Why is it so hard to invest in ourselves?

I mean really invest in ourselves. Whether that is by giving ourselves the best food, diet, exercise or by investing in a life, business or spiritual coach or even a counsellor.

So many of us are reluctant to take the plunge and invest in our own health and personal development - we’re quick to invest in things that we need around the house or for the business but less inclined to look after ourselves.

When it comes to eating healthily, exercising and looking after your mind - there are millions of excuses that you can make. I don’t have time, it’s not easy to get the ingredients, what would people think if they knew I was seeing a coach or counsellor.

But at the end of the day, what is more important than your own health?

A healthy mind (and body) are critical if you are running your own business, you need to be able to deal with the pressures of life and also the pressures of being an entrepreneur, running your own business and managing all the juggles that go with it. If you are not physically fit you’re going to find that you have to take more and more time off work, and this isn’t going to help your business at all.

Although it may seem as though it is taking time out of your busy day, you need to dedicate some time to yourself.

Have a think about where you can make the most improvements. Sit with a pen and paper and write a list of everything that you can think of, diet, state of mind, how good your relationships are with family and friends, exercise - do you get enough fresh air in the day? How often do you take breaks from your laptop screen?

Don't try and do everything at once, just start small.

There will be resistance to investing in yourself - it has been long ingrained in most of us that we are here to look after everyone else first and ourself second - but this just doesn’t work any more.

Now we are responsible for running our own business, raising our children, managing our homes, employing staff - we have to look after ourselves first. It’s like the old airplane scenario where you must put your own oxygen mask on before helping a child or someone else that you’re travelling with.

You have to be responsible for your own happiness, health and mental well being before you can be responsible for everyone else.

So start today, take a look at the list you wrote and decide where your biggest priority is. And then think about how you can start to make small daily changes to this, just 10 minutes a day is enough to start with.

I guarantee if you invest in yourself you will see the benefits quickly, and this will encourage you to keep going and pushing yourself further. I’m excited to see what you can achieve if you do this - it’s made the world of difference in my life.

Related: I Can't Keep Up With AI. There. I Said It.