I never planned on becoming an entrepreneur. Now, as I fly through my days juggling the staggering amount of tasks that befall a busy author-speaker-writer-coach-dancer, I can't imagine that I ever thought of being or doing anything else.

Whether you're contemplating being an entrepreneur or are already well on your way, you'll find the entrepreneurial path packed with challenges that require heroic degrees of energy, faith and persistence to get to the other side. With the right tools in hand, you can get there--with your health and the rest of your life intact.

In my book, Live a Life You Love: 7 Steps to a Healthier, Happier, More Passionate You, I share how I transformed myself from a depressed, frustrated medical doctor into a "pinch myself every day" wellness expert who speaks, writes and dances flamenco for international audiences. Here, I'll discuss these seven steps from an entrepreneurial perspective, tips that will take you from the classic entrepreneurial state of overwhelmed to jump-up-and-down-with-joy success on multiple levels of your life.

STEP I: Allow yourself to be you. What talents and passions define you? Are you personally passionate about your business? Does it inspire you and resonate so much with you that you'd be willing to do whatever it takes, with no guarantee of ever getting paid for your efforts?

My life and business life began to flourish when I finally resolved to show up on this planet as the real me. For years I tried to fit the conventional image of success, even insanely trying to become an emergency room doctor (insane because I can't stand the sight of blood, and I panic under pressure), just because it seemed practical.

I became more and more depressed, until I finally cracked under the pressure and was told to take a stress leave. While resting and recovering alone in a tropical resort, I had two epiphanies: 1. Watching a salsa dance team perform one night, I remembered that when I was a little girl I had been obsessed with becoming a dancer; and 2. Writing in my journal, I discovered that I wanted to be a professional writer. Both were shocking realizations for someone who'd avoided all art courses in college because they might kill her perfect GPA.

I realized that, to save my life, I'd have to start honoring the real me. I went home, resigned from my residency, got my license to practice general medicine, signed up for salsa dance lessons and started submitting articles to magazines. In an action step that hinted at my entrepreneurial future, I bought a Writer's Digest handbook called Making Money Freelance Writing. I developed a gold standard vision for my life in which I generate all my income from activities I was born to do and am in love with. I'm not absolutely there yet, but I'm getting close.

By nurturing my unique talents (such as dancing) and following seemingly bizarre impulses, such as moving to Mexico and starting a flamenco dance company, I lived myself into a business model that I didn't even know existed. I never thought I'd publish a book about my life story, or that my dancing would add a unique, highly marketable element to my business as a motivational speaker.

Your unique talents and personality, leveraged and marketed in a creative way, make you and your business stand out and succeed in a crowded market. Don't be afraid to be different--celebrate it, and watch what happens.

STEP II: Learn to love yourself. Surviving and thriving as an entrepreneur require you to be kind to yourself. Support yourself in every way you can. Observe which people give you energy, nurture you and make you laugh, and spend time with them, even just a quick phone call.

Be patient and forgiving with yourself: Allow yourself to make mistakes, and praise yourself for taking actions and risks in business. Learn from your mistakes, and pat yourself on the back for being well on your way to an unofficial, life-bestowed MBA.

Fill your mind with what's good. Inspirational books and stories about successful people keep me going during tough times. Stay away from negative influences that could cause you to doubt yourself. You can't be everything to everybody, so don't even try. Focus on what counts most, do your best and love yourself even if you fall short of your ideals.

STEP III: Honor your body. Though I have both an M.D. and a degree in dietetics, my passion often overrides my knowledge of wellness, and I push myself too hard. Thankfully, my body starts to complain if I take this too far. I might catch a cold, or my back begins to ache, or I get grumpy, weepy or tired.

What's your body telling you lately? What is it telling you that it needs? Are you listening?

Entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint, and to reach your goals you need to treat yourself like a high-performance athlete. Pay attention to signs that you're starting to wear down, and take some down time before your body forces you to.

Eat healthy proteins, whole grains, and as many fruits and vegetables as you can throughout the day. Resist the temptation to jolt your body into short-term productivity through excess quantities of caffeine or sugary snacks. With good fuel, regular rest and exercise (even just a 20-minute power walk around the block), you'll have the physical and mental focus, health and energy that you need to make your business a long-term success.

STEP IV: Rescue and revitalize your relationships. Learn something personal about all the people who are involved with your business. Ask about their personal lives and give them little, unexpected thank-yous that show them you see each of them as a person, not just a path to profit.

Don't assume that friends and family will be there for you once your business is finally running itself. I'm naturally introverted, so I have to work particularly hard at this one. If your significant other, children or friends complain about the time you're spending working, recognize it by doing something (ideally, within 24 hours) to show them how important they are. I used to have a bad late-night e-mail habit, until I realized that being in bed with my husband by 11 p.m. is far more likely to result in long-term happiness than being caught up on e-mail.

STEP V: Get a life. As entrepreneurs we're at high risk of focusing on our business to the exclusion of everything else. Also, though by nature we're creative and visionary people, we can lose that magic touch through the daily slog of running a business.

Remember to play: Take breaks, get outside, get out into nature, play in your own hometown and take a vacation whenever you can. See a movie, visit an exhibit or show you've never been to, or spend a weekend being silly with whomever you love most in the world. Seize any opportunity to laugh. This will rejuvenate you and help you continually access the creativity you'll need to solve problems and grow your business optimally.

STEP VI: Make room for the divine. Today I e-mailed this advice to a young entrepreneur, a successful blogger who's negotiating her first book deal and was feeling anxious about this new phase:

We humans typically think that we have to make perfect decisions and do everything right for things to turn out well. Trust the process and your genius and passion--and you will be supported in all that you do! When you're doing good things in the world and following your heart and reason for being, it's amazing what will happen.

If you believe that there's an infinitely wise force at work in the world and your life, it forever transforms your experience of failure and disappointment. When things go sideways or don't turn out as planned, I've learned to remind myself that when I look back later I'll surely see the gift in this "disaster." By remembering that you're not alone in this world, you'll find the wings to rise and soar above any setbacks.

STEP VII: Make 'someday' today. Procrastination can kill your dreams, ideas and business. If you have a great business idea, take the first step toward it, whether it's researching competitors online or checking out potential suppliers.

If you're suffering from "lone ranger syndrome" and trying to do it all yourself, find an intern or virtual assistant to take some pressure off so you can focus on what you do best.

If you see a great opportunity to expand into a new market, go for it rather than look back later at someone else who beat you to it.

Most important, don't wait until you "retire" or sell your business to live a life that you truly love.

Forget the stats that tell you how likely entrepreneurs are to fail. Focus instead on what you can do to ensure that you rise to the top and enjoy the incredibly sweet taste of knowing you took your "baby" to market and gave it the best chance possible to become all you know it can be. Following these seven steps will ensure that your entire life blooms and thrives, right alongside your business.

Susan Biali, M.D., is a wellness expert, speaker, coach, flamenco dancer and author of Live a Life You Love: 7 Steps to a Healthier, Happier, More Passionate You (Beaufort Books 2010).