As an entrepreneur, you are used to stress and the areas of your business that make you unsure of your future. When that stress starts to get out of control, it affects not only your business but your physical and emotional health. Unnecessary worries don’t need to be added to your day to day concerns. Learning to deal successfully with stress caused by being a small business owner and not dwelling on perfection takes strategies that you need to incorporate into your everyday life.
As a small business owner, you know which fears are normal and which are not. Anxiety over problems which may never arise can be dealt with in the same way as other worries in your life. Exercise has always been promoted as a great stress reliever. It doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time and you don’t need to go to a gym. Just getting out and walking every day can help.
While you are busy focusing on your concerns over your business, you aren’t thinking about other things or other people. A great way to fight this is to look outside of yourself. Try to concentrate on what is going on around you; other people, your pets, nature – anything other than what is going on inside your head. Irrationally focusing on what is going on with your business – and this includes the good things too, may be difficult but you need to keep your perspective on your problems.
Successfully combating business related stress means you have to look at the whole picture, not just the parts that aren’t working at the moment. It helps you to remember that some stress is actually good for you. It’s impossible to live a totally stress free life and just knowing that is a help to some business owners. Try to turn your negative thoughts around and look at them in a different way. Focus on what is working in your business and find a way to relate those processes to where you are having problems.
Realizing that entrepreneurship and unpredictability go hand in hand and that you have chosen this way of life will help you to feel less like a victim and more like you are the one in charge. It’s the loss of control that most of us fear and that causes the most stress. Accept responsibility for where you are in your business and find the tools that will help you to overcome stress related problems. Find the routines that work best for you and look at how much progress you have made so far.
Accepting the uncertainties of being a small business owner and realizing that stress will always be with you is one of the most important things entrepreneurs will ever learn. Dealing with it in a healthy way while remaining optimistic is a lesson that all of us need to learn.
© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2014
image courtesy of the guardian
