From stress
to success
Running your own business is stressful at the best of times, let alone during a crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic so, it’s more than timely that a local author has recently published an award-winning book designed to offer hope and practical advice to anybody who is feeling burnt out, ANGELA KEMP reports.
If you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed, you are not alone. Although life has largely returned to normal for most of us, few entrepreneurs are seeing ‘business as usual’ let alone increasing demand for their goods and services.
those years as a deputy principal, before becoming a top performing real estate agent. That’s when she experienced the kind of stress that just won’t let you sleep.
For some there is a very real threat of business closure even if they’ve survived so far. We only have to look at the empty shops and units in our own area to see the economic effects of coronavirus.
“I’d lie awake, excited about my business but longing for my brain to slow down and stop fixating on events of the day, and what I should and shouldn’t have done, and what I needed to do tomorrow.
Someone who is hoping to lend a helping hand is Karaka resident Linda Wells, author of Transforming Your Stress into Business Success: Take Back Control, Regain Balance, Fuel Your Success.
“I was suffering physically, which often happens with pent-up anxiety and, in my case, my hair began falling out in clumps. I realised that what I really wanted – and needed – was success without the stress!”
It’s just been named as one of the best career books of 2020 in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group, the world’s largest book awards programme for self-published authors and independent publishers.
Linda spent a lot of time learning to break down the components of anxiety and find a way to help her mind relax. Meanwhile, as she coached promising sales agents she realised that stress was everywhere.
“I know from my own experience how overwhelming stress can be, and I’m committed to helping people to have better lives,” says Linda. She spent more than 20 years in teaching and management roles within Bay of Plenty and Waikato secondary schools, the last four of
10 | south | august 2020
“All around me in real estate I could see the results of stress which wasn’t handled well – there were relationships collapsing, people drinking too much as a means of escape, and often spending too much money as well.” After 11 years she decided to leave real estate and study to become a highly-skilled mindset practitioner.
“I know from my own experience how overwhelming stress can be, and I’m committed to helping people to have better lives.”
As a business behavioural specialist, Linda has innovated a unique method of action and gives presentations, seminars, and workshops to businesses and groups throughout New Zealand, Australia, and North America. She is also a highly sought-after motivational speaker and coach. In her book Linda shares how she learned to control her personal stress and how she has helped her clients to do the same. She says Covid-19 aside, the strategies and techniques in the book are relevant at any stage. Stress needs to be stopped in its tracks before it quickly builds into something which is very difficult to manage without qualified help. “The weight of uncertainty, that feeling of how can I deal with the
unknown with what I don’t know, is possibly the most difficult emotion to handle right now. Yet you cannot be 100% certain of anything so focus on what you can control. “One of the best strategies is to take control of your response to what’s going on. There are 16 excellent chapters in the book giving you practical techniques on how to do this, for example becoming comfortable with uncertainty; controlling anxious thoughts; keeping calm under pressure.” She recommends scheduling time and activities to stop over-thinking and start taking action as a way to regain control of the day. Develop healthy habits of eating, sleeping and relaxing and seek help from trusted people. During her teaching years, Linda was heavily involved in netball – playing, coaching and achieving a New Zealand Netball umpire’s award. When not speaking, coaching or travelling she says she enjoys curling up with a good book, working for charity, walking and spending time with family and friends. “My big mantra, which is behind everything I do, is ‘in order to do more, you need to do less’.” www.southmagazine.co.nz
