By Lenka Hanzelova, Business Psychologist, Therapist & Coach 
 
As a business owner, you are hardly ever concerned about your mental health and wellbeing. Yet, you are more exposed to the risk of your mental health being negatively affected, than employees with steady employment. This is because you experience more instability and unpredictability than employees, you are under more financial pressure and you have responsibility for those to whom you pay. You have lower ‘job security’ than others and when things don’t go according to plan, you not only lose your regular income, you also have to repay any debts you might have. 
As we slowly emerge from the pandemic, it is important to stop and reflect about how your mental health has been affected and what you can do to improve it. 
 
Here are 7 ways that you can improve your mental health and wellbeing... 
 
1. Look for ways to increase stability in your life 
 
Anxiety is directly correlated to instability and worry about current or future situation. Therefore, you are more likely to experience anxiety than others. 
 
When times are great, you are flying, when times are not so great, you are down, struggling to get up. So, what can you do about it? 
 
One way to decrease your anxiety is by increasing stability in your life. Look at the below areas of your life and mark on a scale 1 to 5 (one being the least) the level of stability you experience in each: 
 
• Your family life 
• Your finances 
• Your home (do you have a secure home, do you rent…) 
• Your health 
• Your work (do you have regular clients etc.) 
• Your love life 
• Your friends and social network (do you have people to talk to..) 
 
Now think about every area and write down what you can do to improve stability in each or at least some of them. For example, if you feel your relationship is constantly up and down, what can you improve in your relationship to create more stability. Can you perhaps sit down with your partner and have more quality time, or can you arrange a session with a counsellor who can help you establish a better communication? 
 
If you are struggling with finances, because your business has been affected by the pandemic, can you perhaps find alternate income stream that gives you more stability, such as occasional consulting work, part time work, or other? 
 
These are just couple of examples to mention, however the possibilities for increasing your stability are endless. 
 
2. Create effective work structure 
 
There is a tendency for business owners to work all sorts of hours. You wake up, you make your coffee and the next minute you are sitting at your computer, working away. The problem is that often it is 9pm and you are still working. It is Saturday lunchtime, and you are working again and on Sunday morning you check your emails again, just to make sure that nothing new has arrived in your inbox. And when you are not working, you think about work, which again feels like working. 
 
If you are an entrepreneur, put a good structure in to make sure you work only during certain hours a day and then you switch off from work both physically and mentally. 
 
3. Allow yourself to be in the present moment 
 
This is often easier said than done. Stop worrying about what you need to do, about where the next client comes from, about your family, money or future. Allow yourself time each day, when you slow down completely and you get lost in doing something you enjoy. This can be going for a walk, observing the nature, reading a book, having a bath, playing guitar or by spending quality time with your partner and children. 
 
4. Surrender and give up your expectations 
 
You have your business strategy and a plan and you know exactly where you want your business to be in one, three, five years’ time. Except that things don’t work that way. Unexpected things, such as the current pandemic, happen. At other times, more often than not, the business does not grow as fast as you would like it to. 
 
The truth is that it hardly ever does. So, while you do have your plan, learn to be flexible and to surrender to life, and don’t beat yourself up if the plan does not happen the way you thought it would. 
 
5. Pat yourself on the back! 
 
Reflect on your life and your journey so far and pat yourself on the back. Often, we have goals at both, personal and professional life. However, once we reach our goals, we do not stop to reflect and appreciate our journey, what we have achieved, but rather we set new goals. This often leads to dissatisfaction and anxiety, as life becomes like chasing a carrot on a stick. 
 
So, learn to appreciate what you have, rather than constantly chasing the carrot. 
 
6. Find a silver lining in everything that has happened to you and be grateful for what you have 
 
Life is full of unpredictability and often our experiences are painful, such as when your business is struggling, for you put your whole heart and soul into it. However, you can find positives in every situation. For example, a positive for not being able to work is that you spend more quality time with your children or you take up a new hobby. So, I recommend finding three positives and three things you are grateful for each day. 
 
7. Find yourself a counsellor, therapist or a coach 
 
Under HMRC regulations, counselling and wellbeing services are exempt from tax and NI, as they want to promote things that are aimed to help you improve your wellbeing. If you feel that the pressure gets too much, arrange one on one session with a qualitied counsellor or a coach, with whom you can confidentially discuss your situation. Many of them have business backgrounds, so they fully understand what you are going though and they can help you make positive changes in an effective, structured way. 
 
If you would like to make positive changes in your mental health and wellbeing, your personal or professional life, please get in touch and arrange a call. Call us on 07942 626960 or email contact@wellbeingcentrelondon.com to book your consultation. 
 
We provide sessions Online, via Phone or Face to Face at our therapy room in Putney Bridge, Fulham, South West London. 
 
Lenka Hanzelova 
is a Business Psychologist (M.Sc.), a Life and Career Coach, and a Therapist with over 10 years’ experience helping leaders and individuals from all walks of life make positive change. 
 
Lenka offers bespoke personal therapy & coaching packages of support for individuals and employees which can include Life Coaching, Career Coaching, Clinical Hypnotherapy, NLP, Integral Eye Movement Therapy or Psychometric profiling such as Myers Briggs and Saville Wave. 
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