Inspirational and Empowering Child Care Business Owners To Build Successful Child Care Businesses

Posts tagged ‘stress management’

How to Be a More Energized Child Care Business Owner

energized

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There is one thing that I know for sure and that is….IT TAKES A TON OF ENERGY TO OWN A CHILD CARE BUSINESS!

The first time that I discovered how emotionally draining the business could be was in 1999. I was changing a babies diaper and while she was crying, I felt like crying too. I was new to the business and did not realize how much energy it took to care for children.

Thank God…today I have discovered how to be more energized, so that I am emotionally able to handle what comes with the business. In fact, I must say it has taken me 14 years to discover how to be more energized and my hope is that it will not take you that long.

Are you drained at the end of your day? Do you find that you just do not have the energy anymore to handle issues with parents, staff or even deal with fluctuating enrollment?

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, I want to share with you 4 ways to be a more energized Child Care Business Owner.

1. Focus

If your focus is on too many things at one time, this will drain you mentally. Try to focus on one thing at a time and refrain from multi- tasking. A focused mind is an energized mind.

2. Drink Plenty of Water

Water energizes the body! According to Live Strong.com, ” Have a glass of water early in the morning, as soon as possible after you wake up. Spend a few minutes meditating or doing breathing exercises as you sip your water. This will help you clear your mind and energize you for the rest of the day. Do the same before you’re going to bed as a ritual to clear your mind and body of the tensions of the day.”

3. Don’t Let small issues Steal Your Energy
When you intensely focus on an issue for a long period of time, it has the ability to steal your energy. For example, a parent may decide to withdraw a child from your program without giving a notice. If you get upset, you have given that situation too much energy. Simply, stop, focus, call the parent and figure out how you can solve this problem with out getting upset.
4. Think Positive
Positive thoughts + positive energy and feelings. I am reading a book called: The Power of positive thoughts by Normal Peale. In  the book, there is a chapter titled: How to have constant energy and I want to share an excerpt from that chapter of the book:
  ” How we think we feel has a definite effect on how we actually feel physically. If your mind tells you that you are tired, the body mechanism, the nerves and the muscles accept the fact. If your mind is intensely interested, you can keep on at an activity indefinitely.” ~Norman Peale
In summary, think energized thoughts, relax more, practice being centered, enjoy each day in your business, pay attention to your emotions and strive to be more positive!
I hope that I have empowered you to Be an Energized Child Care Business Owner!  I look forward to reading your thoughts about this blog post.
Shiketa
Resources You May Love

Category:

Business Management, Child Care Center, Family Child Care, Self Care/Personal Development, Stress management

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Your Staff Members Are Not “Perfect”

One the most challenging things that I have ever done was  to supervise employees. In fact, to get away from supervising staff (in the past), I have even hired an Assistant Director to directly work with my staff.

However, I must say that as a Center Owner, I can never really get away from supervising my staff, because they look forward to my feedback.

I  motivated to write this blog post, because several days before writing this post; I found myself questioning  my staff supervision abilities. In fact,  As I ended my business day; I asked myself the following questions:

  • Am I really getting what I want from my employees?
  • Do they really know what I expect?
  • Am I assertive enough?
  • Am I too assertive?
  • Am I being too controlling?
  • Am I being too flexible with my staff?

Furthermore, after asking myself all of the questions above and some questions that I did not mention; I realized that I was being too hard on myself and the staff.

After reflecting on how I deal with my staff and having a long talk with a colleague, I discovered that I was so frustrated because of the following reasons:

  1. I am a Leader not a supervisor. Leaders empower and inspire and supervisors manage people. Moreover, managing people is impossible and that is why it is frustrating for me and many other Child Care Business Owners sometimes.
  2. I was looking for perfection and not progress.
  3. I was too focused on “me” and not how I can empower my staff to do an excellent job
  4. My attitude was wrong!

I hope that my experience has inspired you to not stress over minor staff issues, but seek to empower your staff to do their best and strive to show progress or even exceed your expectations.

Please, know that I am not suggesting that you tolerate a lack of performance, but I do want to encourage you to keep things in perspective and approach every situation with an attitude of gratitude.

Moreover, I have decided to look for progress not, perfection. Also, I must say that I have a great team; my staff members are positive, they come to work everyday (on-time), they respect me as a leader and they love working with the children.

In summary, I want to share with you, 3- tips that a mentor shared with me in my early days of managing employees and they are as follows:

  • Choose your battles wisely
  • Let it Go!
  • You can’t control the actions of others

With Your Child Care Business in mind,

Shiketa

Resources That Will Empower You to Be an Effective Leader

3 Books that every leader must read

The 21- Day Master Mind eClub

Director’s Handbook

Category:

Administration, Business Management, Employee Management, Staffing

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