Business Opinions: Relax – Nothing is under control!

I must admit one of the reasons for this topic is the fact that by the time this article goes online I will be drinking a cocktail on a beach at the Black Sea with no worries on my head and no tasks on my list. Don’t hate me it’s just that every now and then you have to take a break and stop thinking about work and problems. Of course there are some other good relaxation methods; going to the beach it’s just one of them.

            Your business is important for you and the fear of letting go of the reins is big. We all imagine that all hell will break loose if we lose sight of the process for even one moment. You feel like a mother going to the park with her kids, she is always keeping them under her eyes and if for one second one of them disappears she panics. But don’t be a maniac, both with the children and the business, sometimes it is better to let go. You don’t want to be like the peasants in Creanga’s story worrying about the salt on the stove will fall and kill the baby in its sleep.

            Imagine what would happen to the cars if F1 drivers will have no pit stops, exploded tires, running out of fuel in the middle of the race and the list is open. From time to time recharging your batteries proves to be the right choice. And even while working, relax; I learned the other day that one of the training stages for a marathon is to run with eggs in your hands and learn to run relaxed.

            Juggling with every day activities, customers, competition, suppliers and every day expenses can take its toll and thus the feared stress accumulates. If we ignore the initial effects it gets worse and we register sagging enthusiasm, frequent tiredness, fading optimism, bleaker outlook for the future and even serious health problems. Because of all this relaxing has never been more necessary.

The results of taking time for you and just enjoy some R&R – I can think of some of them:

Eliminate stress. When you work stressed it is like driving with your hand brake pulled. You have the impression it is your fault that you are not up to the speed you want and get even more stressed and consume even more energy.

Get creative. Your best ideas come when you are relaxed, if you look back you’ll see all of your best ideas came to you when you were not stressing about the situation. Step out for a while and don’t over think it.

Analyze. Taking a break and relaxing can give you the time to assess your activity until that moment. You can see how things went and if you are on the right path. In the moments when you are involved in the process the adrenaline and deadlines don’t let you question if you are doing the right thing so from time to time answer those question while having short break.

Celebrate. You have daily struggle and even if you register a success you say you don’t have time to party because the competition doesn’t parties. If you don’t celebrate your victories soon enough you will only see the failures and feel depressed. Take time to celebrate a big win, it will give you a big boost of confidence and you will try harder to replicate that moment.

Go back to where it all started. Having a short holiday can give you the time to go back to the roots, to remember what it was all about before problems started to ruin your days. Getting out of your routine will give you a chance to see the business as it was when you started, when it was not about work but about your dreams and hopes. This way you can recharge your batteries with that spirit that lit your fire in the beginning.

Relax, nothing is under control and we cannot think we are controlling 100% a business when we depend every day on customer preferences, competition campaigns, government taxes and employees. We can manage a business as good or even better relaxed so why not try.

So don’t wait for the week end to go to the beach or mountain side, go out in a bar or club on a Thursday evening, take a walk in the park Wednesday afternoon in between meetings. Listen to good music in your car and not some self-development audio book, have lunch with your friends and dinner with family instead of your microwave frozen dinners. Relax, you might even enjoy yourselves!!!!