Being an entrepreneur brings its own type of stress. You’ll work long hours with little — or no — promise of a reward. Add financial worries and uncertainty, and it can become even more difficult to cope. If you’re suffering under the burden of anxiety, your business will likely suffer too. To increase your odds of success, learn how to better manage your stress.
Add exercise to your daily routine. Physical activity gets your endorphins going, lifting your mood. It stops the fight-or-flight response in its tracks. By exercising, you’ll reduce the physical damage that sustained anxiety does to your body. You’ll also boost your brain activity. A 2014 study from Stanford found that walking improved both divergent and convergent thinking.
Divergent thinking helps you to generate new, innovative ideas. Convergent thinking helps with problem-solving. If you’re in a difficult entrepreneurial position, getting some exercise could help you come up with a solution.
Try journaling. You don’t need to pour out your emotions, though venting can be helpful too. Instead, simply write down the current issues causing you stress. Writing it out gives you a high-level view of the situation. With distance, you’ll be more objective. Look at what you’ve written and make a plan to change what you can. If you can’t change something, practice acceptance.
Add mindfulness to your life. Whether it’s through yoga, walking, or meditation, mindfulness, these can all reduce stress. For more than a thousand years, people have meditated to find a state of calm. Mindfulness meditation is about being in the moment. You allow yourself to experience every thought, sensation, and breath. You then accept those thoughts and feelings without judgment. Experience it, let it go, then allow yourself to experience the next moment.
Various studies show that mindfulness fights anxiety, depression, and stress. It even strengthens the immune system and reduces pain. Since entrepreneurship often requires long hours of work, keeping your immune system strong is imperative.
Take better care of yourself. It might be tempting to fuel yourself up with coffee, skip sleep, and subsist on questionable food. However, lack of sleep impairs your cognitive processes. You won’t think as clearly when making important decisions. Sleepiness also makes it difficult to regulate emotions like anxiety. Prioritize your health.
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