Three Counterintuitive Activities That Will Improve Your Business

The Transcript

Three Counterintuitive Activities That Will Improve Your Business

Voiceover: Welcome to Unemployable, the show for people who can get a job, they are just not inclined to take one, and that’s putting it gently. If you’re a freelancer, or solopreneur, Unemployable is the place to get actionable advice for growing your business, improving your processes, and enjoying greater freedom, day to day. To get the full experience, register at no charge at Unemployable.com. You’ll get access to upcoming webinars and more. That’s Unemployable.com.

Brian Clark: Hey there everyone, welcome to Unemployable. I’m your host, Brian Clark … happy as always to be chatting with you about ways to grow your business that also improves the quality of your life … because that’s the point.

Before we dive into today’s episode, just a quick reminder that this show is made possible by the Rainmaker Platform. And I mean literally makes possible … not only are Unemployable.com and Rainmaker.FM built on the platform, but if it didn’t power thousands of sites all over the world, I might have to go get a job.

Okay, I’m just kidding. I’m never getting a job.

That said, if you’re looking to do next generation online lead generation, or perhaps sell your own digital products and services, give Rainmaker a look. You can take it for a free 14-day trial run over at RainmakerPlatform.com.

Now that the bills are paid, let’s get started. Today’s episode is inspired by another listener question. Let’s hear what it is.

Listener Question

Robert: Hi Brian, this is Robert from Mexico, Missouri, out in the boonies. I make a living publishing books at MidwestJournalPress.com. My question is, “Should entrepreneurs keep a balance in their life, between their personal development and the value they give?” It seems to me to be the case. Thanks!

Great question Robert, thank you … and this is something that’s been more on my mind over the last year or two, than ever.

Most of the time when we think about personal development in terms of our business, we’re thinking of continuing education, or professional development. Maybe it’s a leadership seminar, or some kind of motivational training.

Those things are great, and necessary. But some of the most important things we can do in terms of personal development seem like they have nothing to do with business.

Ultimately, they do … in fact, these things not only improve your quality of life, they can lead to unprecedented business breakthroughs. And they also fly in the face of the generally accepted mythology and even social rewards that surround entrepreneurs and the self-employed.

Intrigued? Let me explain a bit more about how each of these three counterintuitive activities will improve your business.

The Life Enhancer That Builds Your Brain and Business

This first thing is exercise. It can range from simple walking, but in particular a bit more effort on the cardiovascular side of things can be helpful in ways you might not have considered.

Beyond simply increasing blood flow to the brain (which never hurts), a large volume of research continues to show that exercising your body permanently enhances your brain. And it’s not like taking care of your body doesn’t have its own benefits.

The bottom line: physical activity improves brain health and cognitive function at any age. If the baseline science behind this interests you, I highly recommend you start with the book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John Ratey, MD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Spark was inspired by an experimental approach to physical education, you know, good ol’ P.E. — in Naperville, Illinois schools. The experiment seemed ridiculous at a time when American schools were cutting physical education in favor of more emphasis on math and science, but the results were unmistakably profound.

The student body of 19,000 transformed into perhaps the fittest in the nation. More remarkably, the P.E. program that started each school day also turned those students into some of the smartest on the planet. In 1999, Naperville’s eighth graders were among some 230,000 students from around the world who took an international standards test called TIMSS — and they finished first in the world in science and sixth in math.

So, you think this type of brain boost might help you run a better business? I’m betting so, which is just one more reason to commit to getting your workout on.

The Most Pleasurable Way to Boost Business Performance

This next thing is sleep, and this is where we really start bumping up against that entrepreneurial mythology. We’ll sleep when we’re dead … we’ve got businesses to build, right?

If you’re really interested in peak business performance, you need to make sleep part of your optimization process. It’s simply that important, but it’s the one thing modern people in general, and people who run business specifically seem to do badly.

The research-backed benefits of better sleep are almost too many to list: you’ll avoid many serious diseases, manage chronic pain, lower your risk of injury, enhance creativity, elevate your mood, maintain a healthy body weight, think better, improve your memory, and build your immune system.

Research shows that sleep is critical for maintaining brain function. As we sleep, the brain is eliminating the waste that accumulates in the course of daily life. If this doesn’t happen efficiently, your mental clarity and performance suffer in a big way.

So, if you’re trying to get ahead by sleeping less and working more, the science says you’re actually accomplishing less, badly. Instead, sleep more and call it an essential aspect of your business … because it is.

How the Art of Slacking Off Helps You Level Up

This final thing is the most heretical of all … if you want to build a better business, even without considering the rest of your life (which of course you should), you should work less.

Research shows the counterintuitive truth … the longer hours you work, the lower your productivity. Anything above 50 hours a week starts to provide diminishing returns.

And the data further shows that the output of working around 56 hours was exactly the same as 70 hours … meaning those extra 14 hours were a complete waste. This is likely even more pronounced for work that is self-directed and requires intellectual engagement … you know, like your work.

Now, at times, working long hours is unavoidable. The buck stops with us, and we’ve got to do what it takes. But it’s funny how the “badge of honor” that we wear so proudly … the “I’m so busy” thing … begins to define us.

Working your ass off goes from a necessary evil to some form of social cachet. Busyness implies hard work, good character, and success … either now or in the future. It indicates that “I’m an important person.”

When stated out loud, that sounds absolutely crazy, because it is. But coming from the legal industry straight into the entrepreneurial world, I know first hand it not only exists, it’s celebrated. Maybe you recognize this yourself.

If you truly believe the mantra “work smarter, not harder,” you’ll take this to heart. But you don’t have to take it on faith, because this is science. The more you work, the less productive you become. Period.

To be your best, you need to view leisure time not as goofing off, but as a necessary investment in reflecting, inspiring creativity, and saving up brainpower and energy for future work. So, why not take a break from work to plan your next vacation?

That’s enough for this episode. I’ve got a lot of supplemental resources on the things we’ve talked about today in the show notes.

If you’re looking for the show notes for this or any other episode, you can access that in the member area by selecting the Streaming option. If you’re not registered yet, go ahead and sign up for free … we’ve got some great members only webinars kicking in this month

If you don’t care to register, you’ll need to head to a different domain to grab the links – it’s unemployable.fm. Go there and look for this episode, which is entitled The Habitual Startup Approach to Wealth Building.

That’s it for now … talk to you soon, and keep going.