I’ll let you in on a little secret. I didn’t set any goals this year. While I know the importance of goals and having a clear-cut business path to achieve those goals, my heart just wasn’t in it. I had lost my exuberance and passion for what I was doing.
Part of this was because of my struggles with infertility. It had been 13 months since I had the surgery to correct my Asherman’s Syndrome (uterine adhesions), and while everything looked good, still no positive pregnancy test.
If you’ve ever dealt with any sort of infertility, you know how the monthly roller coaster of hope, excitement, and disappointment can wear you down both mentally and emotionally.
Besides dealing with the infertility issues, our family cat went missing on New Year’s Day; we think that a coyote attacked him. Along with all of this emotional stress, I had been relying on sweets and caffeine for a pick-me-up, and the cumulative effect was not good. I was depressed, anxious, and moody. I didn’t feel happy – which is not a normal thing for me.
I knew that I had to do something – I felt terrible; I felt like giving up.
Life is unpredictable, you can plan and schedule, but you never know what’s going to come your way. So what can you do when life hands you lemons?
Here are some personal and business tips that can help to get you back on track when you feel like giving up.
1. Exercise
Although my energy was at an all-time low, I knew from personal experience that exercise would help me to feel better. Exercise has many stress-reducing effects, from increasing your endorphins (your body’s natural feel-good chemicals) to help you sleep better. Exercise has even been credited as a meditation method. According to the Mayo Clinic, “As you begin to regularly shed your daily tensions through movement and physical activity, you may find that this focus on a single task, and the resulting energy and optimism, can help you remain calm and clear in everything that you do.”
2. Supplements
While the exercise helped reduce my stress a little, I needed a major pick-me-up. So I purchased Dr. James Wilson’s book, Adrenal Fatigue. A friend of mine had told me about the book nine months prior, and I had always meant to purchase it but never did because it wasn’t an urgent need at the time.
I read the book in one day and started to implement many of Dr. Wilson’s suggestions immediately. Part of this was taking lots of recommended vitamins and supplements. I can’t even begin to explain how much this helped; within a couple of weeks, I started to feel like a new person. If you’re feeling stressed, anxious, and rundown, I highly suggest reading his book or seeing a holistic doctor that can get you on the supplements that your body needs.
3. Less Caffeine and Sugar
This is a big topic with a lot of physiological details, but for our purposes, we’re just going to skim over the main idea. In Dr. Wilson’s book, he talks about the importance of cutting out sugar and caffeine because of their instant boost, then crash and burn effect.
When you’re already feeling stressed and anxious, caffeine can add to the problem by creating sleep disturbances, increased anxiety, and palpitations. Whereas sugar can cause weight gain, decreased immune function, and a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating.
Try switching your morning coffee with some green tea or herbal tea and make that morning cup of java an occasional treat. As for the sweets, they are hard to give up, but after a couple of weeks of not having them, your body doesn’t crave them as much. Just like working out, you have to put in the hard work to get the stress-relieving benefits, but once you do, it’s so worth it. Along with this, a healthy diet is a must, but that’s enough information for a whole other blog post.
Related Content: 4 Healthy Eating Tips for Work-at-Home Women
4. Get a Mentor
Now that you’ve got your mind in a more positive position, it’s time to focus on your business and regain that passion. One of the best ways to do this is to get a mentor, a business coach, or join a mastermind group. While you may be thinking you don’t have the time or money to invest, there are literally thousands of coaches, groups, and programs, and there will be one that fits your specific needs. Over the years, I’ve purchased many courses and mastermind groups. Having a mentor helps give your business clarity; it can reignite your passion and give you a solid foundation for success. Just remember, you have to actually put in the work for it to pay off, just like exercise.
5. Letting Go
Sometimes when we’re hung up on a particular issue, the best thing to do is to hand it over to our higher power and let it go. Everything happens for a reason, and often we need to trust that it’s all going to work out the way it is meant to be. While we may not understand why certain things happen, we can focus our energy on the positive and appreciate the good things that are in our lives; keeping a gratitude journal can be an excellent way to stay positive. Also, in Dr. Wilson’s book, he discusses numerous ways to keep your mind healthy through meditation and reframing your mindset.
6. Know Your Limits
As women, we often try to do it all, and that’s fine, but when it starts to stress you out, you need to know that it’s time to ask for help. You’re not all alone in this world, rely on the ones who love you, they want to help you. Along with this, you need to know when to say no. As Brene Brown says, choose discomfort over resentment – meaning that yes, it will be uncomfortable to say no to a request, but in the long run, you won’t feel that resentment for saying yes to something that you really didn’t want to do.
Related Content: Work-Life Balance: The Art of Slowing Down and Saying No!
7. Be Kind to Yourself
To be kind to others, you must first be kind to yourself. To do this, you must nurture yourself physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally. This means balancing your life with a certain amount from each area (and we all have different needs as far as the percentage of each area goes). Eat healthy, exercise, relax, spend quality time with family and friends, allow yourself some downtime, and stimulate your brain by learning. If you don’t take care of yourself first, you won’t be able to take care of others without getting frustrated and angry.
Conclusion
As an entrepreneur, there are going to be times when you feel like giving up, but knowing the steps to keep your mind and body healthy will help you to propel your business forward.
Have you ever felt like throwing in the towel? What are your business tips for staying on track?
Catherine
Brilliant post, Holly. So many excellent tips. Thanks for sharing and so glad to hear you’re back on track. I love your site and gain so much valuable information here. All the best.
Holly - The Work at Home Woman
HI Catherine, Thanks for your kind words – I appreciate your readership! Glad you enjoyed the tips!
Renae D
Holly, it takes alot to openly share some of the very personal challenges that you’ve gone through. These challenges, tho difficult, make us stronger (in time) and teach valuable lessons. Your tips/ideas are appreciated. We all have those challenging moments where we’d like to run, but staying the course to hang in with the race is the way to go!
Ndidi
Holly, thanks for being open and sharing your personal life with us. So sorry to hear your about your personal struggles. You are right, there are a number of factors that can result in having a lack of passion. Sometimes that can also mean just moving forward and trying something new. Again, great post and thanks for sharing. I’ll have to pick up the book you recommended.
Martine | Work at Home Mom Writer
Sorry to hear that you are having a difficult time right now, Holly. I do hope you get to rest and relax despite all this, and that the exercise, diet changes and motivation from your mentors is keeping you going.
Green smoothies are miracles in a glass! I have one every day. Still trying to curb the coffee and sugar cravings, though I only have two or three servings a week. At least I am packing in more energy in with the smoothies.
Holly - The Work at Home Woman
Thanks Martine! Luckily, it was back in January when I felt super blah, I’m feeling and doing much better now.
The green smoothies are awesome! Heather from The Mogul Mom, turned me on to them. I’ve been having one everyday for lunch, which keeps me from eating a little of this and a little of that, because I never felt like making an actual lunch for myself.
Rachel Blaufeld
Holly — I totally understand the sugar/caffeine thing – I get mixed up with that often and when I pull myself out…I feel so much better. I am sorry for all your stress, but you are going the right way now! RB
Holly Hanna
Hi Rachel – I just started drinking green smoothies, and it’s really helped with my sugar cravings. It’s amazing how fast your body starts to feel better without sugar and caffeine. Thanks for stopping by.
Angie
I’m confident you will get back on track, Holly. I have been making a lot of diet, exercise and mindset changes myself the past few months. It’s hard. I think that it may be a little more difficult for those of us working at home. We really don’t have anyone to be accountable to during the day.
I have seriously been considering getting a mentor this year! Do let us know how that goes.
Holly Hanna
Thanks Angie for your kind words! That’s great that you’re focusing on your mind, body and spirit. I think as busy entrepreneurs, we sometimes forget how interrelated our personal well-being is to our business.
So far I’m really enjoying Ali Brown’s Solid Step’s to Success Kit, it’s helped me to become clearer on my goals and I’m feeling inspired. If you’d like more info on it, I’d be happy to send you an email and tell you more about what’s in it.
Britt Anderson
oh wow, I can relate in so many ways here!!! I am so sorry you are struggling, but I am happy to read your tips for getting through! Good luck, we were finally blessed with our miracle after infertility as well. Your miracle will come along as well.
Holly Hanna
Hi Britt, That’s awesome that you were able to conceive, congrats! We are blessed with a gorgeous daughter, but we’d love to give her a sibling. I’m actually feeling great now, I started taking these steps in January and now I’m back on track. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your story!