Lack of Self-Care Can Hurt Your Business

Sometimes people are involved in high-risk activities or wear themselves out by ignoring their basic needs. Over time these can lead to compromised health situations for them and result in strong liability phenomena for your business.

There are several choices people make that can hurt your business:

1. Lack of sleep and rest - When people have stayed awake for too long or get inadequate sleep for a period of time, they are not at their physical or mental best. In fact, they might even be classified as impaired. Think of times when you perhaps drove to a certain place and then did not remember the trip. Researches claim that you don't remember because you were actually asleep while driving. That is scary. Well, many employees are so tired at work that they are unable to focus, think or problem-solve as well as when they are rested. They might also experience low or irritated mood. All of these things could have a negative effect on your business as both productivity and customer service will suffer.
2. Involvement in high-risk activities - When individuals participate in sky diving, hand gliding or other similar activities they risk harming their bodies. Skiers may break a leg. Football or hockey players may experience concussions. Even joggers can suffer from pulled ligaments. This is not to say that exercise should not be part of a person's life, but if an individual does not respect proper training and safety procedures, you, as business owner, may be facing a situation where you will be providing medical leave that might not have been necessary.
3. Addictions - It doesn't matter whether it is alcohol, drugs, gambling or sexual addictions, your employee will not be able to give the job full attention and expertise once the chronic stage is reached. As the addiction takes over, the excellent employee disappears. You will likely be supportive of a rehabilitation program but still lose the promise that you had when you hired this individual. You will also likely be confused about whether to rehire or wait to see if the employee will return and be able to do the job in the future.
4. Poor eating patterns - People who do make good food choices cannot function physically or mentally as well as if they had a nutritious and balanced diet. It is not just what you eat that is important but how much and how often you eat that make the difference between good and poor health.

Your business can be hurt if you or your employees do not practice self-care. Being too tired, incurring injuries from high-risk activities, developing addictions or having poor eating patterns are all distractions that interfere with a person's ability to reach potential.

As a business owner, it is very important that you not only practice good self-care but also encourage any staff members to do the same. That way all of you and your business will be protected from harm.