THE DARK SIDE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Recognising the 5 Signs of Entrepreneurial Anxiety

By Sashka Hanna-Rappl

In German, the term for self-employment is Selbständig. As I was growing up, I associated this term with power, innovation, freedom, stamina and a lot of masculinity and after moving to Austria in 1996, where I learned how to speak, read and write in German; I picked up on how self-employment was viewed different to me.

The direct translation of Selbständig is referred to as 'Ständig Selbst'. This is translated to Alone, You and Repeatedly.

1 REPEATEDLY ALONE

I made the observation that self-employment was seen as a lonely, time-consuming and nonrewarding position to be in. Admittedly, being an entrepreneur does entail working long(er) hours; or what is sometimes referred to as the “hustle”.

What is not seen is that being in business allows you to work towards personal freedom to earn your own money, make your own rules, work your own hours and be your own boss of you.

Despite this, there is a very dark side to entrepreneurship: Anxiety, Depression and Loneliness.

2 NEVER GIVE UP

Social media is plastered with quotes and motivational videos showing the “Legends of Business”, who say: “Never give up!”, “Keep going”, “Good things come to those that get off their butt and do something!”, "Always believe in your dreams!"

As recently as this month, Lady Gaga won her Oscar for Best Original Song and said,

“I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit and hoped I'd fail. I said to him someday, when we’re not together, you won’t be able to order a cup of coffee at the fucking deli without hearing or seeing me.” - Lady Gaga

This shows us that we can achieve 'that' status if we just don't give up. No matter what. What we don't see is that those Greats and Legends went through anxiety and depression by 'never giving up and pushing through'.

3 DOING

When you’re in a constant state “doing”, you are driven repeatedly towards the state of ‘alone’. You take on more. You fall down or fail. You get back up and put your crown back on. And... go back to the same energetic state.

Your mind, body and soul aren’t given the space to rest or recuperate. To be able to work through what you’ve learned and the steps to take next, you need to allow yourself the decision-making time that will benefit you; rather than keep you in an addictive state of “doing”.

4 OVER-ACHIEVER

As an over-achiever, empath and highly sensitive; you never allow the chance to change the pattern. You are hardwired for one action: do, do, do. Why? Because doing equals success, freedom, and happiness.

There is a lot of shadow work that hides within the corners of overachiever’s lives. To compensate you indulge a bit in self-care: massages, days off, good food and company. But, it never really 'hits the spot' because you're not working on the root cause.

The Greats and Legends we admire will tell you that on their rise to fame, it was exceptionally hard. That they fell into anxiety and depression because of constantly doing.

Until they realised that in order to survive, they HAD to infuse themselves with a dose of TENACITY and SUPPORT!

And not the kind of tenacity to keep doing. But the kind to be tenacious about saying NO.

Over-achievers will always take on one more task because they know they can handle it. Not realising that each “one more” leads to another energetic change.

Too often entrepreneurs have their focus so set on that goal in the future: financial and personal freedom, recognition, admiration, success and don't realise that life is in the present.

Learning to be tenacious in saying NO, doesn't make you weak. Being tenacious in saying NO sets boundaries.

When your creativity isn't flowing, you have NO reason to keep pushing to do!

Instead, switch off and surround yourself with those things and people that fill you up.

The term 'fill you up' is what should make your heart sing: For an overachiever this is going to take some practice. Being able to fill yourself up with joy, happiness, laughter and things that 'used' to give you so much fulfilment, needs to be rekindled. You need to let go and BE.

How? Go back to the root. You HAVE to be around people that spark those things that once gave you fulfilment to get you out of the rut of doing.

Over-achievement is an addiction that can take your life, literally and figuratively. Being tenacious enough to say NO to things that can rob you of filling yourself up, will allow you to find a space you will learn to be AND do.

5 PURPOSE

Entrepreneurs always chase the dream. That dream is very closely linked to a profession. But what if I asked you to strip yourself of your profession, values, emotions, feelings, talents and gifts. What would you be left with? What would you be selling as an entrepreneur?

Not many can answer this. Because, “purpose” has always been linked to your ‘profession’. If you're not fulfilling your profession, you slowly slip into a state of entrepreneurial anxiety with nasty habits that break you down.

Entrepreneurs can be led to a state of taking their own lives, as they feel that they haven't done enough, been enough, and so many more reasons.

To combat the entrepreneurial anxiety, it's important to focus on two things: Love and Purpose.

These two words, and the actions involved, are a journey on their own.

You learn to live NOW. You learn that you're not alone. You learn that you are supported and loved, in all that you do. Because as human beings, we weren’t born to be alone.

By living in the present, you create new habits of not being anxious on your entrepreneurial journey but rather loving, being, doing it all purposefully.

This support isn't just for the elite or rich. It's for those that just choose it.

Sashka Hanna-Rappl

Sashka Hanna-Rappl

Sashka Hanna-Rappl is a leadership accelerator and branding-marketing strategist, edutainer, author and speaker, serving creative visionaries in the lifestyle market, who want to go from no-name to brand leadership without selling their soul but leading with it.

Her signature approach is to Brand Your Soul® using Soul Brand Marketing®. Her methods are creative, wise, humorous and imaginative, to help lifestyle entrepreneurs create and market their unforgettable brand that is tailored to the entrepreneur rather than the profession. Ultimately, to be understood in a crowded market.

My Mission is to show Creative Visionary Underdogs that their Ideas are worth fighting for.

To show that they are Leaders and that they ARE good enough. To go from misunderstood to Thought Leaders.

www.brandsashka.com