Issue #36: Rest Is Your Most Profitable Business Strategy

And a look into the negative effects that lack of rest has on your business.

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Hey friend!

Welcome to July! If you didn’t know, my mission for Mind Body Brand is to encourage women entrepreneurs (you) to prioritize rest so that you can break the cycle of stress and burnout. I want you to be successful but not at the expense of your personal well-being. For many of us, we have mixed emotions when it comes to rest. As an entrepreneur who is steadily grinding, maybe while holding down a 9 to 5, managing a household, or keeping up with your social life, the idea of taking time to rest can feel…lazy.

But as the person who has made it her personal mission to make sure you make rest a priority, we need to have an honest conversation about how lack of rest is affecting both your life and business.

But first, what exactly is rest?

According to the dictionary, to rest means to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself or recover strength.

Here is something that I’ve learned the hard way over my 10 years of entrepreneurship. Rest is a lot deeper than simply taking a nap or relaxing. Rest encompasses your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. A few years ago when I was recovering from my first real stint of burnout, I thought I was doing the right thing by taking time to sleep and just relax. But during that time, I was still wrecking my brain thinking about all of the tasks I could have been doing in my business and constantly replaying past failures in my mind.

While my body felt relaxed, my mind and emotions were still a mess. I was resting physically but I wasn’t allowing my mind or emotions to recover. So as soon as I jumped back into work again, I still felt burnt out.

So how does lack of proper rest affect you as an entrepreneur?

Poor Decision Making

You thought making decisions in your business was hard before? Try making a big decision while you’re completely exhausted. Lack of rest will make it hard for you to think clearly and make sound judgments which are extremely important as an entrepreneur.

Reduced Creativity

Coming up with new, fresh ideas is an important piece of being an entrepreneur. But when you’re tired, your brain may struggle to generate new ideas. I know that it is time for me to take a step back when I literally can’t come up with a single idea. This typically means you have overworked your mind and it’s past time to take a mental break.

Increased Stress and Burnout

Running your own business is already stressful enough. As an entrepreneur, managing stress is crucial, and lack of rest can exacerbate it, making it harder for you to deal with the demands of running a business.

Decrease in Productivity & Efficiency

As I’ve mentioned before, you’re probably an entrepreneur, working a full-time job, wrangling kids, and trying to keep up with your social life. So you may think that working non-stop with no breaks is helping you but actually exhaustion can significantly reduce your productivity. If you’re going into everyday operating on E, you’ll find it difficult to stay focused, complete tasks efficiently, and meet deadlines. I know that you want to put your best work out into the world but if you’re constantly tired, your overall work performance will suffer.

Can I be honest with you? Rest is your most profitable business strategy. If you truly want to do your best work, still have the capacity for other obligations, and take intentional care of yourself, you need to prioritize rest in the same way you do marketing or networking.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be digging more into what rest is and how to intentionally implement it into your everyday life. If you want to share a story about how you’re making time for rest or recovering from burnout, let me know!

Cheers to a restful week!

– Alisha

♥️ Missed last week’s issue? Our special guest, Monique Malcolm shared how to identify your personal baselines!

🧘🏽‍♀️ The type of rest you’re missing out on and trust me, it’s not just sleep.

🛑 Please stop asking people if they are free and just tell them what you want.

💰 Are those “little treats” affecting your financial goals? Because those $7 coffees start to add up.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 This restwear founder shares the biggest misconceptions about being a working parent.

BEFORE YOU GO…

Take a deep breath.