Four Tips for Prioritizing Health and Wellness as a Black Entrepreneur
Photo by TruCreates
Entrepreneurship is filled with its own unique set of challenges. However, for Black entrepreneurs, those challenges are significantly amplified. In a recent survey commissioned by QuickBooks Canada, Black entrepreneurs are more likely to experience financial challenges and less likely to have good access to healthcare when compared to their counterparts. What’s more, among those who do not currently have good financial well-being, only 55% report good mental well-being as well.
While we all understand the importance of maintaining our personal well-being, almost two in five Black respondents say they are not able to prioritize self-care as much as they would like because they often have to put other things or people first. The pandemic may have brought to light the importance of wellness, but it is up to you to be accountable and make a real difference in your daily life.
As Black entrepreneurs who are committed to creating accessible and affordable spaces for women of colour to nurture their well-being, we’re sharing a few tips that have allowed us to prioritize our health while simultaneously running our business, The Villij.
Honour your wellness needs by creating balance
We know it is easier said than done, and we’re all too familiar with getting swept up in the bustle of wanting swift growth and success. While that passion and ambition are important to fuel your business, it is also important to be just as driven to take care of yourself. We love this quote by author Jana Kingsford who says “Balance is not something you find - it is something you create”. How do you go about striking a balance between tending to the needs of your business and your well-being? Here are a few suggestions based on how we honour our wellness needs:
Listen to your body - Let’s face it, entrepreneurial burnout is real. That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to signals that you need to slow down or rest. Don’t wait until you are burnt out or experiencing symptoms of burnout to take a break. By learning to listen to your body, you begin to attune to subtle signs that tell you when it’s time to unplug from distractions and get some rest.
Learn when to say NO - It’s tempting to take every opportunity that comes your way but, we’ve experienced the benefit of saying no to things that do not align with our values. By prioritizing other tasks, you create more space to take care of yourself and avoid being overwhelmed or taking on more responsibility than you can handle.
Plan moments of joy - You are the heart and soul of your business, and it cannot function without you. You can’t pour from an empty cup either.. Take time out to schedule some playfulness and joy into your week, allowing you to decompress and come back to your business feeling recharged and refreshed.
2. Develop simple, sustainable, and accessible mental health tools
While there are plenty of tools, programs, and services that can support you throughout your wellness journey, sometimes there are many barriers that prevent us from getting access to these tools in the first place. We recommend finding simple, affordable-to-you ways to approach wellness. Start by using what is available to you and build your wellness toolkit from there. Here are a few examples of accessible ways to care for your mental health:
Setting and creating boundaries - Boundaries are the limits we set in place to protect ourselves from feeling overburdened or stressed. We suggest finding places in your day when you can make room for smaller boundaries to prevent mental, physical, or emotional fatigue. This could look like choosing to have a slower start to your morning or avoiding jumping right into work. It could also mean setting a designated amount of time to check your email, complete certain tasks, or take work appointments.
Rely on your support system - Find a community of like-minded individuals to support and hold space for you. Sometimes all you need is a sounding board, or someone to validate your experiences and help you navigate through your thoughts. Being able to talk through frustrations or celebrate micro-wins with a trusted friend are beneficial to maintaining your emotional and mental health.
Prioritize daily movement - It's easy to underestimate how effective physical movement is for helping you work through excessive or stagnant energy. That’s why we carve out time on a weekly basis to go for a walk or stretch. If it’s within your budget, find a gym or wellness membership with classes that meet your needs and commit to moving consistently.
Get a different perspective - There’s a lot of information out there so we find books are a great tool as a first step to cutting through the noise or as a point of reference no matter where you are in your entrepreneurial journey. These are a few of the books that have helped and inspired us:
Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Therapist by Nedra Tawwab: This book outlines everything you need to know about boundaries - like the type of boundaries you may benefit from drawing in your life, how to set them, and most importantly stick to them.
Scared Rest by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith: Entrepreneurs are slowly moving towards a life of rest over a life of constant hustle. This book will introduce you to seven types of rest and the benefits of each one.
Company of One by Paul Jarvis: This book will provide you with another perspective on being an entrepreneur - like operating a small and purposeful business. Your entrepreneurial journey doesn’t always have to be about scaling, and this book explains why.
For more resources for your well being, read the QuickBooks guide: Take Space: Your Guide to Personal Health and Well-Being.
3. Invest in business tools that set you up for peace of mind
Create more ease in your day by automating smaller tasks and investing in tools that help you manage your time, stay organized, and up-to-date. Knowing that your meetings are scheduled and finances organized allows you to fully settle down into your moments of rest, eliminating any anxious thoughts. We enjoy using tools like QuickBooks Online, which helps keep our finances organized. It allows us to track sales and expenses, create invoices, accept payments and pay suppliers. We appreciate the simplicity of the software and the ease we feel during tax time. Knowing where we stand financially is pivotal in running our business, and having easy access to financial reports at any given time provides us with peace of mind.
4. Affirm yourself
At the end of the day, your business is, because of who you are. We are big fans of affirmations over at The Villij because they serve as daily reminders of the things that are most important to us. Affirmations allow you to align your business goals with the life you wish to create. For example, if you value being in nature and you find that it sparks your creativity, set an affirmation as a reminder of this feeling. Then, tweak your schedule or create business goals that allow for more time outdoors. If you are interested in building a community and interacting with people, having an affirmation that speaks to this will remind you where to invest more of your time. So, it may look like spending less time pitching your business and more time interacting with your current/loyal customers.
Lastly, it’s very easy to get swept up in the logistics of running a business, and we can sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture. An affirmation that reminds you to prioritize your health and wellness is a great way to remember how important you are. Here are a few that inspire us:
I am capable of making time to care for myself.
I am deserving of a life of rest and joy.
I am building a business that is in alignment with my highest values.
We hope you find some of these tips helpful because as we like to say at The Villij, you deserve to be well. We’d love to hear some of your experiences as an entrepreneur in the comments below!
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post developed in partnership with QuickBooks Canada. All opinions are those of the author.
