You’ll Never Eliminate Anxiety from Your Business Life, But Here’s How to Control It
“Stop worrying about what can go wrong, and get excited about what can go right.”
I’m confident you’ll agree that owning a business such as (but not limited to) a laundromat can be, at times, quite an anxiety-producing experience.
Entrepreneurs often find themselves feeling nervous about the future, mistakes made in the past, or a myriad of other issues and factors too numerous to mention. I’m certain you know exactly what I’m talking about.
So many entrepreneurs have struggled silently with their anxiety – many of them feeling they can’t discuss it and that it’s a personal weakness. It’s not.
In fact, this anxiety or “nervousness” is quite common among business owners. Believe it or not, the capacity for anxiety is inborn and programmed into all of us. It actually served a distinct self-protective purpose during the dawn of humanity.
Here’s the backstory: There is a scientific model called the three-part brain. The idea is that our brains developed in three evolutionary stages. This model assumes the brainstem is the oldest section, which is located at the bottom of the brain and developed when reptiles evolved. Next, the limbic system in the center of our brains, and it developed when mammals first came into being. Lastly, the prefrontal cortex, which is the outer layer at the front of our brains, developed with the onset of primates and humans. We each have all three parts, which is a testament to our evolutionary past.
Each section of the brain has a distinct function. However, regarding anxiety, the prefrontal cortex is the most important. It enables us to be rational, and provides us with the abilities of language and empathy. Its key roles are to anticipate what is about to happen and to plan ahead. Clearly, we wouldn’t be who we are without this portion of our brains.
Anyone who has children or teenagers at home definitely understand that this part of the brain takes a long time to develop. Yes, toddlers learn language, and elementary school kids can understand cause and effect, simple logic, and empathy. But the prefrontal cortex undergoes massive reconstruction during adolescence – which, in brain development terms, lasts from age 12 until about age 24. The prefrontal cortex doesn’t complete its initial development until we’re in our early to mid-20s.
OK, enough with the science lesson. Let’s talk about anxiety…
When you feel anxiety, you may have noticed that not only are you uncomfortable mentally, but often physically as well. Anxiety and fear are natural human emotions. They are our body’s alarm system. They occur in response to situations where we feel we may be in danger or at risk from some type of harm.
It’s important to note that fear is an emotion experienced when we are actually in a dangerous situation, such as nearly getting hit by a car or perhaps losing our wallet. On the other hand, anxiety is an emotion that occurs when we expect or anticipate something unpleasant may happen, such as a negative financial issue, an employee who don’t show up for work, or a competitor opening up down the street.
A perfect analogy is riding a roller coaster. Anxiety is what we would experience as we climb the first steep incline, anticipating that something scary is going to occur soon (going down the other side). Fear is what we experience when we are actually going down that steep decline.
Anxiety not only causes mental distress but also physical distress, which can take many forms. Rapid heartbeat, excessive perspiration, muscle spasms, a feeling of dizziness and headaches are typical. However, the list is endless.
Anxiety is preparing us to flee, freeze or fight. Not in the true sense, but that’s how our brains originally were programmed in order to protect us from danger. Although those prehistoric physical dangers generally no longer exist, our brains still contain the mechanisms that react as though they do.
This “alarm system” has been around for a long time. In fact, we’d likely be extinct by now without it. Because it worked so well for such a long period, it’s well developed and works quickly with little effort. In many ways, it is an automatic response.
We don’t have to think about this response, and we don’t have to deliberately set it off. If we detect or perceive a threat (real or imagined), this response can be immediately activated, whether we want it to or not.
Hopefully, at this point, you can stop being concerned about it when it occasionally occurs – because it’s completely normal. Yes, there are those who suffer from severe anxiety disorders, but for our purposes, I’m talking strictly about the form of anxiety that pops up from time to time, due to events you experience or expect to experience in your business.
As humans, we have the ability to think and use our imaginations to come up with possible scenarios that we may encounter in the future. Of course, these scenarios may or may not occur.
For example, perhaps you’re applying for a line of credit to retool and are concerned that you may not qualify for the funds. Or maybe you’re concerned that a new competitor may move into your market and take away business. If you imagine such events as going bad for you, this type of situation is likely to result in anxiety, even though a negative outcome has not actually occurred; you’ve only imagined that it will happen. Thus, your body’s natural alarm can be activated even if a real threat is not present. And fearing a negative outcome can lead to some type of avoidance behavior.
You may avoid applying for financing or lower vend prices to defend against an imagined competitor appearing on the scene. This type of behavior will interfere with your ability to build a meaningful and positive business life for yourself.
In addition, anxiety can take us out of our present moment. If you’re constantly worried about what negative things could happen, it can distract you from successfully operating your business. Also, if you’re ruminating about something bad all the time, it will impact your relationships with your family, friends, employees and customers.
So, how can you deal with anxiety in an adaptive manner when it appears so that it doesn’t significantly interfere with your life?
First, wrap your arms around it when it occurs, and remember that it’s a natural phenomenon built into your brain. That knowledge in and of itself should reduce your symptoms by giving you a better understanding of the cause.
Other effective things you can do when it occurs are:
- Get some exercise, which will increase the flow of certain brain neurochemicals that will serve to calm you down.
- Practice relaxation techniques, such as breathing exercises.
- Focus only on what you can control, not what you can’t.
- Schedule short regular breaks throughout the day.
- Don’t try to do everything yourself.
- Block out some time every day for when your phone and emails will be turned off.
- Join a local business group to build a support system of peers with whom to share and discuss your common daily challenges.
- Remember that sometimes it is perfectly OK to say “no.”
Also, when feeling nervous, consider the “Pomodoro Technique,” which is a time management method that breaks down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. When feeling anxious or distracted, this technique can help you focus on what really matters. Considering the amount of distractions and stresses entrepreneurs face these days, focus can become a real super power for you.
I’m hoping that you’re already feeling a bit more relaxed and in control of your life and your business. Remember that anxiety is forward-focused on what we imagine might occur – but no amount of it will ever change the future.
