Operational Harmony: Balancing Business and Mental Well-being – Introduction and SMART Goals

In this introductory episode of Operational Harmony, Nikki, a remote office manager, social media coach, and media editor, addresses the critical issues of business proficiency and mental well-being. Drawing on her own professional experience and personal journey, Nikki introduces us to SMART goals and emphasizes the need to implement them properly for optimum results. She also acknowledges the importance of seeking assistance when feeling overwhelmed, explaining that much of the stress we experience daily can affect our mental well-being. A significant part of the conversation also surrounds the value of a support network and maintaining a work-life balance to avoid professional and personal burnout. Tune in to learn more about optimizing business performance without comprising mental health and peace of mind.

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Welcome to Operational Harmony, balancing business and mental well-being, where we achieve goals without sacrificing peace. This is our introductory episode. I am Nikki, owner and founder of Nikki's Office, where I specialize in providing comprehensive remote office management services and coaching for organic social media growth, leveraging my background and offering management and creative media editing. Confucius said it doesn't matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. We are going to start off today talking about SMART goals. SMART goals stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. It seems these days everyone wants you to do them and talks about how good they are. SMART goals are great if you follow the template, but what is the template and how do you follow it? Most people, when they try setting a SMART goal or any goal, list out every little detail if they do the details, and they say, yes, I'm going to write a book in two years. It's going to be in a fantasy setting and it's going to be the best, except that's as far as they get because they don't go further than that. They don't bring it into daily focus. If you don't bring your goals into daily focus, even if they are a 10-year goal, then you will fall short of what you wish to achieve. If you set your goal for a year, let's use writing a book. We want to say, and write down, I'm going to write 10 or more chapters for a book about I will have this ready to start looking for a book deal by December of next year. I could say this, and I might work on it diligently through the first week or two, or month or two, but then I get busy with life and push it off as it's not due for a long time. Here's how we start. We set the goal, however long we need it out, and we write it down. Then we break it into quarterly goals, monthly goals, and weekly goals. That way you're working on your goals daily, weekly, monthly, and then quarterly to get to your year, to get to however many years it takes to get what you're looking at done. In our case, we're looking at something that is a year and a half out. We want to break it into the first quarter being for research, the second for storyboarding, the third for the first draft and review and editing. The next one is for missing information. You can research missing information and cut back on storylines that didn't go anywhere. Your next quarter is where you work with an editor to get photography, diagrams, and visualizations done because any book is boring without something besides words being in it. February and March of the new year, you're reviewing all the details and finalizing. You're finalizing research on publication and sending out your letters. Congratulations, you reached your goal of writing a book in a year and a half. You want to take your overall goal and break it down into smaller daily, weekly, and monthly goals, allowing us to see your progress at every stage. You want to make sure to review the goals weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly, depending on how long range the overall goal is. Maybe you don't reach your goal, but you see the progress you've made and maybe you're only a month or two from where you hope to be, so you keep working at it. As you're tracking your goals, you will notice if you are getting off where you're not going to be able to meet your goal if you don't beef it up. Or maybe you notice that the goal that you thought would only take you two years is actually going to take you three with all the new information you have. So that would be something to keep in mind. Sometimes you have to move the goalpost just because it's how long it takes. Please note, when I am speaking about mental health, that I am just someone that has lived with these kinds of problems for years and have learned some things and still working on others. I'm not a therapist and I know my limits. If you are in crisis, please reach out to 1-800-273-55 and speak to someone that can help you in your crisis. Now, when you're setting goals, we can sometimes become overwhelmed by how big the big picture is. Learning the signs of stress and what works to de-escalate those feelings will be something you need to work on. It's something that you have to figure out what works for you. Prevention and early detection can lessen the consequences and help you move forward. Enhancing overall well-being, knowing that you are in good standing with yourself will help you have a good standing with others and help with the quality of work you are outputting. Working under distress is not when you bring out the best in yourself, though it can sometimes help in the short term. For instance, short-term stress can be beneficial when you need to meet a tight deadline, as it can heighten your focus and efficiency. However, in the long term, chronic stress can be detrimental to your health and well-being. Imagine you're constantly working at 100% capacity, neglecting your family and personal life. This relentless stress can lead to severe health issues, such as a heart attack, even at a young age. Chronic stress keeps your body in a constant state of alert, which can lead to various health problems over time. Learning to de-stress and de-escalate can be challenging because we naturally resist change, especially when the current situation seems to be working for us. However, in the long run, chronic stress can harm not only your health, but also your relationships, whether it's your spouse, parents, or others. Building resilience and coping skills is crucial. If you can manage stressful situations effectively and still complete your work, you will be much more valuable in your professional space. Techniques such as taking short breaks, practicing mindfulness, and ensuring you have work-life balance can help you manage stress better. While it's not often talked about, entrepreneurs have a high rate of mental health problems. A recent poll by Startup Snapshot mentioned 72%. That's what I want to bring attention to in a way that encourages working on those issues and moving forward. I don't want you or anyone to just say, yeah, the reason I didn't do XYZ is because I'm bipolar and I'm having a bad episode this week. And yes, we will have bad week. We need to be able to work even when we're going through a hard time. We have things to do and our mental health kicking us in the teeth, eventually you have to get used to it. There are days when we can't do all things, but we can do some things. We need to use workarounds so that we can get those some things done so that we have something done. We want to be able to work and get things done even when our ADHD, autism, bipolar, BPD is causing a harder day and we're having difficulty. We need to learn to cope and de-stress and level out and still do the things we need to do even when we aren't at 100%. We are not always mentally healthy and that can be everything from a diagnosed condition to burnout. Burnout is defined as a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. If you find that you have burnout and you're not dealing with it, well, some things you can do are set boundaries, take regular breaks, make sure you have a healthy diet and are getting an exercise. And if you need to seek support, you are not alone. You are not in this alone. This way you can still show up and do your thing, but also are taking care of your mental health. Now I have a couple of things that I believe if we are making sure that we have options open will help with our mental health. We all have our main source of income, whether we are office managers, insurance agents, bookkeepers, or IT support specialists, but is that your only source of income? Are you prepared for emergencies? Are you using smart money strategies to build savings and invest wisely? Consider whether your bank accounts are yielding more than minimum interest or if you're leveraging affiliate programs for additional income. Do you have other revenue streams to rely on if you suddenly cannot perform your primary job? Having a diverse income portfolio is crucial for financial security. If you don't have these financial safeguards in place, it might be time to consult with a financial advisor to develop a comprehensive backup plan. Having multiple income sources can significantly reduce financial stress and provide peace of mind. Now, as an entrepreneur, isolation and long working hours can kill us, literally. So while you may talk with customers and clients online, do you have quality conversation with friends and loved ones? Even though you are alone when working, make sure you're still building up relationships with your friends, your family, and others so that in the long run, you're not alone. You don't have to feel alone because you work alone. For myself, I now have this podcast where I will be interviewing people. So that will give me people to talk to, but I also game. Gaming for a couple of hours a night when you're not obsessing over anything and the chores are done is perfectly healthy and could help you develop friendships that could last for years. I've been in the same guild since 2020 and those guys are some pretty good friends who are there for me when I need them. Managing your workload effectively is crucial for maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Are you delegating tasks? Have you decided you can let go of some things? Are you making enough to hire OVA virtual assistant or an office manager? If not, why? What's holding you back from hiring someone who can help you shorten your hours? Imagine the value of reducing your workday from 20 hours to a more manageable schedule by working with one or two other people. This could ensure you have time for family and friends and maybe another client. Every single one of us is afraid of failure. We are afraid if I do this and nothing comes of it, what will happen? Well, you'll have a bunch of videos of me sitting around on the internet somewhere. Oh well, if it goes well, it goes well. I did something good. If this fails, I know what my goal was and I'm not going to quit. There will be a bunch of videos out there that me and maybe one or two people see, but at least there will be something for people to see if and when they're ready to. You have to learn not to let fear hold you back. Having fear is a natural thing in life. It's letting it hold you back that is the problem. Not having it in the first place, but as soon as you start to let it hold you back, as soon as you fear it, you start to doubt yourself. You start to doubt your decisions. You start to doubt what you know to be true and then you walk away from things. You don't get things done. You become paralyzed. You can't do different things. The easiest way, and I know it's like telling someone to calm down when they're panicking, which is not okay, don't do that, but fear of failure is one of those things that you're never going to get rid of. You're always going to have that fear, but if you take charge of it and if you're like, nope, today is the day I'm getting this done, then you will step forward and do it. You'll see a big difference in your outcomes. I have an example of this. It's an easy one. I used to be in color guard. The fastest way to hit yourself in the face with one of those flagpoles is to fear the flagpole. If you fear it, it's going to hit you in the face 100% of the time, but I know how to do this twirly bit here. Then you're going to do it and you may accidentally hit yourself in the face. It happens sometimes, but more than likely you're going to learn the motions that need to be done to have that flag go where it needs to instead of hitting you in the face. The last thing I want to talk about is a lack of support network. Having a lack of support network can make you feel isolated and overwhelmed as you miss out on encouragement and guidance that friends, family, or colleagues typically provide. Building connections through clubs, professional groups, or online communities can help fulfill this gap and improve your mental and emotional well-being. I am creating a channel on Discord where I aim to create a space where members can connect share interests and support each other in a positive and engaging environment. While I will be actively involved in fostering communications and facilitating discussions, please note that this community is not intended to be therapy or a place to come in crisis. We encourage members to seek professional help for personal or mental health issues. Our focus will be on building a supportive and fun community where everyone feels welcome and valued, while also respecting the boundaries necessary to maintain a healthy, stress-free environment for all. You are not a burden. Reaching out is not being a burden. Please reach out. Final tips and takeaways. I wear many hats from being an office manager and social media coach to editing video and audio. If you need professional assistance in any of these areas, please don't hesitate to reach out. My contact information is in the description below. If you're interested in being a guest on my podcast, there is a link available for you to set up an appointment for us to have a conversation and record an episode. Additionally, there will be a space on Discord where you can suggest future topics, both mental health and business topics. When it comes to setting goals, remember that SMART goals are most effective when you incorporate them into your daily routine and write them down. Many people don't realize that they have mental health issues until they become overwhelming. Stress, a common mental health issue, affects almost everyone. It's important to understand that you don't need to be dealing with the worst possible situation to seek help. Reaching out early can make a significant difference. The reason I'm here today is because of the people who helped me through my own journey. With a couple of differences, this is what I call operational harmony, balancing business and mental well-being. We achieve goals without sacrificing peace. I will be here every other week with new episodes and soon with some special guests. Thank you and have a wonderful day. Reaching out early can make a significant difference. We achieve goals without sacrificing peace. I will be here every other week with new episodes and soon with some special guests. Thank you and have a wonderful day.