Hey Gorgeous,
If you’re an entrepreneur, I’ll take the wild guess that you’re rockin’ and visible on social media. You show the world what you’re up to, and you look good doing it. But what do you do when you’re not doing well? What happens when all of your personal growth work blows up in your face and you find yourself at the bottom of an emotional roller coaster- ashamed, scared, and alone? Don’t worry sister, I’ve got your back.
I call this moment, the crash. For some entrepreneurs this is the end, but for the extraordinary, this is Grace. With the right perspective you can experience the bottom of your emotional rollercoaster as a rite of passage into your leadership. When you safely transition through these dark times you find out who you really are. This is where your authentic mission can finally unfold.
From one emotional woman leader to another, I have some tips for you to move through the entrepreneur blues in healthy and responsible ways. If you take these tips to heart, you’ll be able to leverage your uncomfortable emotions into higher levels of peace, happiness, and creativity.
Get Out of the Funk – 12 Things You Can Do Right Now To Turn Around Your Mood Today
Number #5 is my favorite – Get your free checklist when you sign up below
I know the emotional landscape of entrepreneurship well. From my own experience first hand, to coaching in my private practice and retreats, I can tell you that choosing this path of entrepreneurship is NOT easy. It’s not for the faint of heart. Anxiety, overwhelm, fear, or sadness are typical emotions to experience while running a business, and if you don’t experience those feelings, you’re either lying to yourself or avoiding.
This blog is designed to demystify those feelings so you can leverage them to your advantage.
Years ago, when faced with painful emotions, I would numb out through prescription medication, drinking, unhealthy relationship dynamics, or total avoidance through TV and other distractions. I kept my emotions inside, and as you can guess, those methods made my anxieties and emotional pains worse. Here’s why.
Emotions are meant to move. The root of the word is from the French, “Emouvoir,” which simply means, “to move”. Not only does it take TONS of energy to keep your emotions stagnant and hidden inside, but denying them have harmful effects on your body and spirit. When we push away, avoid, or ignore our uncomfortable emotions, they will always find a way out when we least expect it which could look like depression, insomnia, anxiety, anger explosions, or addictions. In other words, when those repressed feelings are triggered, you’ll find yourself acting out in ways that don’t align with your highest good. Trust me, I’ve been there.
Here are 10 Ways to deal with your entrepreneur blues in healthy and responsible ways (so you can get back in the game and make a positive difference in the world)
Tip #1: Get Real and Breathe. I invite you to take a slow, delicious breath. Like… right now. Close your eyes and take some delight in the stillness of your being. When you tune in to this sweet spot, you’ll notice spaciousness open up inside. The space to hold the noise, judgments, and worries. As you continue to breathe, pay attention to your body and the different sensations you notice inside. This is the process of getting real. When you connect with the physical sensations in the body, your stories, judgments, and worries begin to disappear. When we take that conscious breath, we get closer to our own personal truth. The judgmental story of, “I’m such a failure and I stand no chance at succeeding,” can transform into the truth: “I’m sad right now.” Notice the difference in energy. When we drop into what’s real, we can do our work.
Tip #2: Choose This Experience. If you can’t be with your feelings, your emotions are going to get the best of you and you’ll slip into longer periods of depression, anxiety, and even more worry than you started. Trying to change your feelings is like putting a fire out with a blowtorch. My invitation for you is to choose your current state instead of pushing it away. Making this conscious choice is necessary, because this tells your spirit that you’re willing to let go of control. Your suffering ends when you accept where you’re at.
Tip #3: Welcome Your Pain. As human beings we all have emotions and it’s important to give them space, even when your emotions are painful. This “welcoming meditation” is an opportunity to welcome what is. Find a sacred space, and make a commitment to focus in on your uncomfortable emotion for 5-20 minutes. Some uncomfortable emotions might be fear, sadness, jealousy, anger, anxiety, overwhelm, dread, heartbreak, frustration, or grief etc. Locate the feeling in the body with your felt sensations. Stay out of story, and take your thinking cap off. Simply feel the uncomfortable emotion with patience and presence. This act, as scary and uncomfortable as it might feel, will help you calm down. When you return to the body and are a total yes to what’s happening, as scary as it might be, you mind can let go, and your judgments will dissolve. Notice how your overwhelming feelings evolve and shift as you put your welcoming presence on it.
Tip #4: Emotional Release. This is probably the most important step: letting your emotions move. Give yourself permission to release your emotions through crying, (safely) punching your pillows, or even screaming into a pillow. If you feel resistant to doing this, I get it. This probably sounds ridiculous. But the truth is, the greater the resistance, the greater the wound. Put on a song that evokes your emotion at hand, and give yourself the space to let go. Feel your body and its natural impulse, and then let it out. Stay fully present during this process; before, during and after. It’s called emotional release for a reason- you’ll feel a great amount of relief after just 90 seconds of crying, punching, or screaming. By moving your emotions, you’ll free up your energy and create new space inside.
Tip #5: Stop Asking Why, and Allow. When you question where you’re at and try and change your experience you’ll go down a rabbit hole of shame by making yourself wrong. Questioning is a way that your ego hijacks your experience. Questioning where you’re at is a form of resistance, and resistance is the nemesis to self-love and presence. What you resist persists. The invitation is to compassionately accept where you’re at and find love ASAP. Notice what happens when you consciously allow all of your experience? Allowing the critic, allowing the fear, allowing the pain, allowing the comparison. Love yourself madly in this space and give yourself a break!
Tip #6: Find Connection. Suffering happens when we experience ourselves as separate from source, as separate from the goodness of the world. When we isolate, we suffer. The human spirit is meant for connection! You might be super connected with the world via social media, but it’s way too easy to keep your overwhelming thoughts and painful emotions at bay when we’re spending most of our time online. So, find a way to reconnect to Source in a way that’s right for you, and then, reconnect in real time with REAL human beings who can love you, hug you, and support you.
Tip #7: Be Vulnerable and Expose Your Darkness. Open up to those you love and trust with the intention to share how you’re really doing, without making yourself wrong. Shine light on the ugly, scary, shadows that you would never share publicly. Why? Your shadows (like shame, fear, or anger) THRIVE in the dark, but when you expose them and speak about them, their overwhelming qualities subside. They aren’t shadows when you shine light on them, it’s like turning a light on in a dark room. When your shadows are heard, witnessed, and held by someone you love and trust, you’ll notice immediate transformation and relief, and new lightness will come through. .
Exposing your darkness helps your pain transform. When you expose your fear you get to see how courageous you truly are. When you share about your shame you’ll get to know your worth. When you claim your anger, you’ll unleash your unshakeable passion. Honesty & connection are your ingredients here, the catalysts for transformation. Never underestimate the power of being seen and heard for who you are and what you’re going through. You shadows will transform before your eyes, and your vulnerability will give those around you permission to be their own authentic selves as well.
Tip #8: Get Crystal Clear on What You Need. Your suffering is an expression of an unmet need. A need that wasn’t met years and years ago, a need that is coming back now to remind you of your power. What are some basic human needs? Belonging. Independence. Cooperation. Understanding. Safety. Relaxation. To be heard. To be seen. When you’re clear on what you need, you can get what you want. It’s that simple. Take some time now to follow your suffering back to an unmet need, and then in your own time, find a way to give yourself what you need without any guilt.
#9 Delegate to End Overwhelm. Emotions tend to blow up in our faces when try to accomplish everything on our own. When we get overwhelmed, our sanity doesn’t stand a chance. As feminine leaders, we need spaciousness and mental clarity to safely explore our emotions, but when we’re overwhelmed our emotions will pile up and then explode when we least expect it. My invitation for you is to let go of any activities or chores that no longer light you up through the art of DELEGATION.
We get what we focus on. When you’re focused on accomplishing everything including making dinner for four, doing the laundry, grocery shopping, and running a business, chances are your business will not function at the highest level you desire because you’re spread too too thin! This is not a recipe for success, this is a recipe for emotional breakdowns. I’m calling you forth to hand over any activities that don’t serve you so you can function at the highest vibration of creativity, power, and love. What activities can you delegate to others? Laundry? Virtual Assistant services? Cooking? You deserve this, trust me.
Tip #10: Self-Care. If you fall in the camp of the successful women entrepreneurs who stay very busy and efficient most of the day, but forget to nourish, feed, or love your body, this tip is for you. You cannot achieve the level of impact and success you desire without a high functioning body and mind. You must make your self-care a priority. I’ve heard it all before: “I’m in the middle of a launch, I don’t have time for a massage. I don’t have time for yoga.” These are excuses. Do you have the time to feel like crap in the lowest state of creativity and power? I think not. Adding one hour of exercise, meditation, or even a massage will add more creative hours to your day because your brain and entire nervous system will be more effective and efficient. Skipping out on self-care is skipping out on your highest, creative potential.
Like I mentioned before, your emotions are meant to move, and when you stay stagnant and still behind the computer, your emotions get stuck! Get your body moving and trust what opens up as a result. If you stick with a self-care routine as a non-negotiable, I guarantee you’ll have more facility over your emotions because you’ll feel steady as opposed to all over the place.
Now, back to you, lady. Where in life are you abandoning your needs and self-care?
You have a special gift that the world needs, and others will heal by you being the greatest expression of yourself. When you’re overworked, stressed, overwhelmed, or worse, AVOIDING the pain you’re actually feeling, you block your real gifts from coming through.
Give yourself the gift of self-love and acceptance, and see what opens up. You’ll be amazed.
Much love,
Chrissy
P.S. Need to get out of the funk, like.. NOW? Download my checklist: “Get Out of the Funk.” I share a 12 step checklist for emotional entrepreneurs to get back in the game when they’ve been lost in a dark hole of depression, anxiety, or fear. Download it now so you can feel like yourself again and make the difference you want to make in the world, FINALLY!
Get Out of the Funk – 12 Things You Can Do Right Now To Turn Around Your Mood Today
Number #5 is my favorite – Get your free checklist when you sign up below
Get Outta the Funk
12 Things You Can Do Right Now To Turn Around Your Mood
Number #6 is my favorite – Get your free checklist when you sign up below.
