35 | Unplug and Recharge: Essentials for Business Owners

When was the last time you did something just for you? Join us on the Annoyingly Optimistic Show as we tackle the delicate balance of work and self-care in Season 2's "Voicemails to Tim." In this episode, our beloved host leaves an insightful voicemail for Tim, who has been tirelessly running his small business for nearly three years and now finds himself stuck in a rut. If you're feeling overwhelmed or burned out, this episode is your perfect pick-me-up, loaded with tips on the crucial importance of rest, recovery, and finding joy in the little things.

Through practical advice and heartfelt encouragement, we explore how dedicating time to activities that rejuvenate your spirit can immensely benefit both your personal well-being and professional success. Whether it's enjoying a movie marathon, catching up with friends, or simply taking a walk, these moments are not just frivolous luxuries but necessary breaths of fresh air. Tune in to learn how carving out these precious moments of relaxation can help you bring your best self to your clients and business. Don't miss this episode – it might just be the reminder you need to give yourself a break!

If you are self-employed or run a small business and feel more like you're self-annoyed then get in touch, visit the website www.theannoyinglyoptimisticshow.com where you can submit a question or problem and start your journey to becoming self-enjoyed! 

The majority of 'business advice' out there isn't aimed at self-employed or micro businesses, following it leaves you frustrated and chasing quick fixes. I specialise in tools, systems, techniques, inspiration and help specifically designed for YOU, the person who has to do it all, who doesn't have a team of people, unlimited resources or the time to spend months learning complicated techniques. 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey there, listeners, it's your annoyingly optimistic host here bringing you another season of the Annoyingly Optimistic Show. Welcome to Season 2, voicemails to Tim. Now let's meet Tim. He's been running his own small business for almost three years now and let's just say he's hit a bit of a rough patch. You know how it is Sometimes you get so stuck, you make yourself busy and just avoid finding the real problems. Well, that's Tim. So, as a good friend, I decide to leave him a daily voicemail, if I can't get hold of him, filled with nuggets of inspiration, insight and wisdom and downright brilliant ideas to help get him unstuck Every day. In just under 10 minutes, I'll share some tips, tricks and a healthy dose of optimism to get Tim, and maybe even you, back on track, because, let's face it, we're all a little tired, in need of help and muddling through. So here we go. Oh wait, never mind Tim's being busy. Here's the voicemail I left him today hi, tim, sorry I missed you again. Hope you're well.

Speaker 1 0:58

Important one today, and it's going to be a short one because of the what I'm talking about now. I talked recently about nutrition and what you put in your body, and this goes hand in hand with that one, which is why it was, I think, top of my mind, is rest, recovery, rejuvenation, recharging probably all the words begin with r. It's the things that we do and, as I said, we are the engine of our business. So it's important what we put into our business, but it's important to take time. It's important to give ourselves time. It's important to make sure that we nourish ourselves, do the things that we enjoy. Now, yes, we, as I. Work-life balance doesn't really exist if you're self-employed, but we need to find those little things and those little wonderful things that recharge us, that are totally away from business and worrying about clients and customers and deadlines and everything else, and we need to focus on those and give them sufficient time and energy so that we can give our best to our customers, so that we can give our best to our customers.

Speaker 1 2:05

And I wanted to pose a question on that is when's the last time you did something for you? A pure flight of fancy, pure something that you just enjoy and love? That'll make you laugh, that'll just do anything, whether it's getting outdoors, whether it's going watching a movie marathon, whether it's going for a day out, lunch out, visiting friends, whatever it might be, but it's vitally important that you take time and make that time for yourself and really just shut everything else about. Compartmentalised would be the proper kind of business term in terms of being able to do this, but it's so important to to really be able to switch off and really be able to just relax and unwind and get ready to do it now. You might be amazingly disciplined and every weekend is like that, but for a lot of self-employed people that's not the case. The weekend is just an extension of the week and you know, days and weeks and weekends don't really have that that same kind of meaning as they do for someone that works a nine-to-five job. So, whatever it might be, it doesn't have to be grand. In fact, some of the the simplest pleasures and the simple things are the little things that we do.

Speaker 1 3:19

I said about going for a walk, listening to audiobooks and those kind of things. They're those stolen moments within a day and a week. What this is more about is that dedicated time to go right. I'm doing this for me. It's not trying to learn, it's not trying to do anything else. I'm doing this because I really enjoy this. It's fun and that might seem frivolous. You know if you're worrying about where your next client's coming from or things like that. But it's vitally important because you need that reset, you need to give your you, you, time to recover, both physically and mentally, so that you've got your absolute best to take into the next week, the next client interaction, whatever it might be. So I just wanted to throw this kind of little one out there, because it's easy for us to even get passionate about and these ideas I'm throwing you easy for them to kind of yeah, I'm going to do that, I'm going to try that, I'm going to do that and that's fantastic and that gives us an energy and we can draw on what feels often at times like a limitless amount of energy when we are driven and inspired and and got those really good ideas. But there is a cost to that and you know that that buzz, that adrenaline, that excitement, that euphoria which comes with those ideas and our business, which we really, really enjoy, that has to be fueled from in you and eventually you will start to run on empty and that will then affect everything.

Speaker 1 4:49

Someone uh said to me yesterday just when I was on the treadmill. We were doing a kind of a long run and we were talking about what we're up to the next kind of couple of days. And they, they said to me and they were talking about in the exercise realm, but of course it just it focused my mind, which is why I wanted to say this. They kind of said, oh, remember to, you know, take your recovery and and rest, you know, so that you give your time, your body, time to recover. He said because you're you know. He said that I inspired him and things like that. He said you're inspiring others, but you know, you need to take time for yourself. And it was just that, that little reminder, as I think it's. Alex Hormozy says we need to be reminded more often than we need to be taught. And yeah, it was that reminder that yeah, it's vital that we take that bit of time, recoup that energy, regather ourselves, do something just fantastic and enjoyable and then get back to it again and build those things in regularly, because go too long without those, everything starts to suffer and you're on a kind of a downward spiral.

Speaker 1 5:54

So just a quickie today, tim, just to say take some time for yourself, do something. It's a bank holiday weekend, so do something for yourself, do something exciting, do something that makes you laugh, makes you cry. A bit of adrenaline, whatever it might be. I would say, go and enjoy the weather, but it's, you know, and anyway it's not the best weekend for weather. But just do something for you, recharge those batteries and then come at next week afresh and see what different things you can achieve. So hope that helps Tim and I shall speak to you soon.

Speaker 1 6:27

Bye for now, and that's it for today's episode of Voicemails to Tim on the Annoyingly Optimistic Show. Now, remember, tim might be busy, but we're all in this together. Whether you're tired, in need of help or just muddling through, tim is here for you because, well, tim is you. Yes, you heard that right. Tim isn't just my friend, he's a reflection of all of us who are struggling to make it work. T-i-m stands for tired, in need of help and muddling through. So if you're feeling like a tim, you're not alone for all those ambitious listeners. If you've got a burning business question, a quirky thought or just want to see if you can leave an even weirder voicemail, head over to the website voicemails to tim, submit your question and maybe, just maybe, you'll hear your idea in a future voicemail to Tim. So until then, stay annoyingly optimistic, keep pushing forward and remember if life gives you lemons, leave a voicemail about it.