Creating a business from scratch is a labor of passion, perseverance and love, with all of the good and bad that goes with it. Anyone who has started a business knows the feeling of putting your heart into something. But what we busy entrepreneurs sometimes forget is that taking care of your own heart is essential to your business’ success.

This morning’s Wall Street Journal contained “The Guide to Beating a Heart Attack.” In addition to some scary statistics (almost a million Americans will suffer a heart attack this year), the survival guide offers advice for minimizing your risk of heart disease, and solutions for how to handle an emergency.  As I was reading through the strategies for my risk, there was a sense in the back of my mind that this is something I don’t really need to worry about. At 32, I’m on the brink of the age of happiness, and have always considered myself a healthy person. There was a definite “this-doesn’t-apply-to-me” feeling running through my brain, and I read on as though I were perusing a feature on gardening tips.

As I finished the article, and my last bite of butter and syrup soaked pancakes, I looked over the section headings again. And I realized that as healthy as I thought I was, I had sacrificed almost every single key to prevention since starting a business.

The article advises consistent exercise – as little as ten minutes a day to make a difference. The slow strolls my daughter and I have been taking probably didn’t do me much good. And while, at ten months old, she certainly keeps me moving, I haven’t bothered to make time to regularly exercise. And even though yes, I’m busy, I can afford ten minutes. If you can’t – you need to eliminate something.

Other tips included maintaining  positive emotional levels, eating right, including lots of fresh vegetables, and getting a good night’s sleep. Nothing terribly surprising there, but consider, as a working mother, your levels in these three areas. If you’re like me, you probably fall a little short.

Since leaving my job and starting a work-from-home business, I am certainly happier. I get to spend a lot of time with my daughter, which was one of my goals. However, I often lie awake at night stressing about when I’m going to get everything done. Combine that with the fact that having a child under one pretty much guarantees me being up at least three times a night, and two of those risk factors – stress and a lack of sleep – are rising.

Ironically, when it comes to food, I’m a champion at making sure my daughter eats well. She loves vegetables, fruit, yogurt, and gobbles them up when I feed her. Me? I eat whatever I can get in my mouth quickly, so I don’t waste time preparing food when I could be working.

So it finally it hit me – prevention does apply to me. In putting my heart into being an entrepreneur mother, I’ve put my health – and my beating heart – on the back burner. In essence, I’ve defeated the purpose of starting my own business.

Making small changes is pretty easy. When I make my daughter steamed carrots, I’ll save some for myself. After we take our short lazy strolls, I'll power walk for the next ten or twenty minutes. And instead of lying awake at night stressing about when I’ll get my deadlines met, I’ll make my lists for the next day before I go to bed, and if necessary, get some work done too.

Take a moment to see where your habits put you on the path to prevention. And if you need to make changes, now is the time. Your heart – and the many people who benefit from it – will thank you.