Mental Health and Entrepreneurs – can you fake it and still make it?

In the insightful analogy used by Toby Thomas to illustrate entrepreneurship he invites you to imagine a man riding a lion – you look at the man and think that he has it all together and marvel at his bravery. Meanwhile the man is asking himself, “how on earth did I get on the lion and how do I keep from being eaten?!”

“Choosing to be your own boss is a binding contract between you, your dreams, and the impact you wish to make.” Sibulele Siko-Shosha

Often, we think that to look after ourselves mentally signals weakness. We feel ashamed to admit we need help and in the process of hiding the feeling, we feel worse. It’s a vicious cycle. This belief is often instilled in us by our families, our traditions, and our culture. Entrepreneurs are supposed to be mentally resilient, right? According to the American National Institute of Mental Health 72 % of entrepreneurs are affected by mental health issues. Sadly, many businesses fail because of the owner’s mental issues and many entrepreneurs commit suicide for the same reason.

Interestingly enough, very few talk about mental health and a small percentage make a conscious effort to protect and look after their mental health.

I have chosen to be one of the few for one compelling reason: to avoid measuring my self-worth solely in the success of my business.

Running a business is stressful, the journey is filled with emotional highs and lows. All the roles the owner must play, the fear of failure, unhealthy eating habits, long hours and very little sleep and the fear of losing it all contributes to high anxiety levels and can cause depression.

Often, we ignore our feelings and tell ourselves to get over them.  But we need to be aware of our feelings, feel our feelings, accept them, and investigate the reason for the feeling. The moment you can identify the reason for the feeling you can take action and address it.

We must make time for family, friends, and hobbies. This sounds counter-productive but the positive spin-off of taking time to relax has been discussed numerous times.  We are meant to be well-rounded human beings. As entrepreneurs the same character traits we depend on to propel us forwards, like being driven, highly motivated, resilient, and passionate can also consume us.

It is our hope that our being our own boss will translate into sustainable income and improved living standards, but how many entrepreneurs consider and plan for their mental health, just as they plan to start the business?

Our belief that self-worth is the same as net worth must change!

Business owners often try to save cost and do everything but by defining our strong points and focusing on them, the work will become more pleasurable with a more positive outcome. Delegate or outsource the rest.

Build a support network of people that care about you and your business.

We need to change our perspective and look at failure and loss and ask yourselves: “What did I learn from this and how can I apply what I have learned?”

Brenè Brown points out that vulnerability and leadership are interrelated because both require us to take the risk of stepping forward and expose ourselves and this takes courage. The reward is a more creative work environment that can turn failure into opportunity.

Whilst writing this I have realized that one of my issues is that I want to sprint a marathon. And I have made a pact with myself to rather look after my mental health so I can complete this marathon (goal) and then work on the next one.

I will not ride the lion but rather show up in the arena and remind myself:

 “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again…who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” Dare to Lead by Brenè Brown