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Just Starting Out in Your Career?
Now is the opportune time to start your own business — reap the rewards of independence, including a healthy lifestyle.
If you are a younger adult, the health benefit to consider when weighing the pros and cons of being your own boss, versus heading off to work for someone else, is gained through having more power over your work-life balance. This puts you in a position that should give you the opportunity to keep excess stress at bay. Stress that has been brought on by overwhelming workloads and over-scheduled lives has been found to affect one in five working Canadians — and it is becoming an alarming health issue.
Stress can start the moment the alarm goes off and the race begins to get everyone to school, daycare and work on time. And it doesn't stop there. Once you make it to work, you're met at the door with the expectation that you'll exceed expectations. Co-workers, bosses, clients — they're all keeping you on your toes and perhaps contributing to the grey hairs that you find yourself pulling out due to the insanity of your day. Meanwhile, your body never gets the chance to hit relaxation mode.
Are you exempt from these stressful experiences if you are at the helm of your own business? Certainly not, but at least you are in control and have the freedom to say enough is enough. It's important to understand why achieving this kind of independence is good for your overall health.
How Stress Affects Your Body
At the core of stress lie two hormones, cortisol and adrenalin. Adrenalin increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure and boosts energy supplies. Cortisol increases glucose in the bloodstream and the availability of substances that repair tissues. It also "turns off" non-essential functions in stressful situations:
- immune system responses,
- the digestive system,
- the reproductive system, and
- growth processes.
If your brain is in a constant state of stress, it will begin to secrete these hormones in excess, putting you at risk for a wide range of serious health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, sleep problems, digestive problems, obesity, and cancer. For instance, high levels of cortisol and adrenalin change the way the body stores fat, hence the risk of obesity. They can also increase the production of cholesterol and insulin, which are known to cause heart disease and diabetes.
Take Charge Now!
As your own boss you have the ability to achieve a work-life balance that seems to be very difficult for those who don't have control of their work day. Look at the statistics. A 1999 survey found that the number of Canadians reporting moderate to high levels of stress as a result of trying to balance their work and home lives doubled since 1989. Their stress showed up in health problems and absences. Absentee rates for people who reported very little stress in balancing work and family life were only 3.6 days of work versus 7.2 days of work for those who had a high degree of stress balancing work and family life. That statistic is not getting any better. In 2008, the average number of days lost for personal reasons was 10.0.
It is possible that once you allow stress to take control of your life, the effects may not be reversed. Leading stress researchers have found that people with long-term histories of persistent and relatively small elevations or deficiencies in stress hormone levels may show accelerated progress toward disease.
Running your own business does not come without its own challenges. But when you put your health first, and find that balance in life which you need, you'll be better equipped to face whatever comes your way.
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