Working for yourself – the glorious gift that can bring forth opportunities and creativity that you never would have imagined. Since we live in a digital age, where we can see the results of other people instantaneously, too many believe that entrepreneurship allows us to stay in bed on our laptops, grab lunch with friends whenever we want, take pictures in the sun, and travel around the world- that’s it.
Although these are results, this is not the process. This is not the starting point. This is not the rock bottom that springs forth the launch of a profitable business.
Many first-time entrepreneurs can experience what is known as Business Depression, when our thoughts, feelings, and motives are negatively impacted by the results of our business. It is important to remember that your business is not your identity. There is a difference between who you are as a human being, and what you do for a living. When these distinctions aren’t clarified, we tend to harbor feelings of rejection when people do not want to buy our products, give us exposure, or help us in any way possible. We then start to feel sad, isolated, worthless, and depressed.
This usually happens when we have expectations that have not been met yet. We have taken classes online, watched our favorite Instagrammer and YouTuber talk about their journey, and are trying to figure out how our journey is going to show up and show out. It’s that dark hole in the middle of the process, at the beginning of the process, and sometimes at the end of the process where we feel trapped and are trying to figure things out.
The grind is important, when done with boundaries. You are less effective when you are running on empty. Staying up all night, not getting adequate rest, eating toxic food, becoming jealous of other people and their success and ignoring friends and family all in the pursuit of entrepreneurship, will lead to a life in a dark hole.
Isolation is never good for business.
The negative thoughts and feelings that you have towards yourself will eventually show up in your business. Thinking that no one wants to support you usually reduces your efforts towards marketing and advertising because you don’t believe people will buy your product or service.
Here are 4 solutions for you to focus on maintaining mental wellness, and breathe life into your business.
- Have a routine. Setting a goal of when you are going to wake up in the morning so that you can exercise, Journal, pray, get dressed, receive motivation, answer emails, and then start your day. When you feel delayed and behind in your day it will show up in your business strategy.
- Organize, schedule, and plan all of your content in advance. Instead of figuring out what you are going to do for that specific day, plan your entire month out, so you have less thinking to do and have more doing to do. You will be feeling productive as a person, which will create more excitement and productivity for your business.
- Stay encouraged but not in comparison. It’s great that there are people to look up to and listen to their come up story, but you have to set boundaries before you start becoming envious and wanting your journey to look just like theirs. You have your own unique journey, and it is important to fulfill it rather than looking at someone else. Sometimes you need to step away from YouTube, you need to stop looking at Instagram, and actually focus on the work that you need to do that will work for you
- Make time for Self-Care, the act of doing enjoyable and pleasurable activities for yourself. View this as a reward system. After a long day of work, utilize self care by taking a bath and lighting candles, watching the game, sitting in complete silence, taking a walk, eating your favorite food, going to the spa, or spending time with family and friends. Having a healthy balance is essential to coming out of that dark hole and knowing that whether your business is achieving the results you want or not, you have the ability to bounce back and come with a new strategy. Staying stuck gets you nowhere.
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