This has been a great summer – I have spent over a month at our family cottage at the lake, relaxing and recharging with my family. We went swimming, boating, hiking, and reading  as much as possible.

Many business owners struggle with the concept of taking time off and relaxing until they reach a point of burnout and can’t function. Your energy as a business owner is crucial as it affects everything in your business: your interaction with prospects and clients, your team, and even how high you set your goals.

This week, I gave one of my coaching clients the assignment of taking Friday off for a spa day and planning out some time off for the rest of the year. This isn’t the first time I have done this, although other clients’ assignments were golfing or boating. My client has already doubled her sales this year and just completed a huge and very profitable project so it is a great time to reward herself and recharge.

I usually suggest that you plan for your days off when you do your yearly goal setting and marketing plan. You also need to plan some downtime into each week and day so that you have time to think and be creative. You may be thinking I’m not creative but problem solving and marketing both take creative brain power that you need to allow time and space to concentrate.

Here are some strategies I have used successfully for myself and my clients to avoid entrepreneurial burnout:

1. Take care of yourself physically. The most successful business owners I know – including Tony Robbins and Mark Victor Hansen – all work out daily and eat to fuel their body’s peak performance. Start your day with 20-60 minutes of exercise and a healthy breakfast and you will see a huge difference in your energy level.

2. Plan for peaks and valleys. Like a program on an exercise bike, create time for intense all-out effort and focus and time to coast. When planning your year, allow time to regroup between major launches and projects.

3. Create power rituals to recharge when you don’t have time for a break but need a boost. This could be stretching, listening to your favorite peak state song, a success mantra, looking at your goals, or even just jumping up and down.

Taking these simple steps toward increasing your energy level and avoiding entrepreneurial burnout will make you feel better, help you grow your business faster, and improve your quality of life –so start today!