5 things you can do TODAY to have better business mental health

I always find myself asking the question of: how can I get the word out and better support entrepreneurial mental health.? It is something that I am very passionate about, speak frequently on, and think about A LOT.

Partially because I personally know the toll, partially because I deal with it every day with my clients, and then partially because my degree in cognitive neuroscience makes me endlessly curious about the brain and how we can have healthier ones.?

Entrepreneurship is an emotional rollercoaster, it is the most exciting thing one moment, and honestly quite challenging the next… to illustrate that and why mental health is so important, here are some surprising stats.

• 72% of founders struggle with mental health.
• 37% suffer from anxiety.
• 36% experience burnout.
• 10% have panic attacks.
• 54% of founders are very stressed about their businesses, with fear of failure being the main stressor.

I dunno about you, but I want to do something about those numbers, so today I want to give you 5 time tested ways to help you improve your business mental health, which in turn will have positive ripple effects on more than just your mental health.?

Ruthlessly filter what you consume. This has been the one that surprisingly brings me the most joy.? It was a couple years ago that I went through my instagram, FB, etc. and decided to ruthlessly curate things that when I opened the app would cause me to feel calm, inspired, happy, connected, and would expand my thinking.??

So now when I log into all those platforms the only content I ‘subscribe’ to are those.? I also do not watch the news. IMO it keeps our bodies in a constant state of fight or flight which keeps our cortisol levels high, our spirits low, and our brains and internal organs shackled and in crisis. If I need to know what is going on, I go find it.? I no longer let it find me.

Being able to control what goes in and find the things that will support you, your goals, your vision, etc. will pay much bigger dividends then what I used to fall victim to which was mindless consumption.? Give it a try for a week.? Go through an mute things that make you feel anything less than what your vision is and see how you feel after a week.? If you miss them and don’t see a change, I would love to hear about it cause you would be the first.?

Sleep - holy smokes this is the #1 thing that will change everything - good sleep hygiene.

This one is oftentimes the hardest because when we are putting our blood, sweat, and tears into bootstrapping our dream sleep is the last thing on our minds.? We are burning the candle at both ends and saying things like, I can sleep when I am dead.?

Well, let me tell you a few fun things about this.? Sleep is the key to everything you want.?

Better relationships, more money, happier teams, more impact, better s _ x, you get the idea.?

Plus I have found most problems look different/easier after a good nights sleep.

If you aren’t prioritizing and getting good sleep you won’t be at your best and consequently all those things I listed (and more) will suffer, including your health.. Which, if you don’t have your health, what good is your business?

Unplug - I mean seriously unplug.? This one goes hand in hand with sleep, and I know, I have been there, sometimes we feel like we can’t take our foot off the gas, but trust me, your business and your life won’t run or be any fun when you have no gas in the tank.?

Ideally I would love to see you take one FULL day every week to quite literally check out.? I started doing this on Saturdays back in 2018 and my business doubled a few months later cause I finally had white space to level up.?

Turn off the dings, get off the computer, slack, ‘just one more email’ merry-go-round, etc. and go do something offline.??

Go for a hike in the greenbelt, a walk and talk with a friend you haven’t seen in a while, make some memories with your kids. read an actual book, or back to #2, sleep.? Sleep late, take a nap, rest.? I am giving you permission to stop doing and just be.? It isn’t lazy, it is necessary.?

Decide. ?This one is a doozy but SO good.? If there is something in your business, or life, that you have been hemming and hawing over for a while, I want you to decide today.??

The amount of energy leakage that is the direct result of indecision is astronomical.??

Indecision impacts everything, including our ability to make better decisions down the road.??

Here’s the fun thing about this.? I want you to know two things.??

First, your brain is antifragile which means it actually grows and improves with challenges and the second is there is nothing, and I mean nothing that isn’t, as Maire Forleo said, figure-out-able, so make the decision and use the data that comes from it to make even better decision in the future.??

I so often see my clients being paralyzed by a seemingly huge decision only to realize that once they actually decided what to do all the things they thought were missing or going to go wrong were minimal and they could handle it.? And all the good things keep growing.??

The truth is, the best way to build a life and business you want is to launch and learn.??

We can’t deliver what our clients need if we are deciding in echo-chambers, at some point we have to decide to test our hypothesis and see what data we get back.?

Trust me, if you can become more discerning and make decisions faster, your whole world and load will lighten.? And if I really freaked you out, start small, coffee vs tea.? Cause here’s the other fun part of this, you can always decide to do something different after that first decision.? Didn’t want either coffee or tea, go get a hot cocoa or a matcha.? The important thing is you unblocked flow and got momentum back!?

Lastly, know this.? You are not alone.? I know it can be VERY lonely at the top so I get it, but I want you to know that you are not in this alone.??

We have all been there and struggled with very similar things so find a group of other entrepreneurs, or heck just one or two fellow business owners who you can connect, strategize, play, and share with, because that connection will change everything.??

So often our challenges and feelings seem so much bigger because we feel like we are drowning in them alone, when all we really need is someone to say, I’ve been there, it’s going to work out, I am here to support.???

And heck, if you don’t have any of those things, then connect with me. There is nothing I love more than supporting each other cause our mental health impacts far and wide and we all need a friend.

Give those a try and let me know what sunshine starts to peak out from behind those business thunderheads!?

Until next time.?

Lauren?

p.s. want more Golden Nuggets like this one, to save time and get you out from under your business? I got you. You’re going to love The Biz Doctor podcast, which is just a click away (available on all podcast platforms).

The Biz Doctor on Apple Podcasts

The Biz Doctor on Spotify