You have worked hard to build up your company, but if you have a high level of anxiety, you might find yourself doubting and second-guessing every decision that you simply make. While some level of questioning is always a good idea when making a key business decision, if you have found yourself being held back from success from your lack of confidence in yourself, you're probably going to experience problems. If you have anxiety as a business owner, you are not alone. But sadly, anxiety can not only affect your personal life but also your business and your income. The good news is that you can get back in control – here are some strategies to try.
Work With a Good Business Coach
Sometimes, finding a coach or mentor who are able to help to validate your experiences and feelings, provide you with a fresh perspective, and pull you out of trouble of the rut of rumination and overthinking can be just what you need when you're trying to run a business with anxiety. There's a difference between knowing and doing and when you're dealing with anxiety as an entrepreneur, you may often know exactly what must be done but struggle to undergo with the actions. Working with a good business coach will help you become more confident in your decisions and provide a strong support system.
Be Honest together with your Team
Anxiety can sometimes translate into micromanagement and being hypercritical. Unfortunately, this will alienate the very people you'll need in your pursuit of success. To prevent small niggles from snowballing into major issues as well as your anxieties becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, it's important to talk to your team and be up-front in regards to you are being more critical than normal. Often, employees don't fully appreciate how much pressure business owners they are under. It can help to have a transparent dialogue with them. If you can keep your business relationships on the right track, the people who work for you may be able to alleviate a number of your anxieties, while picking out useful strategies for the problems you have.
Work with the Right People
Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses. If you are an anxious type of person, it is important that you work with people who are calm and grounded. They may be the voice of reason when you are being sucked down into a spiral of panic and irrational anxiety. Search for people who are your exact opposite. Should you end up with partners who are equally vulnerable to anxiety, it will be a nightmare in the workplace.
Slow Down
Being burned out can certainly result in a high level of anxiety and stress. Whether it feels like you have been working forever and also you can't remember the last time you had a day to yourself to enjoy your hobbies or spend time with your family and friends without worrying about your business, you are in trouble. It's vital that you move back sometimes. Doing this helps you to avoid being stuck in a loop of tension whereby you catastrophize about everything. A little time and space can help you to rationalize your reaction and response.
Take Here we are at Yourself:
Don't be too quick to reply to emails or instant messages from clients and employees. Be strict about ringfencing your working hours and don't allow work to bleed into recreational and family time.
Get right into a routine where you value your time off just as much as you value your time at work; remember that your business isn't going to break apart because you have a 24-hour break. Switch your phone off or set an from office reply so clients realize that you're taking a personal day and put somebody that you trust in charge when you relax and recuperate.
Get Medical Help:
Depending on the severity of your anxiety it might be worth looking into getting professional help, either with anti-anxiety medication or talk therapy. This is also true if the anxiety is getting to you in other areas of your life outside of your business or causing you to avoid on opportunities that you would normally take because your anxiety is so high. There is no shame in getting some support, and sometimes, getting over anxiety is something that people cannot do alone. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is an ideal way to start retraining your brain, assisting you become more aware of how you think and act on your thoughts so you can learn how to manage nervousness in a healthy way.
Anxiety can certainly stand in your way of running a successful business. Often, anxiety could be around business failure, but the irony is that it is more prone to do harm than good.
