Congratulations! You can now assert that your business has made it through another year, maybe even its first year. But if you want to continue that streak of success, you need to commit to being a better entrepreneur in 2017 than you were in 2016.
Maintaining a constant line of development means always honing your skills, learning new ones and giving yourself more possibilities — so why not make some New Year’s resolutions for 2017 that will make you a better all-around entrepreneur?
Here are some of my top suggestions:
1. Make time for your physical health first.
You spend so many hours at the office, and there’s so much on your plate that you can’t even think about taking care of yourself. That needs to stop. No matter how busy your schedule gets or how much you want to accomplish in the business world, you have to make time for your own physical health first; you have to eat healthier meals (and eat regularly), get enough sleep every night and exercise at least a few times a week.
Keeping yourself in better physical shape will keep you in better mental shape, which means you’ll be able to do more in the hours that remain. Besides — what does business success matter if you’re sick and stressed all the time?
2. Practice more empathy.
Empathy is a powerful and important quality for entrepreneurs and business leaders to have. Empathy means you’ll be able to better understand other people’s problems (including those of your customers). It means you’ll be more appealing to your employees and partners, and that you’ll be able to forge better relationships with everyone who can help your business grow.
Take the time to listen to people, become aware of your own emotions and think about the feelings of others.
3. Take at least one vacation.
There’s no reason to spend the entire year working — even if you love your job. I know that Donald Trump has tweeted “Don’t take vacation. What’s the point? If you’re not enjoying your work,…