Feeling overwhelmed is very common for entrepreneurs.
It is no secret that entrepreneurs often work 60-hour weeks. This constant focus on the business with all the tasks at hand can often be stressful.
When you have to manage one business that is hard enough. Yet, many business owners I’ve worked with have many businesses in different markets.
It’s not hard to imagine the amount of sheer volume of work that can often be overwhelming to them. Yet despite this, there are some entrepreneurs who don’t struggle with overwhelm. What do they do different?
Below you will uncover a variety of factors causing your overwhelm and exactly what to do to overcome it.
1. Set too high expectations
It is ironic that often this pressure you put on yourself is so high, that you end up procrastinating. The very expectations you set actually cause you to fear not being able to reach them.
If this resonates with you, then you most likely have a tendency to be a perfectionist. This is great in that you pay attention to detail, aim to get things right first time and never want to fail.
Yet, when it comes to your own expectations you will always fall short. No one can reach perfection.
The solution: Take steps to overcome perfectionism by watching : how to stop being a perfectionist:
This will give you the exact steps you need to take to overcome your tendency to want everything to be perfect.
2. Focusing on the fear
Fear of failure,
Fear of not being good enough
Fear of not being able to provide for your family
These are a few fears of many, that business owners I have worked with face. It’s this fear above all else that makes entrepreneurs feel stressed.
When you focus on the fear it often gets worse. This leads you down a negative spiral of emotions.
The hardest part about this, is that the very circumstances you fear often become a reality. The mind can’t tell the difference between imagination and reality. This is where self-sabotage kicks in.
For example, have you ever told an employee to not screw up a presentation. Then what happens? They completely mess up the presentation!
In their mind, they are thinking don’t screw up; don’t make a mistake. This fear when focused on too much actually creates the exact results that they fear most.
It’s no wonder that entrepreneurs focusing on their fears feel overwhelmed.
The solution: You must learn to direct your mind as opposed to allowing it to control you.
This is one of the key modules we cover in the Entrepreneur’s Lifestyle Accelerator.
3. Meeting the expectations of others.
This becomes magnified into a feeling of overwhelm if you have a tendency to want to please other people. It is a great recipe for disaster.
People pleasing is a great skill when everyone agrees. But, often there are conflicts of interest in your business. If you please one side, it will disappoint another.
For a person that is a pleaser there is nothing more overwhelming in life than these double binds. You will often feel paralysed in your decision-making as you have no idea what to do.
You feel that you are letting people down. You are losing control of the business and you aren’t being the leader you want to be. This in turn can lead to even more unwanted negative emotions.
Solution: You must learn to let go of people pleasing
There are many struggles of being a people pleaser and some exact steps to take to overcome it. Learn about these steps in the 8 lifestyle blocks, preventing your business success.
4. You have no me time
You don’t have time to unwind, distress and detach from the business. This is even more common now due to us being able to access one another in a click of a button.
When issues arise, people can immediately get hold of you. This can cause you to work over time, which causes a lot of imbalance in your life.
You are working on weekends, interrupted at dinners and leave activities early. You do all this, to deal with crisis in the business.
Although this can be a must on the odd occasion, in the long term it creates a much larger issue.
The business becomes dependent on you. This will cause you to burn out.
You need a clear vision for what you want your lifestyle to be like as you run the business in the future. This helps you maintain a profitable business, whilst also taking time off. For more resources on this check out the Entrepreneur Lifestyle Accelerator
5. Health deteriorating
You some exercise but you most of your time is working. You are in meetings, travelling and expanding the business. The issue that arises is this also leads to overwhelm.
If you do not prioritise your health, you will start to think slower. You will have a lower tolerance of stress, and be inefficient in your business.
I am guessing you want to create sustainable business success without burning out? Then your health MUST be a priority
If you could pay for your team to be 30% more productive how much would you pay? My guess is A LOT of money.
By starting to prioritise your health as a leader you will improve your business not 30% but much, much more.
The business will improve, you will be in a better mood and you’ll even have more sleep! Even more important, you’ll have less stress, anxiety and overwhelm.
Solution: Prioritise your health
Read more about prioritising health and maintaining energy throughout the day here: How to maintain energy throughout the day as an entrepreneur
6. No system to help organise yourself
You are living in reaction without a system to organise yourself. This means that day-to-day you spend time putting out fires in your business. You are responding, as opposed to working on long term business expansion.
There are so many different projects, ideas as well issues that occur when running a business. Yet most business owners store everything they need to do in their minds. Do you do the same thing?
You remember everything you need to do in your head. You write some items down but your list keeps changing. You feel like you never get a break to actually organise everything you need to.
You feel like you are being pulled in many directions.
You are not alone. 83% of business owners spend the majority of their time living in reaction too.
Yet, just because most business owners feel overwhelmed, doesn’t mean you have to be this way too.
Solution: Create a system that works for you.
Don’t attempt to use a system that you can’t adapt to your circumstances. For a system for entrepreneurs, check out the Ultimate Life Management System.
7. Feel you can do everything
If this relates to you, then I imagine you are doing all the most important tasks in your business. The truth is you are the business.
If you stopped working no money would come in. You are currently a business operator. A business operator works in the business. A business owner works on the business.
This is a very important distinction to make.
The truth is that at this point you are working in your business. You are self-employed by the business. How much time you have in the day limits you, which means you feel like you can’t get enough tasks done.
This often occurs when you are not able to trust people and want to always be in control. You doubt whether people can do the job you assigned them.
You either end up doing the tasks yourself or micromanaging your team. You may do this to such an extent, that you might as well never give them the task in the first place!
It is this feeling of wanting to be in control that will bring you waves of overwhelm. Especially when the world is changing so fast that it is hard to keep up.
Maybe you are wondering how to get out of this vicious cycle?
Solution: Learn to let go of control
Letting go of control is one of the most challenging parts of being an entrepreneur. You start to give control to other people who will represent your business. For help with this, visit our Entrepreneur Lifestyle Accelerator. Here we take entrepreneurs through a step by step process to overcome the need to control.
In conclusion, there are many different reasons for feeling overwhelmed in business. Whatever is causing destructive overwhelm in your life, make sure to address it.
The key here is to overcome these issues step by step to create more freedom in your life. This helps expand the business, and allows you to live an extra-ordinary lifestyle.
To learn more about overcoming overwhelm, visit: The Entrepreneur Lifestyle Accelerator
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