Free Yourself from Anxiety

In honor of Mental Health Awareness month I offer you seven tips you can easily implement into your life to create a more peaceful day to day experience

This morning I shut my alarm off and instead of getting up to workout I laid there. My mind was flooded with the dream I had had the night before- I had lost my biggest client and therefore all the revenue associated with it.

Trying to shake off the dream I directed my brain to gratitude. Which lasted for about three seconds before I started worrying about work. Worrying about losing all my other clients, worrying about liability, basically overthinking EVERYTHING.

At that point I got up and just started getting ready for my day. But did I feel better at any point? Well….no. Actually, by 6:40 am I was crying with stress, overwhelm and anxiety and glad I hadn’t put on my mascara yet.

As I moved forward with my morning I decided this is something I need to talk about. The fact that it’s Mental Health Awareness Month just solidifies the importance of making sure we are addressing these types of issues and supporting each other through them as a community.

Being a small business owner is hard. Like… really hard.
We carry the pressure. The vision. The money stress. The late nights. The “I’ll rest when the launch is over / quarter ends / tax season wraps” lies we tell ourselves.

In fact, A study by Small Biz Silver Lining found that 75% of small business owners are concerned about their mental health, and 56% have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, or stress-related problems by a professional.

Research also indicates that 30% of entrepreneurs experience depression, 29% have ADHD, 27% deal with anxiety disorders, 12% face substance abuse issues, and 11% live with bipolar disorder.

This just substantiates that fact that while we’re out here doing the most—building, growing, leading—we often leave ourselves last on the list.

And here’s the truth we all know but rarely actually live: you can’t pour from an empty cup. Your business doesn’t need a martyr. It needs a healthy, grounded version of you.

So, if you’ve been feeling how I’ve been feeling lately- exhausted, overwhelmed, or just a little crispy around the edges, I want to offer you a few practical, doable ways to take care of you—And no, I wont encourage expensive retreats or five-hour morning routines because I know how impractical that is for 99% of us. Instead I want to offer up suggestions of actions that are actually POSSIBLE to implement. Here we go:

Move your body.
It doesn’t have to be fancy. For me it’s 30 minutes of yoga a few times a week before the day starts so that I can get out a bunch of that anxious energy right when I wake up instead of letting it fester (like I did this morning). I try to take a walk around the block when I can, especially now that it’s not freezing cold where I live. A few minutes of stretching between Zoom calls. Anything to shake off the stress and remind your nervous system that you’re safe.

Eat something nourishing.
I’m a big culprit of eating garbage at my desk all day to get that quick sugar rush and coupling it with drinking enough caffeine to keep going. I know that I am a comfort eater- In fact, I always joke about how I eat my feelings. But in reality it’s not funny. I would feel better and you will feel better if we eat healthy, nourishing food to fuel our poor tired bodies instead of a bunch of crap just to stay awake.

Breathe.
I used to think that “anchoring yourself with your breath” was ridiculous. It has taken me years to realize the power of the breath and the life force that it signifies. So every now and then I just do two minutes and you should too.

Just close your eyes. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. That’s it. Your brain needs those tiny pauses more than it needs your to-do list. In fact, it will probably help clear your brain a bit so you can focus MORE on your to-do list. I bought a little breathing Buddha on Amazon that guides breathing with color changes and it’s simple and very helpful for this exercise. If you want the link let me know in the comments and I’ll send that out to you!

Meditate.
I also used to think meditation was an actual torture tactic that was only good for making people want to jump out of their skin and go running down the street like a lunatic. It took me a lot of practice to get where I could calm my body and begin to observe my thoughts. Meditating is one of the hardest versions of self-care I have ever done because my mind is like a little puppy that wants to run around all day acting like a fool. But the truth is, my mind can also be my biggest enemy. Case in point- it had my crying by 6:40 this morning. Nothing had happened between the time I had come to consciousness and began to get ready for the day except the fact I had been barraged with negative thoughts and limiting beliefs.

Our brain is not in charge, running our lives. We are. But in order to take back control we need to learn how to observe our thoughts and let them go without believing that every single one of them are true. This is where meditation comes in. Give it a try, and if you don’t know where to start let me know down below and I would be happy to give more guidance. Once I decided to quit fighting it mediation began to help me to change my life, and I know it can do the same for you.

Get outside.
Touch some grass. Feel the sun. Let your eyes look at something besides a screen. Nature is free therapy and grounding is what keeps us out of our own heads.

Talk to people.
Isolation is a dream killer. Text a friend. Call someone who gets it. Find your people—business can feel a lot less heavy when you’re not carrying it alone.

Ask for help.
Therapy, coaching, mentorship—whatever support looks like for you, please don’t wait until you hit a wall. Strong people ask for help. Period.

Now, I get it. Taking care of yourself when you’re juggling your business, your family, your bills, your calendar… feels like one more thing to do.

But I’m here to remind you: you’re already doing one of the hardest things in the world. You started a business. You show up for it every day.

If you can do that, then you can absolutely do this.

You are worth caring for. Not later—now.

With love and belief in you,

-Marit