You’ve made it. You’ve successfully set up a business that is doing well or managed to achieve other professional goals. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean you can now rest on your laurels because the biggest challenge is to keep working towards what you want without going crazy. Because, let’s face it, being a successful professional is challenging and while being constantly busy and tired might be a small price to pay, for now, it can significantly affect your mental health in the future.
In this article, you’ll find out how not to sacrifice your mental health for the sake of success and how to manage negative feelings such as anxiety and stress to survive in the professional world.
1. Stop comparing yourself to others to improve your well-being
Even though you’re already successful, it’s only natural to want to achieve more. And while following other professionals on social media can be inspiring at first, it can also condition you to compare yourself to others if you aren’t careful. The key is developing a healthy approach that allows you to follow other people’s successes without feeling inadequate – in other words, understand that success is a mix of hard work, luck, and positivity.
We all have different opportunities, different battles to fight, and different work approaches. If you feel like comparing yourself to others is affecting you, try to keep a gratitude diary where you write down everything that makes you happy. This will teach you to celebrate little successes and appreciate your life more.
2. Learn to prioritize your mental health and overall well-being
What many people forget is that both mental and physical health are interconnected. You can’t expect your mind to be healthy if you don’t give it proper fuel and if your well-being is poor, you might be more likely to turn to unhealthy foods. When things become too much, it’s okay to treat yourself with a snack but try to improve your diet if you want to see long-term benefits. Make sure you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and drink plenty of water.
Lastly, do your best to get enough sleep. If you feel like routine doesn’t allow it, adjust it. For example, track how much time you spend using electronics and try to reduce it. It might mean you have to give up on watching your favorite TV show but at least you’ll be well-rested and less stressed.
3. Practice self-love and self-compassion to take care of your mental health
The pressure to stay successful is even more overwhelming than the pressure to become successful. It might put you under a lot of stress and affect your self-esteem because it’s impossible to do well all the time.
One way to practice self-love is by writing down your strengths and accomplishments and leaving them in a visible place. You can look at them every day to remind yourself how far you’ve come and that it wasn’t always easy, yet you persisted.
To practice self-compassion, get into the habit of treating yourself like you’d treat your best friends. When you fail, comfort yourself – being harsh on yourself won’t do you any favors and won’t make you work harder. Tell yourself that you’ve done your best and that thing can’t always go your way, but it doesn’t mean they won’t in the future. You’re doing just fine.
4. Learn relaxation techniques to manage stress
Try to remember the last time you felt relaxed. Was it on a holiday? Or maybe last weekend when you finally got to put your feet up? Identify the activities that made you feel relaxed and try to incorporate them into your daily routine. The goal is to teach your body and mind to relax even though you have work to do the next day or still a list of tasks to complete.
What works for others will not necessarily work for you but here are a few relaxing activities you can give a go: having a bath, stretching, playing a word game such as Wheedle or Scrabble, using a massager to relieve muscle tension, listening to favorite songs, or reading a book.
5. Identify your work triggers to improve your well-being
Just because being a professional is demanding no matter what sector you work in; it doesn’t matter there aren’t any adjustments you can make. For example, if your work environment stresses you out, there’s always room for improvement. Is your desk too disorganized to stay focused? Think of ways you can make it more comfortable to work at. Does noise bother you? Invest in noise-cancelling headphones.
If your workload gives you anxiety, try breaking your tasks down into smaller goals. If responding to emails feels overwhelming, group them into high-priority and lower priority emails and leave the second group for once you’re done with tasks for the day.
6. Learn to recognize the signs you’re mentally unwell and need a break
When you’re under a lot of stress, it might be tempting to keep yourself busy and forget about uncomfortable feelings you’re experiencing but the problem won’t go away just because you ignore it. Therefore, it’s important to learn to recognize the signs you’re not coping well. This can be tricky because most mental health issues problems develop gradually and then suddenly make you feel overwhelmed.
To monitor your mental health, it’s a good idea to keep a mood journal. Commit to writing down your thoughts every evening before going to bed. You can simply talk about your day, mention your worries and things that made you smile. After you’ve been doing it for a while, you’ll be able to notice the patterns. If your mood drops and doesn’t improve, it will be a sign you need to take better care of your mental well-being and maybe even seek professional help.
7. Learn to prioritize breaks to improve your mental health
Once you’ve learned to recognize the signs that you’re not coping well, give yourself permission to take a break. A lot of successful professionals struggle with that because they feel like breaks are synonymous with not making a progress. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
If you constantly hustle and never take a break, your mind and body will tire, and your productivity levels will drop which is the opposite of what you want. Allowing yourself to rest can boost your energy and help you approach challenges with a fresher outlook. To get the most out of breaks, make sure to take time away from electronics, move your body and calm your mind.
If you work from home, the options are endless: you can exercise, dance, listen to your favorite music, or meditate. If you don’t work from home, your best bet will be going for a walk and making sure you drink a lot of water.
8. Appreciate failure and see it as a lesson
Failure has a very negative connotation which might be part of the reason we fear it so much. We were conditioned to believe that failure is bad for us and that it defines us. Luckily, this outlook is changing and a lot more people now employ a growth mindset that sees failure as a learning experience. If you were succeeding all the time, achievements wouldn’t be so rewarding, and you’d gradually lose your purpose.
Additionally, seeing failure as proof of your lack of competence and intelligence will affect your self-esteem and might lead to developing mental health issues. So next time you fail, ask yourself, ‘What did I learn from this experience?’ Think about what you can do differently next time and remind yourself how far you’ve come.
9. Give meditation a go to manage stress
Even though the effects of meditation are well-documented, a lot of people misunderstand it and feel discouraged by the idea of sitting in silence for half an hour. However, because this practice is so beneficial for mental health, there are plenty of types of meditation you can choose from.
You can find a guided meditation that boosts your self-confidence, eases your anxiety, helps you sleep or aims to improve a combination of a few different problems. Some require you to simply listen and focus on your breath while others rely on visualization. If you give it enough time, I’m sure you’ll eventually find the one and realize how much clearer your mind is.
10. Develop positive relationships
Having a strong support network is the key to living a healthy life. First, being surrounded by close friends can make you feel supported and help you develop resilience as a result which is an important quality to have because life is unpredictable, and you’re bound to face a lot of obstacles. Whenever you feel like you aren’t coping or like things have become too much, don’t be afraid to reach out to friends or your family. It’s not a sign of weakness to admit you’re struggling, on the contrary, it takes guts to be vulnerable and opening can be very therapeutic.
Secondly, research shows that friends tend to mirror each other’s behavior. For example, the study from 2011 found that when a friendship is supportive, one friend’s exercise habits have an influence on the other friend’s exercise habits. [1] Similarly, findings from another recent study revealed that people whose friends are highly self-confident, tend to see themselves as such. [2] If you surround yourself with people who lead a healthy lifestyle and exhibit good personal qualities, you’re more likely to become this kind of person yourself and enjoy good mental well-being.
11. Become good at something that isn’t your work
Everyone needs to feel a sense of achievement occasionally; it helps you maintain high self-esteem and motivates you to keep going. But if your only achievements are work-related, you might struggle to take a break and the lack of work/life balance might affect your mental health. Plus, you might be under a lot of pressure to always perform well which isn’t realistic. Therefore, it’s important to find an activity that allows you to develop a skill and gives you satisfaction at the same time.
If you don’t have a hobby, you can look online and see what classes are offered in your city or find an area of interest and learn from YouTube videos. If you’re a naturally competitive and driven person, it might be challenging not to want to progress fast so make sure you devote a bit of time to doing it every day as opposed to spending hours practicing it at a time.
12. Do something you enjoy that is relaxing but productive to decompress and manage stress
And I’m not talking about learning a language or running or any other activity that might feel more like a chore than relaxation. I’m talking about doing something besides mindlessly watching a TV show or scrolling through social media.
Now, don’t get me wrong, being lazy is important and you deserve to switch off your brain occasionally but if you’re under a lot of stress, you might be using it to distract yourself from your problems which isn’t helpful in the long run. On the other hand, activities such as coloring, journaling, or yoga can help you become grounded in the present and at peace with your thoughts. Plus, using electronics before bed can disrupt your sleep which is the opposite of taking care of your health.
13. Set boundaries to improve your mental health
The hustler mentalityy’ isn’t always better. While it can be beneficial at first and help you get your foot in the door, it can also be what makes it difficult for you to maintain a work/life balance later. The best way to learn how to set boundaries is to prepare a strict work schedule that includes how many hours you’re allowed to work per day and how many extra responsibilities you’re allowed to take on per weekwhichd leaves you time to relax. Getting used to a routine will make it easier to say ‘no’ to requests and prioritize your mental health and well-being instead.
References:
[1] (PDF) The influence of close others’ exercise habits and perceived social support on exercise (researchgate.net)
[2] THE INFLUENCE OF FRIENDSHIP GROUPS ON INTELLECTUAL SELF-CONFIDENCE AND EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS IN COLLEGE (stanford.edu)
