I was about six months into my second attempt at entrepreneurship when I realized that I was suffering from entrepreneurial stress.
I’d had only two clients in six months and not even for the service I was building my business on. Bills were piling up. Financial pressure was mounting. Yet, my calendar was full. Between networking, doing administrative tasks like working on my website, which by the way, my metrics for actually being found were TERRIBLE, posting and scrolling social media, etc. I was working 24/7 trying to keep up with it all.
To be honest, I was spending a lot of my time listening to what others were saying, reading and downloading as many freebies as possible, and I was drowning in all of the things I “needed” to do.
I was stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated.
Then there was the whole issue of why I wasn’t able to sign on coaching clients.
My confidence was plummeting.
I was so consumed with stress that I had forgotten why I was doing even doing this.
During one of my morning journaling sessions, I recalled a conversation with a former colleague.
At the time we were chatting, we were talking about my career and I had mentioned that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. He mentioned that I was amazing at being the support behind the team. We chatted about how I had created and implemented systems that saved everyone time and gave us access to information in a quick and easy way.
Reducing the Stress
As Les Brown says, “help others achieve their dreams and you will achieve yours.” I did just that. I stopped focusing on my own business and shifted my focus on growing others’ and this was just what I needed.
With all of the knowledge I had acquired while I was watching every webinar, reading all of the free resources, and trying to learn everything I possibly could about building a business, I had those resources, as well as my years of administrative experience that would help me to help other entrepreneurs.
The entrepreneurial journey doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
When I speak to my clients, I remind them to break it down into manageable steps and to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
My resourcefulness and creativity help me to brainstorm ways to keep growing.
If you are a new entrepreneur feeling stressed out, find the support you need. Keep going. You’ve got this. XO