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Okay, Sophia Noreen, let's dig into this. I can't wait to tell them all about how we got here.
Sophia Noreen: Welcome to the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I took an Etsy startup and launched it in big-box retailers within 12 months. As a creative with an entrepreneurial drive, I left my full-time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family, and self-care. We believe you can have it all. Yes, you can launch and run a successful, scalable business while maintaining harmony in all aspects of your life. We believe, we can learn from each other and draw on many experiences to create the best life possible. During each episode, we will share proven life hacks that will keep you on top and striving every day.
There should be no hesitation. Make a plan. Take action. We are here for you.
Sophia Noreen: Hello, everyone. Welcome to another fantastic episode of the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen, and I am going to be your host for today. And before we get started, if you are watching us on YouTube, make sure you hit the subscribe and that notification bell so you know every time we drop an episode or if you are catching us on one of the other amazing podcast platforms, make sure you hit subscribe and follow there as well. And remember, you can always catch us on Instagram at bossitclub.com. This week, we are talking about the most important topic, in my opinion, when it comes to your mental health and your business. And that is anxiety. We know that that word can cause anxiety but many people walk around with functional anxiety every day.
I want to start by saying that I'm not a Mental Health Therapist, but I am a Health Care Provider. And I have to say that you have to really understand how to manage your anxiety, not just as a business owner, but as a functional individual in society. It doesn't matter what you're doing, you could be on vacation, or you could be at work, or you could be working on your side hustle. After hours, you may have a certain level of anxiety and that is something that you have to acknowledge, that is okay.
I want to start by saying, there is a level of anxiety that is functional and an anxiety is a survival requirement. You need to have a little bit of anxiety to survive. So not all anxiety is bad. You need a certain level of anxiety to function in society and as a human. Where anxiety becomes a bit more distraught is when it is preventing you from doing things that you want to do. We won't dive into that too much, but we will touch on it. And then in the end, we are going to talk about things that you can do to help manage your anxiety, and then when you should also go seek professional help.
So today, I want to really structure a conversation and help you guys understand what to do with your anxiety in business. Because again, I know, you as a business owner, or a striving business owner, or somebody who's thinking about getting into business, or perhaps somebody who's in business, you may have a little bit of anxiety, that is normal. I want you to start by saying, it is okay for me to feel a little bit anxious sometimes. That is normal. And the question is, how do we take that level of anxiety and make use of it? And I'll tell you a couple of things that I do to help you understand that anxiety can be a great asset for you to be able to move to the next level in your business, to help move you forward, or even to take a step back. Because sometimes, your anxiety might be telling you deep down inside, that you're not ready for something specific that you're trying to go for.
So the first part is acknowledging. I want you to acknowledge that you can have anxiety, and it can be functional, and it's completely normal. The next tip is, I want you to say to yourself, how can I use this anxiety, this feeling I'm having of unease, or I'm feeling jittery, or I can't sit still, my mind is always racing. I want you to dig deep and say to yourself, is my anxiety trying to tell me something? As a business owner, you're always going to be pushing yourself to the next limit. You're always going to be saying to yourself, what can I go for next? You hit a goal, then you want to go for the next goal.
You accomplish a great big project or a monetary goal, or you sell a house, for example, if you're into real estate. After that, you're going to go for the next thing and so, if your anxiety level is increasing every single time that you hit a goal, and you're going for the next, is your inner wisdom, or is your instincts telling you something? Is there something that you're not doing or is there something that could be done better, and that's why your anxiety is being kicked up into high gear or is your anxiety there because you're fearful of the next step. And I'll give you an example, from my past, from my personal experience, when I had to go to the Walmart buyers for the first time, now for anybody catching us for the first time, we have a product-based business, and we sell products to Walmart. And so, we're a very small business, so, selling to Walmart is a big deal. And I was pretty anxious about going to their location, prior to the pandemic, when we could actually go on-site and meet them, we had to develop a guide, and again, I've never had any formal business training, remember, I'm a Health Practitioner. I'm a Physiotherapist in Canada so when it comes to business, I was never formally taught, and I was procrastinating in how to actually approach the buyers. And let's face it, I wasn't actually going ahead and preparing the guide that they need to be able to take and show them what are the options for their purchase. I was procrastinating, that's how my anxiety was showing up. And so for you, you have to dig deep, is your anxiety showing up in different ways, and ask yourself, why is it showing up. For me, the reason why my anxiety was showing up was because I didn't know what to do, I had no formal training on how to put together a guide for them to actually look at and purchase.
And luckily for me, I have great friends in my past who were in retail and they had guided me. They said you need to have these specific pieces of information in the guide. And it was great in a way that I procrastinated because I didn't start down the wrong path. I collected all the data that I needed to collect, and then I started working on the project. So, if you're having a tremendous amount of anxiety and something is stopping you from moving forward towards your goal, ask yourself, is it because you're unaware of something, or is it because it doesn't feel right from an instinctual perspective, ask yourself, and dig deep.
So the first tip is, to ensure that you acknowledge that anxiety is okay. Everybody has anxiety, it's normal. And the second tip is, how do you use your anxiety so that you are using the instinct, you're taking your instincts, and you are ensuring you're not ignoring what your instincts are saying. And perhaps, anxiety is trying to tell you something so, ensure you do not ignore it.
The third tip is, I want you to use that level of anxiety so, anxiety is a very high energy, and use that anxiety to push you to momentum. If you're having an anxious moment, and you're like, geez, I don't know what to do with my energy, I'm twitching, I'm moving, and I'm walking, go ahead, and contain it by going for a walk or doing something else, I turn on music and I around the house, or clean something while I have music on. And that helps me bring down my energy level to a space where now, I can think clearly and I'm not all restless, and anxiety can show up restlessness so, if you're the type of person that's constantly shaking their legs, or fidgeting with something, walking around, not able to sit and focus, and your anxiety iselevated to a point where you're not able to concentrate on the task. Get the energy out, and then once you feel like you're managing on a more of a level feel, then go ahead and start working on your project, but use that energy, and try to push yourself into momentum. It's better than not being able to get out of bed, if you're in a situation where you're not getting out of bed, that's even harder to move into momentum. So, think of your anxiety as, okay, I have too much energy, let's bring it down, let's dial it down a bit, let's walk around, let's do something physical, and then go ahead and move to your next project, to your next focus, your next item on that to-do list. So that's my third tip for you.
My fourth tip when it comes to anxiety is, really understand at what level of anxiety that you are at. If you're at a level of anxiety that is preventing you from going and accomplishing the things that you want to accomplish. For example, if you have social anxiety, and you constantly cancel on your friends or family when they invite you out, you may need to seek some level of professional assistance with that because it's going to hinder your quality of life. And there are many examples of where anxiety can really hinder your quality of life. And it's very reasonable to have a Health Care Provider, like a Mental Health Therapist, Social Worker, or Psychotherapist that will help you through moments like those. If it's more of an episodic, or if it's a chronic situation where you are facing anxious moments more regularly, there are a series of activities and exercises they can do. And we will not go into that today, but I want to let you know that, it is completely acceptable for you to have a mental health therapist ongoing, or even once episodically.
I think many of us, business owners, may not acknowledge how many people will have a mental health therapist, and again, the difference between a Mental Health Therapist and a Coach is, a Mental Health Therapist can do controlled acts like cognitive behavioral therapy, and a Coach would not be able to do that. And we won't go too much into what CBT is or cognitive behavioral therapy, but to make it very simple, a Mental Health Therapist will help you with things that have happened in your past and help you work through all that, whereas, a Coach will help you look for things in your future, and help you plan and take your current situation into the future. So, if you feel like there are things in your past that might be hindering you or causing your levels of anxiety, then it's better to see a Mental Health Therapist. If your anxiety is such that it's functional and you just need, perhaps, some clarity on your goals, maybe getting a Business Coach might be something that will help you, or even an accountability partner that can always help as well, to help push you to the next level.
Okay, let's go from the top, let's talk about the four tips that I had for you today on how to best manage your anxiety. The first tip was, I want you to acknowledge that it's completely acceptable to have a certain level of anxiety, and you are required to have the anxiety to function in life. Everybody has anxiety. If you don't have a certain level of anxiety, then you likely would be eaten by a lion, if we have lions that are out wandering because you're anxious, it makes you hyperaware of your surroundings, and that is what keeps you alive so, do not say all anxiety's bad, you do need a little bit of anxiety, and that is okay.
The second tip was, really dig down deep and acknowledge what might be actually causing your anxiety. Your anxiety could be telling you something and you need to be aware of what your instincts are trying to tell you. So, do not ignore your anxiety completely, take some time, and reflect on what it could actually be telling you.
The third tip was, to use the energy from your anxiety to push you into action and into momentum. We talked about how, if your anxiety is way too high, bring it down, and go for it. I want you to take that energy and just move into action with anything that you have left to do on your to-do list or action planning because it's better to have a little bit more energy than not enough energy at all.
And then finally, acknowledge if your anxiety is at a level where it's hindering your quality of life, and be okay with getting professional health services because we want you to live your most fullest experience. We do not want you to be suffering, and as business owners, sometimes we do not put ourselves first. We are always thinking about others and thinking about the business, and then we forget about ourselves. So, if you are one of those, please acknowledge that, and please tell yourself, it is completely okay for you to have a Mental Health Therapist to help you out when you feel that your anxiety is, perhaps, hindering your quality of life and you're not able to really live to your fullest.
Okay, guys, that is it for today. I hope these tips were helpful. Remember, you can always follow us, here or on Instagram, that's where we are the most active. We drop a new episode every week, and we are super excited that you are here. Remember, we want you to be as successful as possible in business and in life.
And remember, you can make a plan and take action. And yes, you can have it all. We'll see you again next week. Take care.
Sophia Noreen: So my fellow bosses, did you enjoy that episode? Now, it's time for you to make a solid plan and take action. But first, remember to subscribe and follow the Boss It Podcast so you receive a notification whenever we drop an episode. Remember to leave us a review on iTunes. Take a screenshot of your review and share it on Instagram as a post or a story, and tag us at @bossitclub. If Instagram is not your thing, no worries. Email your screenshot to [email protected]. As a massive thank you, we will be sending you our top 50 tips for starting and scaling a business. This list is exclusively for podcast reviewers so don't miss out. Now remember bosses, make a plan and take action in all aspects of your life. Yes, you can have it all.
