Whether you are a new business, or towing the line of an established one, encountering stress as an entrepreneur is inevitable. We can lie awake at night, entertaining thoughts of failure or obsessing over future plans. Our daytime interactions can be infected with stress, and we can self-sabotage with feeling overwhelmed.
As the source of the business, all of our perspectives are channeled into the venture. This makes protecting our own mental health a vital undertaking. Here are five tips toward ensuring that your contributions stay positive.
Recognize Anxiety as Fortune Telling
The feeling of anxiety can be a useful tool for keeping us motivated and moving forward. A bit of anticipation of what needs to be done, and the pressure that we put on ourselves to do it, can work for our benefit. When the anxiety becomes a daily companion, however, it is no longer acting as our ally. Chronic anxiety can result in our work being stymied, and can become a vehicle for self-sabotage.
If you spot the symptoms of persistent anxiety in your daily operations, take some time to recognize it for what it truly is. Anxiety is dread of what hasn’t yet happened.
Those of us who have been around for awhile can attest to the fact that most of the future is unknowable. No matter how hard we try to discern the events of the next day – or even the next hour – life will be throwing us a surprise. Even our best laid plans can end up taking a sharp right on the road that we intended to be straight.
Rather than trying to outsmart the future, practice living in the moment. Make a list of the things that can be done right now, and then systematically check those things off of your list. Tomorrow, you can create a new list, and work through that in the same way. As the famous poet, Maya Angelou, admonished,
“If you have done the best you can do and if you have gotten all you could extract from something, you have given all you had to give, then the time has come when you can do no more than say thank you and move on.”
Arm Yourself with Knowledge
When it comes to the present, one of the best ways to alleviate anxiety is to increase your internal locus of control. A person with a high sense of internal control is able to take responsibility and respond appropriately to novel situations. Outside occurrences are viewed as challenges, rather than bouts of bad luck.
Founding patron and former president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, is quoted as recognizing that, “Knowledge is power, knowledge is safety, knowledge is happiness.” When we are armed with knowledge of a situation, we are automatically increasing our ability to practice self-efficacy. Such self-efficacy is a direct component of an internal locus of control.
Few of us are endowed with the amount of time that would be required to gain a deep understanding of all topics that an entrepreneur is faced with. That is where the internet – and resource pools, such as this one – come in handy. Combine a bit of background research with a propensity toward asking questions, and you will be able to rest more easily in the knowledge that your business is being handled correctly.
Let Go of the Micromanaging
The purpose of having an employee is to relieve the manager of certain duties. Some managers, however, tend to get this backwards. Rather than allowing the burden of work to be lifted by others, the micromanaging entrepreneur adds to the load. In this case, not only are you responsible for the initial tasks, you are also responsible for making sure that other people execute such tasks as though they were you. Getting someone else to live inside our own heads is a lofty goal!
Studies have shown that a tendency toward micromanaging is related to a sense of lack of control. Managers who feel confident in their levels of achievement and personal power are less prone to feel the need to dictate every move of an employee. A solution for alleviating micromanaging, then, is to increase your own sense of competence. Refusing to be flustered by anxiety – and prioritizing knowledge gains – are great methods for increasing this proficiency.
Mind Your Money
In spite of the multitude of wonderful reasons to go into business for oneself, ‘tis money makes the world go ‘round. Many studies have indicated that financial troubles are at the heart of distress, and many entrepreneurs know this all too well.
Most start-up and home-based businesses are lacking in the funds to hire a full-time, professional, accountant. It is imperative, in these cases, that there be some sort of self-accountable system for monitoring income and expenditure. No one wants to be surprised with a large tax bill, or to be put out of business over an unexpected expense.
The internet can, again, come to rescue in this area. In addition to free information about funding sources and tax concerns, the internet also provides access to free entrepreneurial income tax software and free accounting software. Saving money through utilizing the wealth of free resources available to the entrepreneur can mean less stress and headache over the bottom line.
Remember Why You Started the Business
A self-owned business has a lot in common with a relationship. The initial days of feeling excited over clear visions of a happy future can be clouded over with the day-to-day demands of the long haul. The tedium, growing pains, and interpersonal transactions required for sustaining the vision can tempt one toward regretting ever having started out on the journey.
When these doldrums hit, it pays to remember your first love. Most entrepreneurs cite desires such as freedom, creativity, and opportunity as sparks for their initial drive. Take some time to revisit your initial inspirations for starting your business, and take steps to refocus your vision.
