As female entrepreneurs, we are always on the go. We are always looking for new opportunities. We never give up and we take risks if we think that it could be worth it! But if we aren’t careful we can easily forget to slow down and enjoy the lives we’ve worked so hard to build. “Self-help” gets a bad rep but as a business owner, I’ve found that it is crucial for my life and also for my business. When I improve, so does my work. Here are a few of the personal growth tactics I have used to improve my life, become happier and more successful.

Invest in yourself

As female entrepreneurs, we wear so many hats at once. And while that is fun it also means that we are always doing something instead of focusing on our personal growth. With this mindset, I felt guilty for doing the things that help me grow when I could be focusing on the next best strategy or learning the best-kept secrets in my industry.

But now, I make a point to invest in things like books, programs, courses etc., that help me learn how to grow as a person because I realized that nobody else will teach me those lessons. I recently just finished earning my certification as a Digital Marketing Professional. I have to put myself as a priority and investing in my personal growth is the best use of my time and money because the results will affect every area in my life in the most positive ways.

This doesn’t mean that you have to spend a lot of money. There are a lot of great resources online at no cost, from podcasts and YouTube videos. But the key is to make sure it’s the right content for you and to make sure you are fully present when consuming these things.

I will often carve out one hour of dedicated time to work on a course each day, read one chapter of a non-fiction book before bed, or even set up recurring dates with myself solely to work on an area that I need a little improvement on. I make sure that spending time on myself is built into my schedule as much as possible because I know the results are well worth it!

Surround yourself with positive and supportive people

Who you spend your time with matters. Are the people in your life there to help you when times are tough or to provide motivation or encouragement? If not, it may be time to re-think your circle. It can be hard to start creating space between you and people that have been in your life for a long time but when you do, you’ll see some really amazing changes start to take place in your life.
As an entrepreneur, it’s also important to have people in your life that challenge you. We all need a little push from time to time, especially when we’re feeling out of our comfort zone or afraid to take a risk. Find people that challenge that aspect of your life instead of pulling you down OR being overly positive in a way that does not help you grow. When you start to create a circle of people that support you and challenge you, you’ll see your life change and even your confidence in yourself.

Create a morning routine

Having a morning routine has been a key player in improving my day-to-day life. Having a routine that is just for me helps me start on a positive note, it gives a consistent structure to my day, and it helps me move through my morning with ease rather than feeling stressed out that I should be doing something different. Your morning routine can be tailored to fit your specific needs. Mine includes:

• Waking up between 8-8:30 (yes, I’n so not a morning person, I’m a night owl lol)
• Meditating for about 10 minutes
• I may do a 30 minute workout depending on how I’m feeling
• Make a cup of coffee
• Make my daily list of Priority 3’s to tackle

Before having a morning routine I always wanted to incorporate these tasks into my daily life but I felt like I couldn’t find the time. My morning routine ensures I start my day off in a way that makes me feel like my needs were taken care of before my clients or my family’s.

Write down your top priorities every day

How you spend your day is how you spend your life. If you do not prioritize yourself, who will? You are valuable and you deserve to live a life that reflects this. One of the simplest ways to make sure that the tasks that you value aren’t overlooked are by writing down your goals for the day on paper before they begin to slip through the cracks. Yes, I know a lot of you use your phone and apps but there is something about putting pen to paper and then discarding that paper when you’ve completed all your tasks. That’s why I love the Priority 3’s notepad I created because it helps keep me in line.

This has increased my productivity and helped me really get focused on the things that are important to me. That’s why I created a notepad for this exact purpose. It has a section to share what I’m grateful for and an area to write my top three priorities in the most important areas of my life: my business, self-development, and my home/family life. When you decide to focus on one important task in each of these categories each day, you’ll be amazed at how you see your life change.

Turn off your notifications while working

This one was extremely tough for me because if you’re anything like me, you feel like you’ll miss out on something should you disconnect. By turning off my notifications during my work hours, I found that I was much more productive during my workday. This is only possible by turning my phone into a productivity machine without too many outside distractions. That means, NO email notifications, NO random app reminders, NO social media, and NO texts.

I was so hesitant to do this at first but I found that when I have no notifications on my phone, I feel less stressed and more able to really get into the project I’m working on. My mood and my work have improved just by this one little habit. Turning off all notifications for a specific window of time has been an amazing change for me.

Be a student of your calendar

Creating a schedule and actually following it has improved my life more than I can put into words. I used to be terrible at time management. If you’ve ever struggled with this too, I highly recommend scheduling out all of your day in 30 minute increments. I call it time blocking. It sounds tedious but it will change your life! Once you have a schedule for the day, stick with it. Now when I deviate from my plan I feel completely off balance and completely stressed out because my whole day isn’t working together like clockwork anymore.

I’m not saying that planning every second of my day is healthy or sustainable in the long run, but creating some structure has really helped me get myself organized in a way that works for me. And once you have a system in place it will be easier to adjust as needed without feeling overwhelmed by change.

Choose a time to end your workday and stick to it

Oh boy, I’m not going to lie but I still struggle with this one but I do feel the difference when I force myself to stick to it. As a female entrepreneur, It’s easy to work late nights every night. But now that I’ve been in business for a while I have been craving more work-life balance. That’s why I have started to choose a time to end my workday and force myself to adhere to it. For me, that means setting my self-imposed deadline at 6pm.

This has helped me prioritize my tasks during the workday so that I am spending time after work doing the things I truly want to be doing. For instance, instead of consuming myself with work all night, I Facetime my grandson for a good laugh and spend some quality time alone.

Schedule guilt-free relaxation time

The pressures of running a business can be overwhelming, leaving you feeling like there is never enough time to get everything done. To escape this trap, I recommend scheduling relaxation time and actually using it — that means unplugging during this time and not feeling guilty for taking time for yourself because when that happens we aren’t getting anything done or relaxing. It’s never a fun time.

But if we schedule specific time to do those not-so-productive things like watching The Squid Games or mindlessly scrolling through Tiktok, we allow ourselves to be human and enjoy the hours that we aren’t working.

I hope you’ve found these tips helpful in your own personal growth journey. Have you used any of these tips to improve your self-development? If so, tell us how they work for you and what other ways we can help people transform their lives by working on their personal growth!