Gifts to give yourself

It’s that most wonderful time of the year again when we give gifts and make people happy, which is lovely and can make us feel warm and fuzzy with generosity.

However, as busy business owners, it is easy to forget yourself. We are so busy buying presents for family members and thinking of special offers or promotional gifts for our clients that we forget the most important rule every businessperson should adhere to: look after yourself first.

This rule goes for busy mums, dads and carers too and so for a change, I would like to give you five ideas for gifts to give yourself for life and not just for Christmas.

1. Time

Block out time for yourself. Whether that is ten minutes in the morning to meditate, 15 minutes for a cup of tea where your phone is set to silent or one day a week to work on the business rather than in it, it’s important you allocate time to yourself and your business.

While time is free, it can cost you extra energy if you don’t use it wisely. Having time for yourself is extremely important. If you feel that time is a luxury and that there are just not enough hours in the day, then have a look at my Time Management Guide for tips on how you can get more achieved in less time.

2. Learning

This is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself any time of the year. Learning something new really helps your brain stay active and makes you more creative; this in turn will make you more likely to think of ways to make your business grow and become more successful.

It will benefit you, your business and maybe even your family too. It will help you stay fresh and creative and stop you feeling stagnant.

It really doesn’t matter what you learn either as in the end everything you know will help you in the years to come. Your new skills might not speed up a job in the present but the more you practise, future jobs will become easier and quicker.

Read my earlier blog post Keep on Learning for more tips and information on this. 

3. Relationships

Investing time in relationships is vital, whether they are business or personal. Join your family on a day out, go for drinks with your friends, call that colleague who has been looking glum at their desk. It won’t just make them smile, it will make you feel good too.

It might even prove beneficial in other ways too: taking your best clients to lunch, for example, will show them you appreciate them, and it could also lead to future referrals. 

Giving leads to others giving back and having good relationships with suppliers and clients or family and friends is important in any walk of life. If you have been there for others, they will be there for you when you need them.

4. Relaxation

It is very easy to be busy and running around all the time when there is a lot to do. However, the gift of relaxation is vital, and just as important as exercise.

Whether relaxation for you is a day at the spa, an afternoon reading, a morning baking, a week walking or two hours at the cinema, moments of peace are vital and you need to book them in. You simply cannot wait for that miracle time when you eventually have free time because that will never happen. Moments of peace need to be planned. So put something in your diary, or you will let them slip by.

Because it’s so important, I have written various posts about this. If you find this particularly difficult, why not read them too?

Take a break
Stress Management
How to improve your work-life balance

5. Reward

Give yourself a reward for a job well done, whether that job was big, small, specific, an unexpected achievement or a culmination of successes. The reward itself might be big or small. It does not matter. It will highlight that you have done well, and it will make you feel you deserve success. It could also act as an incentive to keep achieving in both your business and personal life. 

All in all, getting used to rewarding yourself is a good habit. Never think that giving yourself gifts is selfish. More importantly, do not wait for people to give you gifts either. You need to make it happen and take control.

Stop imagining what it will be like to have these presents and instead wrap them up for yourself.