Entrepreneurs are often highly motivated individuals with a knack for innovation and creativity. These skills can serve them well in many aspects of life. However, due to their natural inclination to take on big, new endeavors, entrepreneurs are also exposed to high levels of stress. If left unaddressed, chronic high stress can lead to mental exhaustion and burnout. If you’re an entrepreneur who feels your stress levels consistently creeping upward, it’s important to take action. The problem likely won’t go away on its own and may continue to worsen, negatively impacting your ability to meet your professional goals. Here are six tips for entrepreneurs to build mental resilience and prevent burnout from interfering with their dreams.
1. Engage in Cognitive Reframing
Cognitive reframing is a frequently employed psychological technique to help patients change their perceptions and long-held negative thought patterns. It’s often used to help individuals shift perspectives and replace negative thoughts with positive ones. When utilized correctly, this technique can enhance feelings of well-being, reduce stress, and boost mental health.
If you’re interested in cognitive reframing, it’s best to do it under the guidance of a professional therapist. For entrepreneurs who haven’t gotten their big break yet and are still working with a tight budget, affordable therapy is widely available. Online therapists are often more reasonably priced than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. Online therapy also tends to be more convenient for professionals with busy schedules. When choosing a therapist, look for someone who’s skilled in cognitive reframing and teaching mental resilience.
2. Learn Stress Management Techniques
As an entrepreneur, it’s crucial to have an arsenal of stress management techniques you can rely on when you start to feel overwhelmed. If you currently feel like a deer in the headlights whenever a high-stress situation arises, it’s time to make stress management a priority. Here are a few techniques you can try the next time you’re feeling excessive pressure:
- Try deep breathing exercises
- Delegate tasks to others
- Take a break from the stressful situation
- Get outside for some fresh air and exercise
- Reduce your workload
- Practice yoga
It also helps to realize you can’t control every situation. Focus on the things you can control, but learn to let go of the things you can’t.
3. Take Care of Your Physical Health
Did you know your physical health can have a huge impact on your mental health? People are less likely to be mentally resilient while dealing with chronic illnesses or acute health issues. The good news is that there’s also a positive association between physical and mental health. When you take good care of your body physically, it’s typically easier to maintain good mental health, as well.
Taking care of your physical health includes eating well, avoiding unhealthy substances, getting adequate sleep, and staying physically active. Research suggests that people who live sedentary lifestyles are more likely to have poor mental health and high stress than those who stay active. Therefore, daily physical activity should be an integral part of every entrepreneur’s stress-reduction plan.
4. Set Boundaries
To ensure their mental well-being and avoid burnout, entrepreneurs must learn how to set healthy boundaries. For example, they need to set work hour limits and refuse to work outside of those boundaries except in emergency situations. This will help them achieve a better work-life balance and avoid sacrificing personal relationships in the pursuit of professional success.
It’s also a good idea to set clear boundaries when it comes to personal development opportunities. Since entrepreneurs often have an intense desire to better themselves, it’s easy for them to get caught up in endless self-improvement endeavors. However, constantly poring over self-help books, attending self-improvement seminars, and getting new certifications can be overwhelming. Remember to set boundaries and do all these things in moderation.
5. Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst
Entrepreneurs tend to adopt an all-or-nothing point of view when it comes to chasing their dreams. This is one of the reasons they’re so successful at building fast-growing companies from the ground up. But it’s also the reason they tend to spiral into self-defeatism and catastrophizing when things don’t go as planned.
The key to developing mental resilience in such situations is to hope for the best but always prepare for the worst. Have a plan B, plan C, and even a plan D in place if things don’t go as envisioned. Keep in mind that setbacks happen to everyone. It’s the way you choose to handle those setbacks that determines whether you continue your upward trajectory or spiral downward.
6. Schedule Downtime
Many entrepreneurs are willing to give up their own health and self-interest in pursuit of a bigger dream. This may seem honorable to the casual observer, but it can backfire in the long run. Like every other human being on the planet, entrepreneurs have physical, mental, and emotional limits. Continuously pushing those limits will eventually cause feelings of overwhelm and could lead to a mental breakdown.
To build mental resilience and avoid burnout, every entrepreneur needs to prioritize downtime and relaxation. You may need to schedule downtime into your calendar. That way, your brain will learn that regular “me time” is just as important as meetings with investors and clients.
Conclusion
As an entrepreneur, it’s crucial to view your mental health as one of your greatest assets. As such, it deserves your care and attention. If you’re mentally fragile and constantly push yourself to the brink of burnout, your business will eventually suffer. Follow these tips to build greater mental resilience and prevent burnout so you can be the strong leader your business needs.
