The Ultimate Guide to Selling on Amazon UK
Our Ultimate Guide to Selling on Amazon UK outlines how traders can list and sell their items, indicates how much it costs and explains the responsibilities involved.
1st March 2021
How to Manage your Mental Health as an Entrepreneur ​
Entrepreneurship is often glamourized, leading many to think that it’s the ‘easier’ path in comparison to a 9 to 5 role. When you read the standard ‘rags to riches’ stories of overnight success, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that entrepreneurship is all glitz and glam. The reality is that behind the success, there is normally the really long hours, loneliness and burnout that can ultimately put a strain on your mental health.
In fact, according a study by the National Institute of Mental Health, over 70% of entrepreneurs have been directly or indirectly affected by mental health issues, in comparison to just 48% of non-entrepreneurs.  Â
Most entrepreneurs will tell you just how important it is to tell the whole story, sharing both the hustle and sometimes the struggle of entrepreneurship. The truth is, when it comes to entrepreneur mental health, we simply don’t talk about it enough.
Start with the Difficult Conversations
Whether it’s anxiety, depression, bipolar, ADHD or any other form of mental health issues, the first step to tackling them is by starting the conversation. Facilitating these conversations means opening up to being vulnerable and asking for help. Admittedly, this doesn’t necessarily fit into the narrative of being entrepreneur. By definition, entrepreneurs are inherently risk takers and leaders, so the idea of seeking help for many entrepreneurs is one of the biggest challenges they face according to Forbes.Â
As we increasingly normalise these conversations, we begin to tackle the stigma around mental health in entrepreneurship and in turn, bring about real change. Â
How to Take Action
Become Part of a Community
The entrepreneurship journey is quite a unique one, which makes it hard to understand from the outside looking in. This makes the need for a building a community of like-minded people around you very important. Be it by joining networking groups, entrepreneur support groups or other social groups, having people around you that understand your journey and are there to support you goes a long way.  Â
Self-reflect OftenÂ
Learning how to identify when something isn’t quite right is a really helpful strategy for effectively managing your mental health. This can be through identifying certain behaviours and what triggers them in order to help you monitor where you are. For example, by identifying how you respond when you are feeling stressed and anxious and developing actions you can then take when you feel this way, will help you in the long-run. The idea is to actively and regularly monitor where you are with your mental health by looking within and identifying actions you can take to help you manage it.Â
Learn to Delegate
When it comes to delegating, many entrepreneurs (particularly start-up business owners) don’t see the real value and would rather do the work themselves. The issue with this is there is only so much you can do in 24 hours, and many quickly realise that their business begins to suffer because of their inability to delegate. Of course for many start-ups, the issue is sometimes limited budget but platforms like  Upwork, Freelancer and People Per Hour make it super easy to find and hire experts in almost any field and can be very cost-effective.
Take your Time
Entrepreneurs often put too much pressure on themselves with unrealistic expectations. Yes, setting high goals is great but it’s important to take each day as it comes and remember to enjoy the journey rather than focus solely on the destination. Managing your own expectations and taking one step at a time goes a long way.Â
Learn to Switch Off
Entrepreneurs often focus on their productivity (which of course is a great move for any entrepreneur) but knowing when to switch off is important. Getting the balance right between when to give 100% and when to switch off may take some time so try to remember that overworking yourself will only lead to burnout which will bring you no closer no achieving your goals.Â
Conclusion
Although there is no one–size–fits–all model to managing your mental health as an entrepreneur, we hope these tips have helped you in some way. Effectively managing your mental health won’t happen overnight and will take time and effort. The important thing to remember is that you are not in this alone and to surround yourself with the right support system. Our start-up business community is a great place to start and allows you to connect, learn and grow with other entrepreneurs. Finally, remember to take time out, smell the roses and enjoy the journey.   Â
To get in touch with our team of start-up experts, click the link below:
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