10 Tips To Manage Anxiety as an Entrepreneur
“The new normal” is a phrase used to encompass this ambiguous period as we continue navigating the new standards and changes of this pandemic climate. The “new” includes adapting to an ever-changing mask, vaccine, and testing requirements to move about, the influence of the great resignation on the job market, the rise of online micro-businesses, and more.
Amid all of this change, we entrepreneurs are learning to manage anxiety and uncertainty in our personal and professional lives.
Let’s unpack the multiple factors that have placed constraints on entrepreneurs' ability to work, seek support from loved ones, and engage in communities—and explore tips on how to manage these triggers in holistic ways.
The Rise of Online Micro-businesses
According to the Venture Forward report by GoDaddy, Americans created 2.8 million more online micro-businesses in 2020 than in 2019. Online micro-businesses are defined as businesses with a discrete domain name and an active website. About 90% of these online businesses employ fewer than 10 employees, and nearly 17% of the 20 million micro-businesses tracked in the U.S. were started after the onset of the pandemic.
Online micro-business ownership grew fastest among underrepresented groups hit hardest by the economic fallout. Black owners account for 26% of all new micro-businesses, up from 15% before the pandemic. Similarly, women-owned businesses surged to 57% of new micro-business starts, up from 48%. Micro-businesses also became a more popular option for those without a college degree, rising from 36% to 44%.
As a Black businesswoman who dropped out of the graduate program of my dreams due to pandemic pressures, I am a part of the aforementioned demographic. The changing economy permanently shifted my perception on education, employment, careers, and workplaces. It opened my eyes to opportunities beyond traditional routes, such as scaling up my consulting services and pursuing a new passion so that I would not have to depend on a corporation to sustain in times of ambiguity. Navigating the ownership of an existing, service-based brand and a new eCommerce micro-business placed me firmly into the entrepreneur category I wanted, yet never anticipated the challenges these times have presented.
The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship
We closely follow the growth of Fortune 500 companies and celebrate entrepreneurs who succeed in start-up culture because we know the underbelly of incredible pressures and near-debilitating anxiety that comes with every journey. Each of us have read the popular backstories about a college dropout who opened a small natural food store (Whole Foods Market), an electronics hacker and his friend who created personal computers in a garage (Apple), a determined playwright who became homeless after investing everything in a production (Tyler Perry Studios), and the countless other executives who endured before they made it big.
However, there is also access to rarer insights through social media, and specifically through open communication around the mental health toll of entrepreneurship: The pressure of being responsible for the company, its success, its employees, and the customers/clients the business serves. The expectations of being fully committed and available at all times. Tweets, TikTok, Stories, and Reels confessing to the psychological price of entrepreneurship and the safe spaces that contribute to pivots. This honesty helps combat the stigmas associated with mental health challenges.
The Prevalence of Pandemic Stressors
According to a report released by WHO in March, rates of depression and anxiety climbed by more than 25% worldwide during the pandemic. A survey comparing annual data on mental health and workplace well-being found that the number of people reporting depression symptoms has almost quadrupled to 24.3%, symptoms of anxiety have tripled to 25.5%, and over 51% of people reported worse mental health at work since the crisis started.
The distinct stressors introduced by the pandemic include higher ambiguity and uncertainty, information overload, concerns about job security, fear of getting sick, managing an expanded workload, juggling childcare and work, grieving loss of loved ones, and navigating isolation created by social distancing.
10 Tips To Help Manage Anxiety
Despite the psychological price of entrepreneurship and prevalence of pandemic stressors, there are resources to help overcome the pressures of self-employment and continue on the path to success.
As opposed to deeming my diagnosis as a setback, I used the following tips from trusted authors, medically reviewed papers, therapy, members of Forbes Coaches Council, and my eclectic journey to help manage entrepreneurial anxiety.
1. Pay Attention to Your Body’s Stress Signals
When you start to feel stressed in response to a real or perceived challenge or threat (let’s say you get an urgent email from your boss or you hit unexpected traffic on your way to the airport to catch a flight), your sympathetic nervous system reacts, triggering a series of physiological and psychological responses that can change from moment to moment. This fight-or-flight response ultimately has one main effect: to keep you safe by revving you up, heightening your focus, and putting you on alert.
When you feel stressed, the adrenal glands release stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, setting off a cascade of emotional and physical symptoms designed to help you get yourself to safety. In the process, these stress hormones can impact every organ in the body, from your brain to your muscles to the nerve endings in your stomach. - Dr. Justin Laube, Everyday Health
2. Slow Down & Organize Your Thoughts
The second step is to BREATHE, then begin to take stock of what is going on, how it is affecting you, and where you want to go.
Ask yourself these questions: What is the best outcome you’re looking for? Why don’t you think it’s going to go well? What are things you can do to get the most favorable outcome? Is there anyone who can help you?
Once you outline this for yourself, you can then begin the process of solving your issue and managing how you are thinking about the issue. - Marc J. Kelly, Get Out Ya Damn Head: A Guide To Finding Clarity, Regaining Your Focus, & How To Manage Overthinking
3. 15/15/15: Invest in 45 Intentional Minutes of Mindfulness Daily
One of the best practices I learned while actively scaling my consulting business is to take approximately 15 minutes each to recharge mind, body, and spirit daily.
Time for your mind could include meditation, reading, or journaling. Time for your body could involve taking a walk in nature, working out, or spending quality time doing an activity with loved ones. Time for your spirit could involve setting intentions, prayer, or altar work. Carve out the time daily. There is research on the impact of mindfulness meditation for as little as 10 minutes per day. Intentional activities such as this allow us to sustain our executive brain function. - Lisa Marie Jackson, Phoenix Aficionado
4. Tie Every Decision Back To Your Core Purpose
Stay focused on your bigger vision and why you love what you do. Whatever challenge comes along, tie your decision back to your core purpose and passion, and you will know that you’re still on the right path, even when it’s a bit rocky. When we allow the fear and frustration of the day-to-day to take over, we lose sight of our ultimate goal and end up even more disconnected from our vision. - Tonya Echols, Vigere
5. Allow Boundaries To Set You Free
I’ve been a therapist for fourteen years. People don’t come to therapy knowing they have boundary issues. When they walk in the door boundary issues are disguised as issues with self-care, conflicts with other people, trouble with time management, or concerns about how social media impacts their emotional state.
Once they finish their tales of resentment, unhappiness, feeling overwhelmed, and codependency, I say to them gently, “You have an issue with boundaries.” With that, we begin the work of uncovering boundary violations, learning to communicate boundaries to others, and dealing with the discomfort and guilt that comes from asserting yourself. - Nedra Glover Tawwab, Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide To Reclaiming Yourself
6. Build A Strong Advisory Team
You cannot win in business on your own. Entrepreneurs should have key people that help them in business. They need what I call an advisory board to help them with the psychological roadblocks during setbacks and successes. Having key people who will listen, encourage, offer perspective and assist you in staying mindfully on track is imperative to mitigate entrepreneurial anxiety. - John M. O’Connor, Career Pro Inc.
7. Do Only What Only You Can Do
Too many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of thinking that they have to do everything. This sense of being overwhelmed causes a huge amount of anxiety. Early on in your startup, work out what it is that only you can do. Everything else can be delegated. Your willingness to delegate is then inversely proportional to your anxiety. - Simon Ellett, Jager Consulting
8. Celebrate The Wins, No Matter How Small
Entrepreneurs can go down a rabbit hole of overwhelming anxiety pretty easily, but one way to keep your head above water is to identify and celebrate daily wins. When you focus on what is going right—even if it’s just that you showed up and put forth effort into growing your business that day—you begin to gain momentum and confidence. Focusing on the wins results in having more of them. - Elizabeth Pearson, Elizabeth Pearson Executive Coaching
9. Keep Coming Back To Your Why
Being an entrepreneur is not easy and can be very stressful. To keep those burdensome factors from influencing progress, one has to remember the “why.” Why did I start this?
Though it sounds rudimentary, revisiting the answer to that particular question regularly will essentially provide the mental and emotional energy needed to continue until the stated goals are achieved. - Kamyar Shah, World Consulting Group
10. Commit To Vacation Time
Travel should definitely be a part of your self-care routine. Just because technology gives us the freedom to work from anywhere doesn’t mean we need to work from everywhere. Don’t hesitate to use the out-of-office time to relax, especially during challenging periods. Leave your business units at home, hop in the car, turn up your favorite music, and go as near or far as you’d love to enjoy a holiday tapping into what brings you joy. - Lisa Marie Jackson, Travel Jerne
Learning to manage anxiety, especially as an entrepreneur, can be challenging. Hopefully by becoming aware of your needs, fostering healthy self-care and balance practices, seeking open communication with those around you, and striving for true balance in your life and workload, you can begin to manage, sustain, grow, and ultimately heal—despite the challenges of the past few years.
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