My client Wendy came to our last launch meeting completely deflated.  She was in the middle of her very first launch and she was overwhelmed with feelings of insecurity, imposter syndrome, and stress.  All very normal when you are constantly faced with a bunch of “first times”.  First time launching.  First time to present her brand new offer to the world.  First time doing a webinar.  First time growing her email list.  It can be a lot.  So, while the launch itself can be well planned and executed, what’s missing for many clients is a self-care launch checklist.

This self-care launch checklist can be exactly what is needed to help you get through a launch with as little stress as possible.  While no launch is devoid of some amount of overwhelm and anxiety, if you can implement these ideas, you will greatly improve your launch experience.  Regardless if it’s your first time or 20th time to launch, you and your team can all use a little self-care during this exciting and unpredictable time.

Give Yourself Plenty of Time to Launch

Oftentimes, clients don’t realize exactly how long it takes to pull off a launch from beginning to end.  And I can tell you from experience that it is often greatly underestimated.  When a client comes to me and wants to launch in two months, my first thought is “that’s insanity”.  While you might be able to pull that off if you have a lot of assets already in place, nine times out of 10, it will create a very stressful event for you and your team.  Give yourself at least four months to plan and execute your launch so you are not working crazy hours and setting yourself up for burnout.  Create space to breathe during your launch by properly planning plenty of time in advance.

Add Mindset Tricks to Your Self-Care Launch Checklist

As you know, much of our stress and overwhelm comes from our own minds.  If we can manage our mindset during a launch, we are many steps ahead of the game.  Here are some of my favorite mindset hacks you can use during a launch:

• Your feelings are normal.  Take a moment to feel them and then let them go.
• A launch is a learning playground.  Every experience and outcome is an opportunity to learn.
• Don’t compare yourself to other business owners and their launch.  Focus inward and trust your inner knowing.
• Take one day at a time.  Each day is a new day to start fresh.  Don’t let one stressful day determine the next day.
• You are not expected to launch alone.  It’s okay to ask for help.
• This launch does not determine your worth.  You are so much more than that.
• There is no such thing as perfection.  Mistakes will happen and it’s perfectly okay.

Start Your Day with a Grounding Routine

Your emotional and mental well-being depends on staying grounded.  Ask yourself what keeps you grounded.  Is it prayer or meditation?  Taking a walk in nature?  Enjoying a morning cup of coffee with zero distractions?  Don’t immediately jump into your day without some sort of routine that allows you to breathe, relax and get your mind in the right place.  And if throughout the day, you catch yourself feeling ungrounded, stop.  Take a few minutes to reground yourself before carrying on.

Add an Element of Fun to Your Self-Care Launch Checklist

Whatever you do, make sure to have fun.  Laugh.  Play.  Sing.  Dance.  It’s all good stuff to raise your vibration and increase your “feel good” hormones.  Put on your favorite music if you’re feeling down.  Surround yourself with team members and family members that make you laugh.  My spouse always manages to add an element of humor to any situation.  I catch myself laughing and shifting my thoughts.  If you have kids, take a play break.  Get lost in the imagination of a child’s mind.  You will realize that life is really not that serious.

Prepare Healthy Meals in Advance

It goes without saying that you need to keep your body refueled with healthy food during a launch.  However, it is far too easy to get caught up in work and completely forget to eat or worse, grab unhealthy food to keep you going.  If you can plan some healthy meals in advance and make sure you have all the ingredients on hand, it is much easier to stick to a healthy eating routine.  Meal prepping is a great way to make eating simpler.  During the work week, my son makes a bunch of grilled chicken, healthy vegetables, cauliflower fried rice, or quinoa.  At lunchtime, he just pulls out his food and loads up on a high energy meal.  Think about breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and plan for these meals in advance.

Make Sure Your Self-Care Launch Checklist Includes Physical Exercise

A launch is a busy time so be sure to schedule regular exercise into your daily routine.  Pay attention to how you are feeling at any given moment.  If you are feeling low energy, do something high energy to get your blood pumping.  If you are stressed and having a hard time unwinding, then it would be better to take a leisurely walk or do some yoga to relax your mind.  Sometimes confidence issues come up during a launch – try lifting weights to increase your strength and make you feel strong and confident. If you don’t put physical exercise on your calendar, chances are you will skip it.  So block off the time and honor this sacred time for you.

Lean on Family, Your Team, and a Biz Bestie for Support

Launching is not the time to be the lone ranger.  You need as much support as you can possibly gather.  And you definitely should not feel any guilt about needing help.  Put an expert team in place to help you with all the things you don’t enjoy or know how to do.  Stay connected to them but let them do their job.  Let your family know that during this time period, you will be busier than normal and you need all hands on deck for support.  Enlist anyone in your family that has willing and able hands – spouse, kids, mom, dad, siblings, dog (okay maybe not the dog).  Anything they can help with is a weight off your mind.  And last, find a biz bestie that you can call on when times get tough, preferably someone who has been through a launch and can talk you off the ledge.  Ask them if they can be on standby for you during your launch period.

Practice Gratitude for Yourself and Your Support Team

Gratitude is the attitude to adopt for your launch.  It is one of the best mindsets to have to keep you and everyone else on your team positive.  Saying thank you and expressing your appreciation goes a long way when individuals are feeling busy and stressed.  Pause often to recognize a job well done.  Just recently, my website designer has been working hard to launch my new website makeover.  When she starts showing signs of stress and overwhelm, I stop and tell her the pages she is designing are amazing.  It shifts her energy and gives her the confidence to keep moving forward.  And don’t forget to thank your friends and family.  Sometimes we take these awesome people for granted, but they deserve gratitude as well.

Plan a Post-Launch Celebratory Event

Yes, you will get to the end of your launch.  And you will likely be exhausted.  So plan that post launch celebratory event from the very beginning.  Decide what fun activity you, your team, and your family can do to celebrate your hard work and results.  Schedule dinner and drinks for everyone.  Book a weekend getaway for you and your family.  Buy a spa day for everyone to indulge in some much needed self-care.  Do not skip this step.  And most important, give yourself some time off between the end of your launch and the day you begin serving your new clients.  Somewhere between four and seven days is ideal.  That way you are refreshed and ready to provide an amazing experience for your customers.

Having a launch checklist that outlines all the things you need to get done during your launch is crucial.  But don’t forget for one minute how equally important it is to have your self-care launch checklist in place as well.  Happy launching!

Amazing OBM has a full launch team waiting to make your next launch experience amazing.  With copywriting, graphic design, website design, social media management, and launch management, we are your one stop shop to reduce your stress and provide the support you need.  Now that is self-care.