While recent studies show us that stress levels are lower than they’ve been in years, that doesn’t mean business owners are able to sit back and relax. Here are six ways entrepreneurs can get a better handle on stress and overcome mental roadblocks that go hand-in-hand with launching and maintaining a business.
1. Identify Your Stressors – And Avoid Them
Look back at the times you felt stressed and how you handled the situation. Get a journal and jot down more information about these situations and observe any patterns in your behaviour. Make it your goal to determine if your actions were appropriate for the situation. Also, determine if the way you think gets in the way of how you could best handle the situation or does it push you to be better prepared?
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2. Use Your Energy Effectively
You have only so much time each day to do what is important, so become aware of how you use your energy. It is essential to stay focused and plan your day well, so utilize your smartphone or paper calendar to help you schedule your days. Remember that it’s crucial that you have a good work/personal life balance and give priority to the things that matter.
3. Think Positive Thoughts
There will be times that something goes wrong, but do your best to not dwell on it and instead, refocus on building a more flexible business. It is simple to fixate on what didn’t work and beat yourself up over things in the past. Instead, when you experience setbacks, focus on what you can learn from the situation. Use the things you learn as tools to prepare yourself for similar situations you may face in the future. Reframe your thoughts and don’t get stuck in the past and make the same mistakes time and again. Remember what you learn from every challenge and run with it.
4. Prepare a Plan
Think of the challenges that accompany the launch of a new business or idea to better prepare yourself and cover all your bases. You can look at this plan as you run your business, and as speed bumps arise, looking back at the plans you made will help you make better decisions when under the gun.
Related: How to Handle Your First Startup Failure
5. Ask Friends and Family
In stressful moments, friends and family can be just what a busy, hard-working entrepreneur needs to help lift his or her spirits and offer words of encouragement. Entrepreneurs should make sure to share their problems with people they trust. It can help to hear other people’s advice and to see how that person would handle situations from a different perspective. Set aside time dedicated specifically for your friends and family, even during your busy times.
6. Call on Others
Many entrepreneurs want to take on all of the tasks of their business and are hesitant to delegate work to others. To better handle stress, rely on your employees. Delegating work can be a useful tool when it comes to preventing stress, so make sure other members of your team know how to handle tasks that you do on a daily basis. You can start now: match up employees with tasks you think they could handle and make sure he or she has a thorough grasp on what it is you do – and don’t be afraid to call on them from time to time.
These tools can help you handle stress and run your business more smoothly and effectively. Take what you learn from every challenge and help it to better yourself. Think of your stressors as experiences to learn from and realize that learning from your mistakes can benefit in a lot of ways.
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How do you help eliminate that stresses that accompany entrepreneurship?