I see you...
✔ You're feeling overwhelmed. Things are coming at you from all angles - tasks, complaints, requests, questions...
✔ You are doing your best, but it never feels good enough, right? There just aren't enough hours in a day.
✔ It feels like there's always somebody ready to criticize your work or another mountain to climb, and you just can't catch a break.
I've been there. It's hard to keep showing up and doing your best when you feel like every one step forwards results in two steps back. And I'm here to tell you that you don't have to continue in that viscous cycle.
It's not always easy to walk away, either. Particularly if you have your own business; your whole life is entwined with the company, it's part of who you are. And when both are suffering, the toll it takes on you can be paralyzing.
Owning a business is one of the best experiences I've ever had. But it was also the catalyst for a breakdown; my lowest ever point in life to date.
I see myself as a sort of trailblazer in that regard... Somebody who went there and found a way back, so you don't have to.
I remember searching for help when I was in that low point in my business, but I couldn't find any. I'd always been really interested in the way the human mind worked, so I fortunately had some tools to fall back on, to help myself through. And those tools really did pull me out of a very dark hole.
When you're in that space, you have to refocus your mind. You have to focus on rebuilding your sense of self. That might sound quite wishy washy, but bear with me.
Things are always going to go wrong in life. When you're running a business, you're going to get the brunt of the bad stuff. It comes with the territory. But handling that when you already feel broken is impossible. It's like being in sinking sand; the more you try to pull yourself out, the worse it gets.
So what do we do in these situations, when we're overwhelmed, stressed out and feel like the world is against us?
We go back to the start and rebuild our foundation. We create a resilience within ourselves that's strong and unshakable.
If you build a house on shaky foundations, it's only a matter of time before the cracks begin to show. Eventually, the whole structure will crumble and fall down. If we have a house that's shaky and unstable, the trick is to go back to the foundations and strengthen them. With stable foundations, the house will stand strong. It will withstand any storm, it's walls firmly held together by what's underneath. It's a similar concept with your mind.
We have to learn to create a relationship with ourselves; to rediscover the confidence and faith we once had in our abilities, and to stand strong and tall through any storm life brings our way. As a coach once said to me; "life gets a bit life-y sometimes". It's a fact of the world that we can't change. But what we do have the power to change, is our ability to cope.
One of the tools I used to create more resilience and begin improving my life was creating a gratitude practice. The power this simple practice can have over our psychology is immense. You may have dabbled with this before, but I recommend giving it one more try. After all; what harm can it do?
Download my free e-book 'The Practical Way to Develop Resilience' here, for my step by step guide to using gratitude to increase your resilience and reclaim your confidence.
I sincerely hope this helps you in some way. Share your feedback and comments below!
If you'd like to work with me, or learn more about the services I offer, please submit an enquiry and let's talk.