Making Right Choices to Support Your Success

As home-based professionals, we face a unique set of obstacles when it comes to the basics of taking care of ourselves. Often, we work into the wee hours of the night on projects and stop only for family time and the occasional pot of coffee to prop us up through the process. Making time for healthy choices is not only smart for our health, it is also a smart choice for our successful businesses.

For busy VPs, healthy choices begin way before we are standing in the door of the refrigerator or realize we haven’t moved from our desk for nine hours, and although some of these tips will seem VERY simple, if we put them into place with a passion, we will have stronger bodies and more focused minds every day.

Make a grocery list -- fill it (and your fridge) with “quick-grab” healthy food.

This doesn’t really mean those 100 calorie packs – they’re okay for the car or in a snack fit, but they don’t fill the nutrition part of healthy choices for busy executives like us. On the other hand, a bowl of hard-boiled eggs and a shelf of healthy yogurts are great to have on hand. And remember, a tall glass of cold 1% milk is a terrific source of calcium and protein and will quiet a hungry tummy if you’re just too busy to grab a meal.

Go to bed! Get some help! (Not in bed, necessarily – but I bet that got your attention!)

Working into the wee hours is sometimes necessary, but if you find it is your every-day norm … well, you may want to slowly move into a more invigorating schedule. This is especially true if your day is ending with the 11pm news and then Leno or Letterman tuck you in. Winding down is important, but passing out on the couch every night may not be the best choice for those of us on the very brink of success! Also, accepting the reality that less than six or seven hours of sleep is destructive to us over time is a must. If you must set that alarm for 4 ½ hours after you close your eyes, plan in a good nap the next day.

If that happens time after time, day after day, think about subcontracting some work to our community of great VPs (check out our Yahoo Group).

USE your professional support system.

No matter WHERE you are in your business development, leaning on your mentor and VP pals is a great choice. Be sure to join our Yahoo Group (noted above) and if you haven’t already done so, pick up a membership at The Virtual Nation. We will support you through the tough times and hard choices, and we will celebrate EVERY success. We know that each new client is an accomplishment and that learning by our mistakes is inevitable. (We may even be able to help you avoid a few.) Awesome mentoring is available through our website also at The Virtual Nation – and like membership, it is affordable to any VP, even one just starting out in her business. Be sure to explore this and many other support systems at our website as you move into financial and business success.

Of course, these are only a few basic suggestions to help you to fill your time with work weeks instead of work weaks. Take a walk every day to clear your head, schedule in a couple of short breaks, and make sure to have one big laugh by noon every single day to ensure your mental well being.

You are your own company now – take care of yourself as if you were the best asset you’ve every had!

Gratefully yours, Michelle Ulrich, Chief Villager