Ashley Russell Of Article Fiesta On The Self-Care Routines & Practices Of Busy Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders

All of us know that we have to take breaks in our day to take care of ourselves. “Selfcare is healthcare”, the saying goes. At the same time, we know that when you are a busy leader with enormous responsibility on your shoulders, it’s so easy to prioritize the urgent demands of work over the important requirements of self-care. How do busy entrepreneurs and leaders create space to properly take care of themselves? What are the self-care routines of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders? In this interview series, we are talking to busy and successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, and civic leaders who can discuss their self-care practices and self-care routines. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Ash.

Ash is an entrepreneur who started life in the software industry as a developer some 20 years ago. He has since gone from strength to strength, starting numerous successful companies. His latest product is a tool called Article Fiesta that stands to completely revolutionize how people write content online, using only a keyword and a click of a button.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! It is an honor. Our readers would love to learn more about your personal background. Can you please share with our readers your personal backstory; What has brought you to this point in your life?

Sofor as long as I can remember, I’ve always been into computers. When I was younger, I remember we used to have a Spectrum computer. This used to have to load games from a tape drive. This took AGES.

Since then, the world has moved on. It’s incredible how much reach we have these days. We can communicate with people worldwide, automatically translate into their native language, and jump on a video call with almost no latency to see the weather outside their window.

This has allowed me many opportunities to improve my skills significantly, and these skills have allowed me to start several successful online businesses. Nowadays, I spend most of my time creating tools with machine learning, from helping restaurants predict their future sales to the more exciting things my newest company is doing.

What is your “why” behind what you do? What fuels you?

Ultimately I just hate seeing crap products or people suffering unnecessarily. It’s incredible how much of the world runs on outdated tech. I think where I’ve always been good with computers, I’ve always been in a situation where I have the opportunity to help people and make their lives easier. That and I guess I just hate to see people do a lousy job when I know that I can do better.

How do you define success? Can you please explain what you mean from a personal anecdote?

Success, to me, is all about improvement. I usually achieve this by setting goals, but achievable goals. It’s not getting the million dollars of revenue right out of the gate. It’s getting that first sale. Then the first $100, then the first $1,000, etc. The first time you jumped out of a plane when you were previously scared of heights. It’s all about achievable goals while still pushing yourself forward.

What is the role of a growth mindset in your success? Can you please share 3 mindset mantras that keep you motivated, sane, and propel you forward?

People don’t buy your product for a long list of features; they buy it mainly because it solves the one problem they need — so make sure that one part is incredible.

Focus on one thing at a time, but don’t lose track of the bigger picture.

Don’t take on everything yourself, and trust others to do what they are best skilled at.

You are by all accounts a very successful person. How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I think it’s important to give back. I wouldn’t have gotten to the places I have today without people taking the time to teach me, and I like to teach back. If anything, that pandemic made things hard as it’s more difficult to spot when someone is struggling. I think it’s essential to reach out to people, particularly younger or more inexperienced, and check on how they are doing and if there is anything you can do to help.

Can you share a mistake or failure that you now appreciate and has taught you a valuable lesson?

Ha, this question is more challenging to answer due to the number of mistakes I’ve made or seen others making. To all the future entrepreneurs that read this article, I just want to say don’t be afraid to make mistakes. They will happen, they will happen lots — the most important thing is that you don’t give up and that you recover from them. Too many people give up rather than seek to improve themselves or their business, which is probably the more significant mistake.

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Most clients I have worked with probably hated it at the time, but that’s just being honest and calling things how I see them. I think it’s too common for people to hear the word ‘yes’, especially at the top levels. I used to get into quite a few heated discussions with a particular CTO earlier in my career. But still handled in a professional way, essentially me trying to explain that what he wanted wasn’t the most sensible plan. I’m always conscious of telling someone the correct path forward, not just saying ‘no’ to things. At the time, he didn’t like that someone had the nerve to disagree with him, but then six months later, I got a text out of the blue saying he now worked for a new company and he wanted specifically my help. It was great to hear that he truly valued my opinion as much as we disagreed.

The second trait is understanding the money. Too many businesses I worked for, many employees seemed to think that just showing up to work equaled them getting paid. It’s like a business, just by existing, printed money, and there is no cost to anything. I’m all for going above and beyond for things, but at the same time, you do need to make sure the business gets paid for it.

And finally, constantly be learning. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m a developer, but I’ve always had a million projects on the go for as long as I can remember. Some were designed for public consumption, some for me, and some for my friends. But I’ve always been building something or other. In making that something, I’ve always had to learn new skills to achieve it. It’s the sole reason I now understand every facet of a business, not just one little silo, which gave me a greater appreciation for people’s jobs and why they are essential. This also helps me better understand their motivations and allows me to think of better ways I can help them.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

So this one is probably one that you might panic about Maria, but it’s a tool called Article Fiesta, you can find it at https://articlefiesta.com, and you can use it to generate long-form SEO-friendly articles. Of course, it will never fully replace a human, but it allows content creators to do 90% of their job quickly, and they just need to do some cleanup at the end. It’s super cool, I’m super excited about it, and I’ve had so much fantastic feedback from all my customers. With all the advances in AI right now, I think we’re living in the next ‘industrial age’ kind of revolution, with AI being the key driver. I don’t even think most people appreciate how crazy the field is now. I’d be so scared to train as a doctor or other long-term education prospect!

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview about Self-Care. Let’s start with a basic definition so that we are all on the same page. What does self-care mean to you?

I believe that self-care is essential for entrepreneurs because it helps us to stay focused and motivated. When we care for ourselves, we can put our best foot forward and be more productive. Additionally, self-care can help reduce stress and anxiety, a trait entrepreneurs commonly share.

As a successful leader with an intense schedule, what do you do to prioritize self-care, and carve out regular time to make self-care part of your routine?

Sometimes, well, a lot of times, I can get hyper-focused on the work I’m doing. I sometimes get so excited about how it will change the way the industry works that I just forget everything else exists and lose all track of time. To counteract this, I have set up my study lights to turn off at 10 pm automatically. I usually turn them straight back on, but it at least reminds me it’s getting late. I also set empty calendar items to prevent me from booking too many back-to-back meetings.

Will you please share with our readers 3 of your daily, or frequent self-care habits?

Take time away from the screen. Sometimes you’ll get so engrossed with a problem, and you can spend hours trying to solve it, only to walk away, forget about it for 2 minutes and solve it immediately. Sometimes it’s good to just take a walk outside for 5 minutes.

Exercise. Seriously! Doing exercise releases all the good chemicals, and it stops the wrong ones building up from sitting over a desk all day. As a bonus tip, you can’t out-train a bad diet, so watch what you eat.

Finally, get the right amount of sleep. This one is so important, and I confess I don’t always follow it, but it does eventually catch up with you, and you are a much better you when you are fully rested.

This is the main question of our interview. Based on your own experiences or research can you please share 5 ways that taking time for self-care will improve our lives?

Taking time for self-care can help reduce stress and anxiety. Too many late nights thinking that you are putting in all the hours under the sun, working on the business, and being productive is counterintuitive. We’ve all done it. Multiple 18-hour days back to back, trying to be a hero. You don’t realize that getting extra sleep would have yielded better results for all that time you spent working.

Better self-care can help improve our mood and overall well-being. Just think how much happier you are when you take the time to do ‘you’ things versus being stuck in an office 24/7. Everyone needs a holiday sometimes, even if it’s only taking a weekend and clearing your mind.

Taking time for self-care can help us to be more productive and efficient in our work and other activities. Whilst it’s good to focus on one thing at a time, you do still need to have a break. Do you know how watching the screen for too long hurts your eyes? Your body is trying to tell you something. Take a break and come back to it later. Most of the time, no matter how extreme the feelings of impending doom might be, it will still be safe and sound next week. The world won’t end, and you’ll feel much better.

Self-care allows us to build stronger and more supportive relationships with others. If there’s one thing that the pandemic taught us, it’s that being isolated from the world can get lonely and depressing. Thankfully we at least have video conferences these days, but still, there is no substitute for actual physical interaction. Take the time to talk to your loved ones, and say hi to your friends. All too many entrepreneurs focus solely on the business at the expense of all else. Hell, I know I’ve done it. But you only get one life, and I wouldn’t say spend all the day mucking about, but sometimes you need to.

Taking care of ourselves allows us to watch out for our physical health. There would be nothing worse than having a million-dollar company and only 2 days to live. I’m sure that CEO would trade it all in for another 50 years of life. Don’t neglect your physical health. It’s something you can never get back.

Sometimes we learn a great deal from the opposite, from a contrast. Can you please share a few ways that NOT taking time for self-care can harm our lives?

Not taking time for self-care can lead to burnout. It can lead to poor physical or mental health. It can also really cause problems with your relationships. No one loves a snappy person.

What would you tell someone who says they do not have time or finances to support a regular wellness routine?

Take 30 seconds to check your average screen time on your phone. If it’s more than 5 minutes, you can carve out 5 minutes from your day to just sit, turn yourself off from the world and meditate. If it’s more than an hour, that’s a gym session. Better still, you could be listening to a podcast and learning a new skill to help you buy some more free time while doing it. People often underestimate how much time they waste.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)

Brad Hoover — The CEO of Grammarly. His tool does some incredible things, and I’d love to have a conversation with him. I think we could have fantastic collaboration potential.

What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?

I would love it if your readers could take the time to check out https://ArticleFiesta.com — but failing that, they can always find us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/article-fiesta/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.

About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher, and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness, and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at [email protected]. To schedule a free consultation, click here.

Source : https://medium.com/authority-magazine/ashley-russell-of-article-fiesta-on-the-self-care-routines-practices-of-busy-entrepreneurs-and-b38535d514ca