Flu season is in full swing, and as an entrepreneur, the idea of being laid out for 3 to 5 days probably makes your head want to spin right off. (You aren’t alone)! We often know WHAT we should do, in fact, we have probably heard it a few times from our mothers, our spouses, our friends, and our physicians, but sometimes we need a little wake-up call to remember to take care of ourselves. Getting a bug doesn’t just have to do with not getting enough sleep, exposure to germs, and overextending ourselves-a lot of it has to do with the stress in our lives and how we are handling it. Stress is not only making us unhappy emotionally, but it is hurting our physical health in some very serious ways.
You are probably rolling your eyes at this point because running your own business means that the burden of keeping things together falls on your shoulders (in other words, stress is part of the gig). While we aren’t minimizing that truth, we do want to help you to find ways to manage that stress to keep you and your business healthy and successful!
Every day is filled with a number of stressors whether business related, from our home lives, to our overfilled schedules. Our DNA has been trained to handle those stressors and to help us stay alive. Not only does our brain have an intellectual response of either fight or flight, but it also sends a physical response to our bodies and alerts our adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol. The adrenaline causes our heart rates to increase, gives us extra energy in case we need to do battle, and shoots our blood pressure up. This can be great if we are trying to get away from a lion that wants to eat us. The cortisol increases the amount of sugar flowing through our bodies which can be important when we need energy to fight, but at the same time impairs our immune system, impacts the proper function of our digestive system, and affects our mental health by altering our moods, increasing our fears, and decreasing our motivation.
Our bodies are amazing and this stress-response system we have is pretty cool because it is self-regulatory. When the lion disappears, and we are safe, the brain tells the body’s adrenal system to go back to normal. What is the problem for many entrepreneurs and many other adult Americans is that when stressors never seem to go away, or a person is unable to look at stressors in a non-threatening way, then the stress hormones are continually flowing which causes all kinds of problems:
Weight gain
Decreased immune function
Heart disease
Sleep problems
Weight gain
Depression
Anxiety
Lack of focus
Okay, so my stress response is working overtime. Now what?
We know that it is very difficult (potentially impossible) to eliminate stress. So, the question is examining how we handle stressors so that we can fight the flu and the other harmful effects of stress. First of all, perspective can help you to change or eliminate a need for a stress-response. Researchers have found that if a person is able to change what is a stressor into a challenge, the body reacts very differently. Posing a potential stress as something to be overcome (a challenge) rather than something that is controlling your life, allows our bodies and minds to see the issue in another light. It takes something that is threatening and turns it into a challenge to be conquered. Spend a little time writing down those stressors and brainstorm some potential solutions. What is the worst case scenario? How can you avoid that scenario? How can you respond to the worst case scenario?
Yes, a need for meditation is beginning to sound cliché’, but I always say that something becomes a cliché’often because it is a good sound piece of wisdom. Meditation is very important to learning to control your response to stress. It allows you the time to stop and consider that you are alive, the sky hasn’t fallen, and that there is a challenge that needs tackling. Learning to respond (a thoughtful action to a stressor) versus reacting can be learned by the practice of meditation. It requires discipline to stop on a dime, in the middle of a negative, stressful situation, and reflect on what would be a healthy response. The practice of meditation trains your body and brain to have that discipline. Start with a two minute meditation, then move on to five minutes and so on. YouTube has a million different instructional/guided meditations as well as meditation music that can help you to learn to be in a moment, rationally and peacefully.
Delegate and let go of some of the tasks that someone else can do for you and your business. Of course, they probably will not do them as well as you would, but ask yourself is it worth the stress? The answer is “probably not.”
Work out! This is so important for your mental and physical health. A workout doesn’t need to be a 60 minute affair. Keep it simple. Everyone has 20 minutes a day to devote to their well-being. A yoga routine would be great because you could work in a meditative practice along with keeping your body flexible which is very important as we age.
Check in with yourself every single day. This can be part of your meditative practice, but ask yourself:
How do I feel today? Mentally? Physically?
What is bothering me?
What can I take off my plate today?
What challenges must I face today?
What challenges can I save for tomorrow or give to someone else?
What do I need to let go of?
What am I grateful for?
You are important! Yes, your business is important, but you as a human are far more important than the work that you do. Re-evaluate where you are stresswise, healthwise, emotionally and make a couple goals that help you to lower your stress response, increase your immune system function, and improve your mental health so that you are able to not only grow your business, but enjoy your life!