it’s as simple as that.

As an entrepreneur, you’re going to have to put in long hours and make sacrifices for your business.

When you’re passionate about what you do, putting in the long hours won’t feel like a sacrifice anymore.

If you’re not passionate about what you do, you’re not going to have the motivation to keep going when you’re stressed and tired.

Have you ever noticed those entrepreneurs who never seem to get tired? Those entrepreneurs who get that gleam in their eye when they talk about what they do?

Yeah, that’s passion.

Create Boundaries

It may be challenging to set boundaries while running a busy life as an entrepreneur, but unless you take some time away from the computer, it’s likely you’ll get burned out. Do what you can, and unless you have a pressing deadline, the rest of the work can wait. Let’s see what else Sam Hodges has to say about that:

Most entrepreneurs throw the majority of their energy into their company, but that doesn't mean a venture needs to commandeer all his or her time. It’s so important to put a fence around important breaks and moments to create balance in life. For some people this means spending time with loved ones. For others, it’s important to pursue treasured hobbies. For example, I try to never miss a roast chicken dinner with my wife on Sundays or my company's basketball game on Thursday afternoons.

Give Time Away

It may sound counterproductive to a business to give time away when there’s so much to do, but sometimes helping someone or an organization puts things in perspective. Plus, you may gain insight about your company or get inspired, as well as feel good that you’re making a difference in the world. Forbes also says that donating time can lead to happiness, which is essential.

Many entrepreneurs think that devoting every waking moment to their company will ultimately be the key to success. But when you spend time helping others instead of yourself, your sense of time expands.

Professor Cassie Mogilner, a researcher on happiness and time management at the Wharton School, explained this recently: “The results show that giving your time to others can make you feel more ‘time affluent’ and less time-constrained than wasting your time, spending it on yourself, or even getting a windfall of free time.”

Whether it be through mentorship, volunteering, showing interest, or lending an ear to a friend, giving time to others expands your sense of time and results in greater life satisfaction.

Get Enough Sleep

Are you getting enough sleep? Huffington Post says that seven or eight is ideal, and if you’re not getting that amount every night there are some things you can do about that. Part of the reason business owners don’t get enough rest is because they have a hard time unplugging. If you’re tempted to grab your phone in the middle of the night to check email, it’s best to stay away. It might fully wake you up or make you think about everything that needs to get done the following day. Quality sleep is vital on a regular basis because it will lead to significant productivity and prevent burnouts.

Whether the magic number of nightly sleep is seven or eight, I know of few entrepreneurs who enjoy nearly that much sleep on a consistent basis. But we know that brains with too little sleep don’t perform as well as those that do. That’s why I’m going to make a concerted effort to improve my sleep habits this year.

Experts at the Mayo Clinic advise us to go to bed and get up at the same time every day to reinforce the body’s sleep-wake cycle. If you have trouble falling asleep, don’t force the issue. If you don’t fall asleep within 15 minutes, get up and do something relaxing, like reading, light stretching, or eat a light snack.

All those smartphones and tablets in the bedroom emit a glow that can throw off the sleep cycle…not to mention the disruption when you decide to check your email at 2 am. That’s why I’m making it a point to banish devices from my bedside at night.

Challenge Yourself

Don’t throw in the towel when the going gets rough, continue to challenge yourself so you can learn and grow. Neil Patel also says to stay nimble on your toes and offers other words of advice as well.

via Neil Patel

If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you have to challenge yourself. No one else is going to push you, so it’s up to you to do it.

Challenges keep entrepreneurs nimble and on their toes. If you’re constantly looking for the next challenge, you’ll always be prepared for what comes your way.

Consider this example:

You’re going to the gym to build your upper body strength. You start doing bicep curls with a 10-pound weight. It feels pretty heavy at first. But as you build up your strength, it gets easier.

Would you stop there? No!

Then it’s time to do bicep curls with a 20-pound weight. Once you’ve done bicep curls with a 20-pound weight, going back to a 10-pound weight will feel easy.
Challenging yourself with new and difficult tasks will make your other tasks seem even simpler. Just like the 10-pound weight feels light after you lift a 20-pound weight.

As an entrepreneur, you always have to be looking for the next big challenge.