Feroza Aitken is the Founder of Thriving Founders and Certified Systemic Wellness Coach, known for brainwashing people into believing into themselves. She worked in the banking industry for 10 years before leaving to open her first business, a beauty salon. She then worked for a brief period for a telecommunications company in Europe before returning to SA.
Entrepreneurship is commonly glorified, often thought to bring a great sense of fulfilment and a ticket to the financial freedom many seek but it has been proven to be a long and complicated road with a psychological price attached that many unknowingly pay.
The road to business success is often secluded and riddled with stress that if not dealt with effectively can eventually lead to burnout resulting in the opposite of what was originally intended. Burnout is shown to take a tremendous toll in all areas of our lives and impacts our ability to function at an optimal level. Entrepreneurs possess admirable qualities but oftentimes these same qualities can be to our own detriment and can affect other parts of our lives.
Burnout can be defined as emotional, physical and mental exhaustion. The zeal you once had for your business now turns to indifference that won’t be solved by taking a weekend off. Studies have shown that burnout affects our brains and thereby our response, leading to a decrease in productivity. A decrease in productivity leads to a decrease in business objectives that directly impacts your bottom line and can trickle down from leadership to the rest of your organisation.
A demotivated leader leads to a demotivated team and ultimately results in mediocre output and this could affect the most essential part of the business, your customers. This also puts a strain on both business and personal relationships. You feel even more demotivated at the results and so the cycle continues.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, things have drastically changed, the business sector has not been unaffected. There is an increased focus and need for well-being in the business arena from leadership to employees proven by the great resignation but customers have also become more conscious. A survey by UC Berkeley indicated that a staggering 72% of entrepreneurs suffer from mental health problems.
The alarming percentage is reason enough for the need to implement well-being in entrepreneurship. Well-being is linked to more vigorous action, reducing procrastination. It builds resilience and generates healthy behaviours. It helps us to establish positive and productive relationships with our fellow entrepreneurs, suppliers and workers improving overall morale in dealing with you and your business and leads to greater retention in employees. All these components are essential for both your business and personal growth. It reduces impulsive decisions resulting in improved decision-making skills and establishes mental clarity.
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By focusing on your well-being, you improve how you show up in different spaces and that in turn affects your personal brand. An improved personal brand has been shown to build trust and improve business opportunities.
There are different dimensions to well-being and daily micro-steps can be implemented. Oftentimes, as entrepreneurs, we say yes to everything in the hopes of securing a contract or to land a paying customer, understandably so as cash is king in business but these short- term wins can have long term consequences.
It can often seem like trying to create a balance is elusive and evading but that depends on how you view it, it seems like there is always so much to do in the fast-paced and ever- changing world of entrepreneurship. This is where we need to train our brains and work on our mindset. Your well-being is what will ultimately allow you to thrive not only in business but in other areas, helping you find creative ways to solve your business difficulties and establish the endurance and resilience to build a profitable business.