If you read my blogs or watch my videos often, you’ll know that I’m a fan of being honest, even if it means being totally vulnerable.
To me, it’s so important to be like this, because a lot of us work alone in business and we look around and see people doing their thing and feel like other people have things figured out. I do this myself! I see other people and think, “what’s wrong with me?! They make it seem soooo easy and I feel like a stressed out mess!”
Have you ever felt like that? Well if so, I want to reassure you that you’re not alone, we can be friends :)
Like I said in last week’s video, business is messy and chaotic and even if someone’s making it appear from the outside like it’s a breeze, I guarantee you that they go through phases where they feel totally stressed out and have even probably experienced times when they’ve felt like they can’t go on anymore!
It’s because we’re all pushing ourselves to achieve something amazing, so it’s going to be somewhat stressful!
Here are some of the reasons why I frequently find myself feeling stressed:
1) I have big things I want to achieve and quite often I don’t know how to achieve them, which can make me feel stressed!
2) I want to do a good job at everything I do, which can lead to me feeling stressed.
3) I have a lot of things going on my in my little head and sometimes it gets very overwhelmed… and stressed!
4) I find myself getting caught up in tangled, but glorious world of business!
But there are some really simple and easy things we can do to help us to overcome stress and feel back in control and good about things and in the video below Charlotte Watts, the author of the brand new (and amazing!) book, The De-stress Effect, shared some of them with us.
Charlotte shares:
1) Why you should allow yourself to daydream on a regular basis
2) A simple 30 second exercise for de-stressing
3) How to have a holiday every day
+ more! I think this topic is so important, because the more in tune we are with ourselves and the more we can decrease our stress levels, the more effective we can become… and the more fun it all is!
What do you do when you feel stressed? Leave a comment and include your name and business name – we’re going to put together a worksheet of all the different tips people can try out to de-stress :)
Find out more about The De-stress Effect here >>
Check out Charlotte’s website >>
Here’s the action for you to take whenever you feel stressed…
CONNECT WITH YOUR BODY
Lie on the floor or sit in a chair with your hands on your belly and then feel your breath. Do this for 30 seconds or longer and it will help to ground you and feel less stressed. Or get up and get moving – walk around, go for a stroll, walk around your house – do whatever you can to get yourself moving, it will also help to ground you.
DAYDREAM!
Allow your mind to wander, allow yourself to daydream… don’t stop yourself and worry that you ‘need to get on’. Just allow it to happen, your brain needs that time to rest.
TAKE DEEP BREATHS
Inhale and exhale deeply, allowing yourself to relax.
CHOOSE TO BE PROACTIVE, NOT REACTIVE
Viktor Frankl said …
Everything in life can be taken away from you,
except for your freedom to choose
how your respond.
So often when we feel stressed, we also feel locked in, stuck and out of control, but we can take back control by realising that we can decide how we’re going to respond to the situations we find ourselves in. We can choose to work ourselves up or we can choose to do all we can to chill ourselves out! So next time you feel stressed choose to be proactive and act upon some of the tips above :)
~
Someone recently said to me, “You can get new clothes, a new car, new handbags, but you can never get a new body, so it has to be your #1 priority, because without it you have nothing, so look after it.”
You are precious, because there’s only one of you, so even though building a business can be stressful, please please please be proactive about it and take good care of yourself. Don’t put it off because you don’t think you have the time or because you’re afraid to take a break. Your business will not crumble – in fact, it will most likely thrive, because you’ll be making better decision, based off a better state of mind.
See you next week!
Carrie xx
P.s. remember to leave a comment below and share the #1 thing you do to de-stress.
