Being a business owner can be stressful. But if it was that bad no one would do it, right?! Owning a business can (and does!) have a positive impact on you, too.
From feeling happier with your life to improving your health, let’s have a look at it in more detail.
Work/life balance makes you more satisfied with your life
When you run a business, you can decide your own schedule. You can think about when you’re the most productive and choose what works best for you.
Having a healthy work/life balance is very important as it helps reduce stress and prevent burnout. When you finish all your work on time and still have time to rest, exercise, eat nutritious meals and spend time doing things you enjoy, you are more likely to feel satisfied with your life. And being satisfied with your life improves both your physical and mental health.
Also, happiness and positive emotions strengthen the immune system. In 2003, 350 adults volunteered to be exposed to the common cold. A few times before the exposure, researchers asked them how often they had experienced positive emotions. Five days after the exposure, the participants with the most positive emotions were less likely to have developed a cold.
Working with right people makes a positive impact on you
Working as an employee means you have to work with people that your boss chooses. However, not everyone is easy to get along with. If you have some co-workers that you always end up arguing or competing with, it can really affect your performance and the way you feel about your job.
When you’re a business owner, you can choose your own team. Having the right people next to you helps you achieve your business goals quicker, get better results and lets you avoid all the negative energy in the workplace.
Even if you don’t have employees, you are responsible for choosing your suppliers and all the other people you do business with. And you can always choose those that share the same values as you.
You can create a positive work culture
If you have employees, try to look at yourself as a leader, not a boss.
Instead of telling everyone what to do, show the example, listen to your staff’s needs, trust them and help them grow together with the business. And remember, everyone has their own personal life, so don’t get irritated if someone needs to take an unplanned day off.
If you take care of your employees’ well-being, you make them feel happy and appreciate how you treat them. Being recognised and valued reinforces a positive sense of self-worth which is a crucial element of mental health that shields us from many types of emotional problems.
You always learn and develop yourself
Being a business owner, you always need to improve your skills and learn new things to keep up with the latest industry trends and changes. Also, if you’re a sole trader, you need to understand every aspect of your business as you’re the person who does everything. Research, create, make, sell, promote, communicate – I bet you do all these things daily.
When you’re just starting up and are responsible for a million different things, you can’t be perfect at everything. However, by doing it regularly, you gain new knowledge and get better and better every day.
For many people, personal growth is very important and can even improve their self-esteem, relationships with others as well as their health.
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualisation is at the top of the pyramid. This means that after satisfying all your other needs, it’s the last step you need to take to explore your full potential, be your best self and live a meaningful life.
Helping others makes a positive impact on you
If you provide products or services, you automatically help others.
Many people start their businesses to help others overcome their problems or achieve their goals. Others – to satisfy peoples’ wants.
You can also help others by giving back to the community. Providing jobs, donating to charities, sharing your knowledge – are all great ways to do so.
When you help others, you not only affect someone positively but also make a difference in your own life. When you know that you or your product or service is important to others, your life becomes more meaningful. Also, research has shown that people, who help others, have better emotional well-being and are less likely to have depression.
