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Why you should have a hobby when you run your own business

Written by: Helen Dowling

Article Overview: Now if you’re a small business owner and you’re reading the title thinking “she’s having a laugh…I’ve got no time to do all the things I want to do, let alone have a hobby”, let me tell you that I was in exactly the same position as you about a year ago.

Why you should have a hobby when you run your own business

Now if you’re a small business owner and you’re reading the title thinking “she’s having a laugh…I’ve got no time to do all the things I want to do, let alone have a hobby”, let me tell you that I was in exactly the same position as you about a year ago.

I didn’t do hobbies. Even if I could think of something to do (which I couldn’t) I didn’t have time to do one – the business was so busy that I hardly had time to think, let alone take up something else.

And yet, something was happening. Although I was very busy with lots of clients, I got stressed very easily, was very tired and didn’t have as much energy as I wanted to. Talking this over with my business mentor one day, she asked me if I had any hobbies or what I did for fun – and to be honest, my reaction was pretty much what yours probably was on reading the title of this article.

But, she reminded me that relying on the business to bring me complete pleasure and joy all of the time was kind of like relying on just one person in a relationship to bring you everything you ever wanted – just not possible and unrealistic.

On the other hand if you have something else in your life to care about, to get excited about, to get annoyed and frustrated about when things go wrong, it takes your focus off the business, yes – but in a good way and allows you to forget about the business for a while and have a break.

Shockingly enough, when I tried this I actually found that I performed better in the business than when I didn’t have something else to focus on – a complete revelation to me. Since having the chat with my business mentor, I’ve:

1. Bought a house to let out
2. Got three chickens
3. Taking a cooking course at the local college
4. Do exercise three times a week
5. Do Sudoko and Picross on a regular basis
6. Read fiction again
7. And…I’m taking a holiday for the first time in 3 years

How cool is that?

Oh and it’s also given me the time to finish my book that I’m writing on “How to survive your first few years in business”. And I’m much less stressed now than I was a year ago.

Is it worth getting a hobby? Absolutely. I thoroughly recommend it. All I need to do is find a publisher for my book now…

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Article Tags: 3 years, business mentor, chickens, cooking course, first few years, having a laugh, hobbies, local college, pleasure, relationship, revelation, small business owner, three times



Related Forum Posts
Opportunity Addict - No and no. He started collecting them because he thought 'in a few years' I might want to open up that kind of business. We are currently reviewing his long term business plan and realizing that this 'hobby' stuff isnt really in-line with his bigger goals. Now he is going through and getting rid of stuff....because its one of a few sections of his house that he had cornered off to tackle, 'sometime later in this life'. J
Re: Do you like building Shed as hobby? - Thanks GT, You will only enjoy doing this if it is your hobby. I love all my creation, even if it is not perfect to my taste
Re: Great start, but no finish - A good niche or area of expertise is and should always be the cost of entry into entrepreneurship. But its easy to stick to your niche. What most people dont realize is that they have to LEARN and continue to grow in their own learning and development or at best, they will build themselves a nice little hobby. Statistically they say 40% of all businesses fail within the first 5 years. whether this has to do with market conditions or the actually CEO, how knows. I do believe that you have to start studying business as business and then weave your own expertise/products/services into that education. If you can sell one thing, you can sell anything. Longevity in business is about being adaptive, opportunistic and a hard worker, J
What inspires you? - People go into businesses for different reasons. Some do it because they are good at it, some out of curiosity and because they make money from it while others earn through doing their hobby. What inspires you to do what you do?
Re: Ladies Who Launch Profiles - This is an interesting story, sometimes in life what you need to succeed in life may come from your hobby. Many people had become millionaires by marketing their hobbies. We might be sitting on a gold mine without knowing it


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