Upon reading this months Entrepreneur magazine, a great article was there and I wanted to share.
Although we may argue and disagree with each other, there are some inspectors who have fallen on poor health and this should be a lesson for ALL of us to learn.
Here is an except from the article…I know many of you work hours upon hours upon hours for your families, but when your work yourself to death (literally) or to a point where it significantly impairs your workability, then what was it all for?
Pay attention to your body. Insomnia, heart palpitations, anxiety, bowel issues…these things are trying to tell you something. See your doctor
Make stress testing a routine - just as dental checkups.
Cut stress by reducing time urgency. Every minute is not life or death
Identify the story behind the stress and reframe it from catastrophic to a new story, “Yes, I got 300 emails, but I can handle it.”
Build Stress-relief techniques into your schedule - such as meditation, progressive relaxation, exercise or a hobby.
Set boundaries. Sixteen hours of work a day is not sustainable. Find the “enough point” in a given day or project.
Hire someone. Doing it all yourself can cost way more than a helping hand.
Step back - Brains have to reset every 90 minutes. Breaks increase mental functioning and interrupt stress.
Get a life. The best stress buffer is a life beyond work. Remember that?
This was just the article and I am sure there are more things. But in this profession, burn out occurs, health issues begin and we have it tough enough already, lets not complicate it with unnecessary health issues…
Thanks Russ. Yes, we all need that reminder.
After talking with my wife at the beginning of the year, we decided I would rarely do week-end inspection. While I was worried at first about the potential loss of income, my life quality has tremendously improved. I’m doing more inspections now then I did last year and best of all, I get to spend time with my family.
Eating healthy is just as important as regular workout/exercise.
Good article for stressful type personalities however some of us actually thrive on stress and get enjoyment from it.
I always had a type A and never felt alive unless chaos lived when younger.
Have read many times as well that successful people think of work as play and get stressed when taken away from their business so everything is perspective.
And then there are vendors that believe if one is not always “balls to the walls” busy and continuously growing your business then you are a loser!
For 35+ years I lived/worked my a-s-s off, every day, 72 up to 95 hours a week, year after year after year. I was that guy Bob mentioned. Stress was my caffeine.
No way will I EVER do that again! The price I paid, and the personal losses, not only for me, but for my family, can never be overcome.
Although it has it’s moments, this business is a blessing for me. It affords me the flexibility to spend the time with family and do things that I was never able to do before.
When someone comments “It’s not all about the money”, trust me, they mean it! Yeah, I had a career where I made a hell of a lot more money than I do now, but for the last handful of years, I am more content with life than ever before. (Trust me, it ain’t the old age saying that)!
Huh? What does stress have to do with growing a business? No one said you had to be balls to the wall tone big or successful. Work smarter not harder.
I met a guy this summer who does about 1.5 million a year in inspections, and that was a bad year.
He was very mild mannered, calm,relaxed and very kind. Didn’t seem to be a “balls to the wall” kinda guy and think he got where he is by working smart, not hard.
Since you didn’t name the “vendor” I will tell you the name of the inspector, it is a guy named Phil Thornberry. Maybe you have heard of the name, maybe not. But success has nothing to do with stress and I believe quite the contrary.
For every hard charging Rich person I have met. I met 25 calm rich people. Cooler heads always prevail…
Russell, thanks for a great reminder that we need to take care of ourselves so that we can better take care of others. I got October issue of Entrepreneur in the mail last week and haven’t had a chance to look at it, is it in this issue?
Michael, I thought you guys only have moonshine down there? Side note: I watched a documentary on netflix a year ago called the “wild and wonderful whites of west virginia”, the family they followed are off the wall crazy.
