Self-Care For Entrepreneurs
How many times have we asked ourselves, “Rest, what is that?” When we do say these things, it is because we are working so much that we are not dedicating the appropriate time to resting. Have you looked at your schedule lately? What is it telling you? The answer to this question will determine your course of action.
When we look closely at the Bible, we see that in the Book of Genesis, everything was created in order. Why? Because everything was disordered. When there’s chaos in our lives, what do we tend to do? Bring some order. When our beds are chaotic and messy, we make our beds, right? But as we continue reading the Word of God, we see how this order takes place throughout the books of the Bible.
What does Rest Really Mean?
In Leviticus 23, we learned about the “appointed festivals” (v.2) that the Israelites should follow to honor and remember what God has done for them. One of the festivals was the Sabbath.
“There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of Sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the Lord” (v3).
From Genesis to Leviticus, we see the pattern of the Sabbath and its significance. In the Bible, the Sabbath was referred to as Saturday. Many of us consider Sundays as a day of rest. But what do we do during this time of rest? Honestly speaking, we are to rest in the Lord. What does this mean? Let’s take a look at Exodus 18, where we see Moses serving as judge day and night, solving people’s problems.
“Moses answered him, ‘Because the people come to me to seek God’s will, whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions. Moses’ father-in-law replied, ‘What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone” (Exodus 18:15-18, NIV).
What did Moses’ father-in-law Jethro tell him? “What you are doing is not good” (v. 17). Doing our part is always a good thing, but not when it takes all of our strength. A lot of us will say, “I would rather do things myself than have someone else do it. If I get it done myself, it will get done exactly how I want it.” But, is this a good attitude to have? How many of us have said that before? Raise your hand. I know I have.
Let’s be honest here: It is impossible to do everything on our own. At some point in our business, it will expand. It will grow. And when this happens, what do we end up doing? Hire people. It is necessary to do this because we found out we cannot do everything ourselves, right? This is the part of business we often miss. Rest is vital to recharge our mind, body, and soul.
5 Things Successful People Do Before 8 AM
I used to think the same way until I felt overwhelmed, depleted, and even burned out because I didn’t know how to stop. Therefore, I experienced these things to the point I was bedridden because I needed to recharge. Do you feel like you need to recharge today? It wasn’t until I found this book that I realize the importance of having routines that brought me closer to God, and achieve all that I set out to do.
In this section, let’s talk about the 5 Things Successful People Do Before 8 AM that taught me discipline.
What Are The Five Things Successful People Do Before 8 AM?
The 5 Things Successful People Do Before 8 AM are habits to get us started our day right. These habits are:
Pray
Read
Listen to audio teachings
Write (journaling)
Exercise
Looking at these 5 things, I can tell I’m missing one: Exercise. I want to remind you that we don’t have to be perfect. The key here is to start with good habits so that we can feel better, accomplish what we set out to do, and grow spiritually. It is not to see our shortcomings as failure, but we have to leave room for improvement. It means that we gradually work on these things so that we can become all that God created us to be.
How Can This Impact Your Life
We have to be realistic. If we don’t do anything to better ourselves, we will remain in the same situation for the rest of our lives. Do we want to grow old full of regrets? Everything we do takes a decision. It is one decision away from making your life better, stagnant, or worse. It’s our choice. But so many of us often say, “I know,” but this is only making things worse. How? Because we are not doing anything about it. A mindset shift needs to happen, but you need to want that change.
Self-care doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing and wasting time. Watching TV and mindlessly scrolling on social media are some of the things we are doing that are keeping us broke, hopeless, and stuck.
“Rest is a form of self-care, but rest in Jesus Christ is a form of worship” (Kingdom Timekeepers)
That’s the kind of self-care and rest we’re striving for here.
How can this impact your life? It creates discipline, prioritization, and order in our lives, ministry, and business. Second Timothy 1:7 says, “For the Spirit of God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline” (NIV).
Even though I’ve improved in some areas, I still have to discipline myself in other areas (like exercise!). I’m not there yet, Kingdom Timekeepers. But I am a lot better than I was. Praise God!
Time Management and Stewardship
Are you struggling with managing your time? One area I asked the Lord to help me with was ordering my mind because I was getting a lot of ideas, but wasn’t sure what to do with them, or where to begin. See, self-care allows us to bring all the matters before the Lord, so that He can direct our paths (Proverbs 3:6).
I always had a scattered mind, no structure, no direction. As I bring this matter to the Lord, I ask Him to show me ways that I can order my mind so that I know what to do next. I’ve had a lot of brainstorming sessions with God, where He clarified a lot of things I was confused about. It is during these brainstorming sessions that I was relieved from overwhelm, confusion, and even doubt. It is during the stagnant season that I didn’t experience joy or clarity, so I didn’t know what to do.
When I was going through this season of confusion and stagnation, I received two breakthroughs. In the first breakthrough, the Lord said this, “Old wine cannot enter new wineskins (Mark 2:22). Maybe things worked out back then, but I (God) wasn’t there. Old strategies no longer work in this new season. Old ways of doing things no longer work.” Can I tell you that at that moment, I felt free from my past identity? I will explain in a bit what that meant for me, and what it can mean for you.
Moments later, I felt the urge to go into my “home office” and find the Book of Ruth in the Bible. As I was reading, I came across this Bible verse, “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge” (Ruth 2:12, NIV). Here, we see the importance and the meaning of self-care as entrepreneurs. Self-care is taking refuge under God’s wings. This verse caused a stir in my spirit, and I cried. The next Bible verse in a different chapter of the same book says, “And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know you are a woman of noble character” (Ruth 3:11, NIV).
What does this mean for me? What does it mean for you? It means freedom from what people believe we are. It means walking into a new life in Christ. We are often revisiting our past. We often rework our old business strategies when the world has moved in another direction. We refrain from learning something new. Look around, Kingdom Timekeepers, we have revolutionized. From the Book of Genesis to where we are right now, things have changed. We no longer knock on people’s doors because things in this world are not safe anymore. But so many of us want to remain in those old strategies.
We want to do what others are doing because that’s what everybody else is doing. How about authenticity? God made us unique. We have unique ideas. We can do business with brand new, never-heard-before business strategies if we only invite the Holy Spirit of God into our business. Fresh ideas. New perspectives.
When I received my breakthrough, God sealed the envelope of my past identity. He flipped the page to a new book and a new chapter in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!”
I AM REDEEMED!
Self-Care Routine As a Form of Worship
Because I’ve learned so much about systems to organize my thoughts, I’ve put them into practice. One thing I know how to do is that before I teach people how to do something, I need to try it first. I realized that if I have everything in front of me, I can get things done in an efficient way without getting distracted, then this system is working. For example, if I didn’t have some sort of organization in my life and business, I would have to get up several times to get what I need, and this way, I would waste a lot of time.
We want to start a business. We want to learn how to build a website (using coding), but we are not realizing that there are tools available out there to help us build a website more easily. Why does this happen? We don’t have systems in place for learning. And so, this is what is referred to as “old strategies.” This is where it no longer works because things have been moving so fast that our minds are still trying to catch up.
Having a system that glorifies God is a system that will help us realize so many things, but because it involves spending time with God, we don’t do it. How can we call ourselves Christians? The word Christians has the name of Christ embedded into it. Did you realize that?
My Bible Study Kit
My Bible Journaling Kit is the best thing I've ever purchased. Everything I need to start my day right with God is there. I can carry it everywhere I go if I ever need a change of scenery to spend time with God. This Bible Journaling Kit came with so much.
Gel Highlighters
Bible Tabs
Pen
Bible Study Notebook
Sticky Notes
While I’m having breakfast, I pick up my prayer journal and write letters to God (prayer journaling). I hear what He has to say. I pour my heart out to Him. I am thankful and grateful for all He has done in my life. But what I do is a process. My process looks like this:
Listen to a faith-based message
Write in my prayer journal
Read Devotional
In-depth Bible Study
Meeting with God
Read a book
Does this look familiar? Absolutely! This is my way of incorporating the 5 Things Successful People Do Before 8 AM using my Bible Journaling Kit. This is how I find rest in Him, prioritize Him, and do business with Him by following this system.
Matthew 11:28 (NIV) “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Seizing Your Day
Have you asked yourself, ‘Why am I not having enough time to get things done? Where did my time go?” We often say these things when we are prioritizing other things that do not help us achieve our goals. We have dreams we want to achieve, but what are we doing now to achieve them later? What is stealing our time?
When we prioritize other things rather than spending time with God, our goals and dreams, even our habits, are not aligned with God’s will. He will not bless that, Kingdom Timekeepers. Mindlessly scrolling on social media is not honoring God at all. We can’t be upset or have jealousy rise up within us when we see someone else achieve what we’ve always wanted to do. Why? Because we’re not willing to put in the work they did. God does not bless laziness.
Proverbs 6:6-11 (NIV) “Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest…”
We don’t want to learn. And learning doesn’t necessarily mean going back to school (unless the Lord impressed that in your heart), but it can mean picking up a book to learn something. Mindlessly scrolling on social media, wasting time that way, it’s not researching or intentional. This is not learning; it is simply wasting time that we can never get back!
Believe it or not, the books we pick up to learn something are not really what is being taught in school. Terri Savelle Foy once said, “The more you learn, the more you earn,” and for this, we don’t need a degree. So, what is our excuse today?
How To Redeem Your Time
After having my breakthrough, I asked the Lord where I should begin learning to organize my scattered thoughts. I needed some structure in my life, and He led me to read this book first. Once I finished with that book, He led me to read this book, which basically complemented the first one. Then, He gave me the idea to create this and this free downloadable. God can use any form to get our attention: books, TV shows, audiobooks, podcasts…just so that we come back to the feet of Jesus.
My word of advice here is that we can’t walk in this life without being aware of our surroundings. We can’t go through life oblivious to the point that we can’t recognize what God is doing.
Do you know how people still identify us with our past? Our childhood? Our high school days? This, Kingdom Timekeepers, is what’s now letting us grow. When we continue to surround ourselves with people who still have this concept of ourselves in their minds, we are allowing them to stop the growth we need in our lives.
Isaiah 43:19 (NIV) “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
When we decide to include God in our self-care routines (because routines and rituals are two different things), we will experience freedom like never before. He will pour into us ideas we never thought of. Our time, somehow, will expand. We will get more done in less time, and then we will be wondering, ‘How in the world did this happen?’ Now, this is pure joy!
Final Thoughts
Self-care for entrepreneurs means to prioritize God and honor Him with our time.
Self-care + Rest = Worship
This simple formula is a great reminder that studying the Bible, reading a devotional, prayer journaling, praising God, and many other things to get closer to Him are forms of worship. It is honoring Him with the time He gives us. We all have 24 hours in a day. What are we doing with our time? How are we going to prioritize God? Are we committed to doing business with Him? How? What are you implementing today?
Grab my free Kingdom Timekeepers To-Do List and the Hour-by-Hour Planning Sheet here so that you can begin prioritizing God today. Watch the video here to learn how I use them to create more content.
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