Self-care is not just a luxury; it's an essential component of running a successful business.

As a micro or small startup business owner, you might feel tempted to prioritise your business over your personal well-being, but neglecting self-care can have detrimental effects on both your health and the success of your venture.

Incorporating self-care into your routine doesn't mean neglecting your business responsibilities. Instead, it empowers you to be a more effective and resilient entrepreneur.

By valuing your well-being and practicing self-care, you're not only benefiting yourself but also creating a solid foundation for the growth and prosperity of your business.

Here's why self-care is crucial for business owners.

What is hustle culture, and why is it overrated?

Hustle culture is the idea that success is achieved through constant hard work, productivity, and the constant pursuit of goals. Now — hard work, productivity and pursuing goals is… Goals (smile). It is honourable and attractive to see someone really driven and motivated to build a life they are proud of. But if we’re being realistic, constantly operating in a state of high pressure, deadlines and unwavering drive without proper rest, care and maintenance isn’t sustainable in the long run. It’s not realistic.

While it can be motivating for some, hustle culture is overrated for a few reasons:

It can lead to burnout: Constantly pushing yourself to work harder for longer hours without much of a break (let alone quality sleep, food and time with loved ones) can lead to physical and mental exhaustion, which will leak into every area of your life. Including your relationships, happiness, and ironically, even the quality of your work.

Because it emphasises work as the most important thing in life, conforming to hustle culture might skew your priorities. If you start believing that your business is more important than your commitment to taking care of your health and wellbeing — it can lead you to neglect your personal relationships, hobbies and overall health and have a detrimental effect on your quality of life.

Lastly, hustle culture is unrealistic: When you’re under constant pressure to work hard and be productive — it can ultimately be demotivating. As humans, we all need breaks, downtime, rest and play, to perform at our best.

Business will be both wonderful and incredibly challenging. Gut wrenchingly difficult yet rewarding beyond what words could describe. Experts say that building something from nothing is more difficult than scaling it, so if you’ve got a business up and running — well done! It is no small thing.

By reaching out for support, delegating some of the load, setting aside time to rest, doing the things we you outside of work and asking the hard questions — you can build a meaningful business that aligns with your personal values and lifestyle.

Set boundaries. Make bold decisions. Know that you are taking the driver’s seat and setting the course of your life. Make sure you remember to laugh more and enjoy the process.

If you’re a small business owner, and you’re feeling burnt out, you’re not alone. It’s a horrible place to be — but sometimes our bodies know best. If you’ve been operating at full-steam without much support, rest, rewards, and cashflow, it can have a detrimental long-term effect on your wellbeing.

Burnout is your body’s way of telling you that you’ve reached your limits (probably a long time ago), and you’ve pushed through. But you need (note the emphasis): you need to take care of yourself. Not just as an emergency resort, (if you’re currently burnt out, it is an emergency, and you need to listen to your body) — but consistently. Consistent self-care is the key for us to thrive in our business, relationships, homes, etc. Prevention is always better than cure.

If you’re feeling at the end of yourself mentally and physically, here are some things I tried to put into practice to bring myself back to equilibrium.