Recently, I led a career coaching workshop for four incredibly accomplished women at Harvard. They were worried about finding careers and making their way in work and life as they headed towards graduation. Specifically, they wanted to be able to “make money without selling out.” And they’re not the only ones saying this—I hear this more than ever today in an environment that praises do-gooder creatives and laments bureaucrats and bankers.

Want to make money without selling out? Here are the steps to make it happen:

1. Recognize your own true value. The first step is to understand your own self-worth. What makes YOU valuable? This runs counter to what we’ve been taught — asking ourselves how we can be valuable to others and serve others’ needs. Instead, answer the question: how can you serve your purpose in the world? Everything is about creating value for people, and the first step is recognizing your own value and your own willingness to be heard and watch yourself shine. What does this really look like for you? You have a skill, an area of expertise. You’re not selling out by asking for more or doing more.
2. Stop listening to everyone else. Sometimes, listening to everyone keeps you mediocre. Universities tend to promote a traditional career path because it makes them look good and keeps their alumni database of full-time careers high. They keep students so busy in classes and exams that there is little space to truly discover what they want to do in their life. Think about what makes you so excited that you can barely stand it — then, go DO that.
3. Don’t worry about what others have; start with what you need. Only you declare what you want and what you need. I won’t have extravagant dinner with my banker friends, but I will invite them for to my place for tea instead. Make your own choices on what you need. For financial issues in particular, I use Mint and LearnVest and my own budget to manage my timelines and make sure I’m not compromising my financial needs.
4. Make good use of your energy, not your time. I don’t believe in managing time, I believe in managing energy. Time is a constant. Don’t waste your energy when you can’t afford to. People love free resources, so give when you can and be honest when you can’t. Sometimes, saying “no” is actually part of serving both someone else and yourself.
5. Realize that ”selling out” is a BS term. Remember, only you determine if you’re “selling out” or not; no one else can determine that for you. I believe the better word to use is “serving”—when you are giving your resources to the world in ways that are valuable and supportive to others. Just focus on serving and staying true to who you are!

Erica Dhawan is a globally recognized leadership expert, Gen Y keynote speaker, consultant and researcher at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership. Her work with Gen-Y change agents and future-thinking companies changes the world. Learn more at ericadhawan.com and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

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I started taking boxing training a few months ago through my company, CoachUp. Every Saturday, I meet up with my private coach for an hour-long session, and it’s definitely the highlight of my week.

For those who don’t know, there is nothing as grueling as boxing. Unlike other sports, if you are in the ring, you can’t just put your hands on your knees to catch your breath or call time-out—you have to keep your hands up at all times, constantly moving and throwing punches.

In other words, it’s a lot of work—much like running a startup.

But the similarities between boxing and starting a company go far beyond the obvious. Boxing can teach us novice founders a lot about how to run an early-stage company.  Here are the main takeaways:

1. Don’t overreach (or you might lose your balance). People who start boxing for the first time think that throwing a punch is all about winding up, lunging forward, and extending as far as possible with a lead punch. They punch hard and tire quickly. Experienced boxers know that true power comes from driving “down and in”—standing tall, pivoting their back foot, driving their back knee toward the ground, rotating from the core and turning their arm into a whip that stings their opponent effortlessly, without tiring their arm or over-extending their base (therefore preserving their balance). Similarly, novice startup founders tend to “reach” way too far in several ways, most commonly with trying too many customer acquisition channels, building too much functionality, and trying to raise too much money too early-on—90 percent of which is noncritical (hence why 90 percent of startups fail).
2. Feel out your customer with a few light jabs. The best boxers set up their next punch by transforming the energy and torque expanded in throwing the previous punch into the next punch—i.e., throwing a right torques your body perfectly to pull it back and counter with a left hook. Similarly, if you’re a founder trying to identify who your customer really is, what you want to do is “jab” at them—make a series of small (low-money) bets on a few marketing channels to verify assumptions about whether or not your customer is also there. This is eerily similar to how good boxers throw repeated light jabs to see how their opponent weaves and dodges, in order to feel them out and line up a stronger hook or upper-cut.
3. Conserve energy now so you can adapt quickly later. Novice boxers clench their fists the entire time they are in the ring. The best boxers know that you must keep your fists relaxed and open, not only while moving around the ring (to be relaxed and conserve energy), but also when throwing a punch. Closing your fist just milliseconds before impact generates the most power while conserving the most energy. Similarly, startup founders need to remain open to pivots, alternative truths about customer segmentation, marketing channels, pricing sensitivity, etc. Doing so extends the runway in which the founder can learn, evaluate previous hypotheses, and adapt accordingly.
4. Enjoy the training (and the knockouts) as much as the wins. Good boxers are tough. They put it all on the line, risking health and financial payouts. They train hard, are confident, and don’t underestimate their opponents. They accept regular coaching, listen to the advice, and make it work for their style, improvising on the fly to avoid getting knocked out. When they get beat, they recover quickly and train harder. They enjoy the training process as much as the actual fight. Successful startup founders need to behave the same way.

I could go on and on with other analogies. But take it from me—if you’re a startup founder, learn how to box. It’s a great workout. It will help relieve your stress. And who knows? Maybe it will also teach you a thing or two about how to run your company better.

This post originally appeared on the author’s blog.

Jordan Fliegel is the Founder & CEO of CoachUp.com, the nation’s leading private coaching company. They help athletes achieve their full potential by connecting them with great private coaches, and they back it up with a 100% money-back guarantee. He is also Founder & General Manager of Bridge Boys LLC, an early-stage seed investment fund in Boston.

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After you get your new business Pinterest profile set up, the next challenge is probably the biggest: how to get high-quality followers, so you can start having real conversations and generating word-of-mouth buzz (and traffic) for your company.

Below are seven tips (from my Ultimate Guide to Pinterest) to do exactly that:

1. Show Off Your Brand

People need to know about your company and be exposed to who you are as well as what you offer. Your username should be the same as your company name, and your gravatar should be your business logo.

2. Follow Others on Pinterest

Find some fun Pinterest users that are posting great content, and get your Pinterest party started! Follow influencers sharing great content, as well as those who have similar interests as you, by using the Pinterest search.

Also, don’t forget to follow other companies or professionals that are related to what you do.

3. Interact

This is basic etiquette for Pinterest—it’s just as important to interact with others (by commenting on their pins and repinning their images) as it is to provide your own quality pins and content.

4. Content

Be true to yourself and your brand. Pin and comment on a variety of quality images.

Think of the time you are actively spending on Pinterest as adding more content and exposing your business. Repinning images, making comments and other similar interactions all increase your chance of getting new followers.

There is a line between producing and sharing awesome content and spamming. Interact, have fun and your profile will get seen. It’s as simple as this: If people like what you pin, people will follow you.

5. Practice Consistency

Pin regularly. Just like any other social media network, posting and showing your presence is key to getting more friends or followers.

Tip: Just like any other social media site, DON’T SPEND ALL DAY ON PINTEREST. Spend 10-20 minutes a day on it instead. This way, you are showing your presence and staying active but it isn’t taking away from all of the important things you have to take care of in your business.

6. Sync With Other Social Websites

For maximum exposure, link your accounts and get your name and brand out there all across the Web. Whether you just signed up for Pinterest, or you have an established account, you have the option to sync your Pinterest account with your other social websites.

Right now–by going to “settings” to configure your sync settings–you can turn them off, choose only one account to sync, or do both.

7. Add the Pinterest Profile Link to Your Website

Make it easy for people to pin your images by using a Pinterest follow button on your website. Don’t forget to make sure you have quality images on your site so people will want to repin. You can add the Pinterest follow button to your site by grabbing the embed code here.

Now that you’ve got more followers, you can check out how Pinterest is not only for product-based businesses, learn how to boost your Pinterest SEO and get some tips for proper etiquette on the social networking site.

This post originally appeared on the author’s blog.

Laura Roeder is a social media marketing expert who teaches small businesses how to become known as #1 in their field and claim their brand online. She is the creator of Creating Fame and Your Backstage Pass to Twitter.

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When I say banana, orange, watermelon, lemon, or strawberry, does anything come to mind other than fruit? What if I didn’t first put fruit into your mind and instead simply said the word “Apple?” There’s a good chance you would have instantly thought about computers, tablets and phones brought to you by the consumer electronics company of the same name.

If I asked you to think of someone related to Apple, what would have popped into your mind? Most likely, the late Steve Jobs. And if I asked you to think about a person associated with Microsoft, most likely you would have thought of Bill Gates first, even though he’s not been active in day-to-day operations for more than four years!

Now, think of a local small business you frequently visit. Who pops into your head when you hear their business name? Even if you don’t remember a name, there’s a good chance a face of an employee you interact with on a regular basis or the owner comes to mind.

Lastly, think of the opposite. How would you feel about those companies if those people were never associated with them?

The above exercises are examples of the power of personal branding in action. When combined with the power of a company’s brand, these two brands create a dynamic duo that support one another. When there’s a powerfully branded individual associated with a company brand, the way we feel about that person translates to the way we feel about the company — and vice versa.

That’s why professional athletes and celebrities are highly sought after as spokespeople. There’s an incentive for both the company and the celebrity to be associated with each others’ brands. For the rest of us, building a personal brand makes you more valuable to the organization you represent — and should you ever leave your current organization, having a strong personal brand is something you can easily take with you to your next organization or startup.

Whether you’re an executive, a startup founder, a customer service representative or a sales professional, having a strong personal brand can help you help your organization deliver better results. Everybody likes to think they are working with a celebrity — and from social media superstars to being an expert in your niche, the chance to be a “celebrity” of sorts is much easier than it was just a decade ago. Here’s how.

4 Steps to Become an Online Celebrity

1. Take control of your online identity. Start by registering your name online. If you can’t snag a dot-com address, think of getting a .me, .net or try using your middle name or nickname. Sign up for the social networking sites that you feel most comfortable with, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn to secure your identity with them. I personally only use Twitter on a regular basis since it works best for my needs. Your results may vary.
2. Identify your area(s) of expertise. Determine what you’re good at. There are probably 1 million other people in the world that would like to know what you know about your area(s) of expertise.
3. Identify your passion(s). Once you know what you’re passionate about, is there overlap between your area(s) of expertise? This is the goldilocks zone, and should be the focus of your online identity. Your other areas of expertise may not be your passion, but can be supplemental to your primary passion area. Having passion about something is going to give you the motivation to keep current with your online identity.
4. Develop a professional online presence. Take your passion and develop an online identity around it, with specific areas of expertise sprinkled throughout. This will help you build credibility, establish yourself as an expert, and allow your passions to shine through so people get to know the true you. The key words here though are “professional online presence.” Too many times, people throw up a shoddy website that they built themselves. This can have the opposite effect! Even if you’re an expert in online marketing or Web design, sometimes it’s best to have a third party help you with this, as there may be areas you could overlook. Abraham Lincoln put it best: “He who represents himself has a fool for a client.”

True celebrities have teams of people working on their brands — so make it look like you do as well. With persistence, time and focus, you too can develop a professional online presence (without having to pay an arm and a leg).

Mark Cenicola is the President and CEO BannerView.com and the author of The Banner Brand: Small Business Success Comes from a BannerBrand, Build it on a Budget.

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Even the most successful people get stuck sometimes, and in these moments, advice makes all the difference. From life to love, business, and health, the insight of others is invaluable.

Consider the case of Andrew Lee, a young entrepreneur who sold his startup, JamLegend, to Zynga in April 2011. When facing new business ventures, his team of mentors helped him persevere, as he explained in a recent interview:

“Our investors had great industry experience. It’s not often that you find people who understand what you’re going through,” Lee said. “They were instrumental when we were acquired. They helped us understand negotiations and how to do the negotiations right. They had been through more of this than I ever had.”

Advice is an asset that we must actively pursue, but what’s the best way to reach out to a casual acquaintance or complete stranger? The reality is that most people are terrible at asking questions. It takes an approach that is both a science and art. Ask the right questions, and communicate what you need—here’s how:

1. Keep it streamlined.

Mark Suster is a venture capitalist who focuses on early-stage startups. In addition to his position as Partner at GRP Partners, the largest VC firm in Southern California, he’s an angel investor, business school board member, and founder at a mentorship program to help young startups get funded. Long story short: he has a lot going on, but he likes to help people.

Entrepreneurs ask him for advice all the time, and he’s noticed one common mistake:

“In today’s era, we’re all asked for help, favors or introductions all the time. Most of us want to help. But many well intentioned entrepreneurs are sloppy about how they ask,” he said.

When asking for advice, you need to assume that your contacts – while wanting to help—are super busy. You want to provide them the resources to process information as quickly as possible. Suster recommends keeping messages short and focused. If you need to send additional information, include an index or PowerPoint deck.

2. Think “Question” instead of “questions.”

When entrepreneur/blogger Leo Widrich began building his projects, he found himself needing advice. Reflecting on his past experiences of reaching out to others, he explains his key mistake—a lack of clarity.

“I used to pour out my life story to everyone I thought might be able to help me with a little bit of advice. Dozens of sentences involving what I am doing, no clarity at all, and no question at the end, apart from a vague ‘What are your thoughts?’” Widrich said.

Then, Widrich received a response that transformed his approach: “Can you send 1 short specific question?” from Noah Kagan of Appsumo.

To advice-seekers, Widrich recommends sending four sentences at most. The first two or three should be words of honest appreciation. The last sentence should be a focused question.

Beyond the benefit of presenting yourself well, you’ll be forcing yourself to think about your problem with more structure.

3. Leverage social media.

Social media bridges communication gaps.

One example, HealthTap, is a social platform where doctors give patients advice for free. Another example is Q&A engine Quora, which attracts business leaders and educators.

Consider the experience of Nikila Srinivasan, a recent grad who was curious about a career in product management. By following the product management topic on Quora, she connected with Jeff Eddings, a product manager at StumbleUpon. Now, Nikila reports to him as an associate product manager.

“Thankfully, my now-boss, then-Quora connection Jeff Eddings turned out to be very approachable and willing to answer a million questions from an eager wannabe product manager,” Srinivasan said.

4. Pay it forward.

Make an effort to give as much as you get. Find a way to help the person who is helping you, and try to make yourself available to others. Keep the ecosystem balanced.

This post originally appeared on the author’s blog.

Canadian Dan Martell is CEO/Founder of Clarity.fm, Co-Founder of Flowtown (Acquired ’11), Founder of Spheric Tech (Acquired ’08), Mentor @ 500Startup. Investor in many.

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As women, we face unique challenges as leaders, whether we work in the corporate world or as business owners. There seems to be a large chasm between female leaders who too easily sacrifice authority, and iron-fisted women who never budge once their minds are made up.

Unfortunately, neither approach is effective in a long-term leadership position.

There are many aspects of leadership, but the core question is this: as strong and capable women, how can we lead without being labeled bossy, b*tchy, or worse?

Authenticity Matters

It’s easy to play the game and pander to what others expect us to be in the workplace. However, when strong leadership becomes synonymous with negative labels like “controlling” and “demanding,” the female leader has not only lost her power, but often her respect as well.

Early in my career, I observed a much younger manager effectively lead her older subordinates during a conflict. In trying to meet a shipping deadline, it was all hands on deck, but one team member was questioning every decision. This young manager very kindly but firmly stated, “I am happy to discuss the reasons why with you later, but at this moment we need your help without question to get this out the door.” I was both impressed by the balanced approach and intrigued by how her leadership style struck the balance between confident, executive and collaborative leader.

I turned to Professional Mentor and Career Acceleration Coach at Illustra Consulting Sarah Hathorn for advice about women who want to lead without losing themselves in the process.

“Women who by lead by mimicking men reveal a lack of professional identity,” said Hathorn. “Professional confidence is not gender-based; it’s all about authenticity and developing the qualities that resonate with who you are.” To find their own authentic style, leaders need realistic assessments — ones that highlight where they need to develop a more professional presence.

If you’re struggling to find your authentic style, follow these three steps:

1. First, look to leaders you admire. Observe their traits, how they interact within a team and work under pressure. It may be worthwhile to pursue mentorship so you can work together with your leadership development in mind.
2. Second, stop putting yourself first. Leadership is an exercise in service, and as John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” It’s a tricky balance because as a figure of authority, you must often be the deciding voice on things. Instead of focusing on your authority, Hathorn recommends starting from a place of service. For women who “lead as a coach by giving support, training, encouragement, mentorship and resources, employees will become loyal followers whom you can lead to victory.” Service involves putting your own advancement and ego aside to focus on the needs of the team and business.
3. Third, find and refine the balance between personal and professional. Hathorn recommends getting to know your team, but setting clear boundaries and expectations. “When you’re working, it’s important to perform to get results; after work, time is for relaxation and personal relationships.” Professional behavior and authenticity have to go hand in hand — while you may be open about your personal life or struggles with friends, the same sharing can negatively impact your leadership at the office. Oftentimes a casual and collaborative leadership approach, which women gravitate towards, can easily be sabotaged by overly personal behavior or even things like apparel.

Embodying your authentic leadership style is a process, but it sends a powerful statement and commands respect. In the end, it’s not about conformity or mimicry, but looking within yourself to find the style that resonates with you — and wearing it, inside and out, with confidence.

Besides, being labeled “bossy” is still better than being “fake.”

Kelly Azevedo is the founder of She’s Got Systems, a custom coaching program that leads clients to get support, documenting and dominating in their fields. She has worked in startup, successful six-figure and million-dollar online businesses, helping owners create the systems to serve their needs.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

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When I decided to leave my job as a receptionist, I was exhausted and burnt out from making my job a number-one priority — and to top it off, I could barely pay my bills. I loved what I did, but I didn’t care for the people in charge who showed no appreciation and no passion. I felt I had enough experience and fresh ideas to start my own company and work for myself.

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My Content Management What?

“In general, a website should be user-friendly for its owner(s). I meet a lot of entrepreneurs who over-think and overspend on their website when a common CMS [content management system] like WordPress or Drupal would’ve work just fine.”
– Derek Shanahan | Co-Founder, Foodtree

User-Friendly Interface

“In their attempts to add on all the bells and whistles, business owners can lose site of a good user experience. Simple navigation, uncluttered design, and quick load time are key.”
– Steph Auteri | career coach, writer, and editor, Word Nerd Pro

Style Through Simplicity

“Consumer A.D.D. is only getting worse. Web development teams must not only know how to create through programming, but they must also be passionate about consumer behavior. More is not better. Developers should aim to marry style and simplicity to avoid stirring feelings of overwhelm or distraction.”
– Kent Healy | Founder and CEO, The Uncommon Life

Where’s the Accountability?

“Without tight accountability to deadlines and deliverables, the business owner may end up with a site and design that does not meet expectations. It’s best to document each deliverable, whether web page or graphics, with as much detail as possible so each side has a point of reference. Then the owner can hold their team accountable and avoid ‘he said, she said’ debates.”
- Kelly Azevedo | Founder, She’s Got Systems

Mobile Compatibility

“You need to ensure your website looks good on the iPhone, iPad, Android phones, etc. Mobile web usage is growing at a massive rate, and it’s important that your business website is accessible and easy to use on handheld devices.”
–Matt Mickiewicz | Co-Founder, Flippa and 99designs

Follow the Blueprint

“If the developers provide a comprehensive blueprint, it will help to keep them on track and will leave them accountable if tasks take significantly longer than estimated.”
– Josh Weiss | Founder and President, Bluegala

Here’s an Example

“New website builds go well when there’s smooth communication with technology and design teams. Often, the jargon, design or tech development can differ greatly from how a businessperson would describe something, so make sure there are no errors by reviewing examples. Adding a feature or design element? See how the feature or elements work on existing, comparable sites first.”
– Doreen Bloch | CEO / Founder, Poshly Inc.

Critical Response

“The team should have an understanding of how the site will achieve its most critical response. A good aesthetic is important, but it means nothing if it’s not directly tied to how a lead will be captured, what happens to that lead and, ultimately, how a sale is made (ideally automatically without direct team involvement). This allows you to scale your marketing and customer acquisition method.”
– Yanik Silver | Chaos Catalyst, Maverick1000.com

Social Is Necessary

“Every website these days should have a social aspect to it, whether it’s simply adding a Facebook Like box or integrating a gameification platform. It’s important to stay up to date with the latest social plugins that can be added to your site.”
– Ben Lang | Founder, EpicLaunch

Rapid Iteration

“The design/development organization should be structured in a way that encourages rapid development and deploying of the site. Etsy is a great example of this culture. They make small, frequent changes to the live site on a daily basis and have open-sourced their methods for other developers to use.”
– Jennifer Vargas | Founder, Accompl.sh

Ownership of All Assets

“As you concern yourself with the look and feel of the website, you might overlook some of the legal aspects involved. For example, if you don’t specify outright that any logos or creative designs made are completely yours in an initial agreement, you could end up in a legal battle over which party actually owns the materials on your website.”
– Logan Lenz | Founder / President, Endagon

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A recent study by Deloitte’s Shift Index shows that over 80 percent of the world doesn’t like the work they do.

This is a tragedy.

I’ve spent the last eight or so years on a quest to find out what sets those 20 percent, the seemingly lucky few, from the rest of the world who lead these lives of quiet desperation.

After interacting with over 11,000 people in 158 countries, I realized there are three practices that every person doing passionate world-changing work has in common. Without them we’re left in the 80 percent. But with them, anything’s possible.

Last month I gave a TEDx talk at the de Young Museum in San Francisco on How to Find & Do Work You Love. I covered the full origin of this three-step Passionate Work Framework, and how to fully integrate it into your world. You can watch the full talk below, or read on for a summary of the three steps that can change everything:

1. Knowing Yourself and Self-Experimentation

You must know who you are, what you’re good at, what values you hold highest, what you enjoy doing and what you absolutely hate. This comes from massive introspection (journaling, reading, self-guided education, asking the right questions) and constant experimentation. This is not something you learn in a book. You extract it from your life experiences. The more experiences the better. When it doubt, keep learning and experimenting.

2. Doing the Impossible

Most people don’t believe it’s possible to have a passionate career. In fact, society trains us that a lot of unbelievably fulfilling things can’t be done. So we have to brainwash ourselves otherwise. Because when we do things we didn’t think we could do, it puts our thinking on a whole new level. The best place I’ve found to start is with your physical body — with exercise and nutrition.

One, because it’s totally in your control. No matter what happens in a day, you can always decide to get out on that run or choose that salad over the fries — no one can take that from you.

And two, because overcoming our own perceived physical impossibilities gives us confidence that is directly transferrable to the rest of our life — be it business, relationships or whatever. If you got yourself to lose 50 pounds in six months, then who’s to say you couldn’t double your business’s sales next year?

Showing yourself you can do things you used to write off as impossible, has a confidence-compounding effect on our life like no other.

We can be more of who we are when we put ourselves first. We must train ourselves that most limits are mental. We do that by turning them into milestones. Whether it’s finishing that first mile, writing that first chapter or making that first call – we must stack up proof that we can do what we used to tell ourselves we couldn’t. Then limits disappear.

3. Surrounding Yourself With Passionate People

The fastest way to do the impossible is to start hanging around people already doing it. Simple as that. The people around you change everything. There is no bigger life hack. That is why creating genuine connections is such a huge part of our message.

I swear if there were only one single piece of advice I could give to someone looking to find and do work they love, it would be to find new friends. The fastest way to change your results is to change your environment. That’s it. The people next to you have a much bigger impact than most realize. If you’re not inspired by them, then do something about it.

What Do These 3 Pieces Have in Common?

They are all 100 percent within our control.

We can’t control a recession, getting fired or a getting hit by a bus. But every one of these things are on us. No one can tell us we can’t learn about our self. No one can keep us from pushing our own physical and mental limits. And no one can tell us we can’t hang around inspiring people (or move away from those who bring us down).

What will you decide?

Scott Dinsmore is the founder of Live Your Legend, a coaching and digital product company helping people build a career around work they love. He’s also a Managing Partner at Cumbre Capital, a value investment partnership modeled after the Buffett Partnerships of the 50′s and 60′s. Scott loves a good adventure.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow

Photo courtesy of Flickr

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Learn how these 11 female entrepreneurs — including Levo’s own Caroline Ghosn! (pictured) — manage to find time for themselves among the chaos of a startup.

Carve Out Me Time

“Being a startup founder is an immersed, adsorbent experience. I’ve found that the only viable strategy is to set definite times for myself (e.g. work out, walk my puppy) and treat those appointments with the same punctuality and attentiveness as you would a meeting with your advisors. Really. Don’t flake on yourself—you have one body and you need it to be healthy and happy to succeed.”  — Caroline Ghosn | Co-Founder and CEO, The Levo League

Limit the Caffeine!

“Coffee or energy drinks may seem like the panacea for productivity for startup founders, but it’s not an ideal long-term strategy for health and balance. Doctors agree that while a cup o’ Joe every now and then is fine, too much can lead to anxiety and disrupted sleep—both counter-productive for success as an entrepreneur! Listen to your body: if you need sleep, don’t feel bad about getting it.”  — Doreen Bloch | CEO / Founder, Poshly Inc.

It Pays to Play!

“I have a few fun and creative outlets that help me get out of the stressful business mental space after a long day. I started volunteering for an organization called Playworks that puts volunteers on the playground at elementary schools to help the kids engage in healthy play. I get to play dodgeball, foursquare and tetherball and it is the best release—and the kids love having adults come!”  — Vanessa Van Edwards | Author and Techpreneur, Science of People

Get Physical—Somehow

Necessary Friendships

“We all know how important healthy eating and exercise are, but I believe that spending time with friends is just as important for charging a founder’s batteries. Fun events for entrepreneurs such as Summit Series allow you to kill two birds with one stone—getting some valuable networking time in for your business while goofing off and having fun. ” — Laura Roeder | Founder, LKR

Focus on What’s Important

“Being the founder of a startup takes every ounce of energy and brainpower that one can muster. However, you still need to focus on what’s important. Prioritize your day and make sure to include work time, friend/family time and you time. It’s easier said than done but in doing so, you’ll be much more satisfied thus allowing you to bring even more to your business.” — Erin Blaskie | CEO, BSETC

Maintain a Morning Routine

Bliss Moments

Be Honest with Yourself

“There are going to be days where all you’re going to want to do is work—you’ll want to skip exercise, dinner, hanging out with friends and everything else. You need to decide what the minimum steps you can take to maintain your physical and mental health and make sure you do them every day, no matter what. Minimums will get you through crunch time until you can be a little more balanced.”  — Thursday Bram | Consultant, Hyper Modern Consulting

Regular Exercise and Breaks

Cuddles From a Pet

Image courtesy of Live Healthier

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