Kristen Ruby doing Yoga in Central park

Entrepreneurs: The Importance of Exercising and Taking Care of Yourself

Entrepreneurship and Mental Health:

Kristen Ruby doing Yoga in Central park

As an entrepreneur, I am constantly working, always running from one meeting to the next, and barely have time to eat lunch.  I lead speaking engagements such as the Columbia Business Social Media Workshop I led last week in Greenwich, CT, and will be speaking at an upcoming 201 social media conference for Microsoft in Seattle.

After overbooking myself and scheduling out every minute of my day, I got very sick and could not leave the house or engage in business activities.

I found it impossible to step away from my phone to respond to emails and to keep tweeting and posting.

As a social media enthusiast and blogger, it is virtually impossible for me to step away from the social world for long stretches of time. After stepping away from tweeting and posting for three days, I realized the importance of balance.

Sometimes it is important to take a digital cleanse and shut off your phone and unplug. It is also important for entrepreneurs to take care of themselves: mentally, physically, and emotionally.

I find that I operate at optimal performance when I take care of myself.

Entrepreneur Mental Health Tips:

  1. Take some time to unplug from your device. Even if it is 1 hour a day from your phone it is worth it. At night I turn my phone face down and try to lose myself in a great book or movie
  2. Don’t overbook yourself. Part of the reason I got so sick was that I ran myself into the ground, ultimately weakening my immune system from overworking myself.  Schedule personal time into your calendar and carefully choose what events and speaking appearances you say yes to.
  3. Take time to eat lunch. As an entrepreneur, I schedule meetings throughout the typical lunch period and frequently forget to eat; this is a huge mistake! I now make it a habit to carry protein bars with me wherever I go.
  4. Get physical. Working out on a daily basis is vital to my mental and physical health. It is a time for me to put my phone down (I leave it in my gym locker) and try to decompress after a long day. I also make it a point to not bring business into the gym- even if that means seeing a client at the gym; I actively try to not interrupt their workout with business talk as we are all going there to help melt the day away.
  5. Engage in a new activity or hobby. Taking up a new hobby such as painting, golfing or yoga can be a great way to take care of your mental state.  I am very involved in yoga and work with my friend Jai Sugrim, a yoga instructor. I love doing yoga in Central Park and really connecting to humanity through quieting my mind.

Entrepreneurship and Depression: the silent epidemic

Entrepreneurs battle depression and mental health issues alone.

Do entrepreneurs get depressed and have mental health issues?

Entrepreneurship is in many ways the perfect path for someone who has mental health issues. Why? Because many of us would never be able to work in an office environment to begin with. Perhaps this is because of our inherent entrepreneurial abilities. But maybe it is also something deeper.

Many of us have other things going on that would make it very hard to work in that type of environment. Pair that with the inherent loneliness that comes with entrepreneurship and you have the perfect storm.

Most entrepreneurs who are facing challenges suffer in silence. They feel they don’t have anyone else to talk to who can really understand their day-to-day struggles.

The world glamorizes entrepreneurship. Yet it is anything but that. For many women, we have delayed other important life milestones- like having a family – just to keep the dream alive of running our own business.

Other women are able to do it all. I am not one of them. I cannot speak to their stories. I have had to make choices, and those choices come with consequences and a very real biological clock.

When you have been an entrepreneur for years, and it is all you know, it can be very hard to pivot. For many entrepreneurs looking to change directions, they can’t. It becomes a vicious cycle. It can end in depression or even suicide.

It can be very isolating. How can you explain to friends and family that you want to do something else? How can you give up on the thing you built? How could you even get a job when you never even built a resume?

What would the resume say other than CEO?

These are the questions entrepreneurs struggle with daily. These are the conversations I have with other members of the entrepreneur communities I am an active member of.

We live in a world that pushes a narrative of “hustle culture” and “build your legacy.” Yet no one understands what these phrases even mean.

Building a legacy should not come at the expense of your own life.

Stop pushing a dangerous narrative on entrepreneurs and start having more open conversations about what entrepreneurship looks like.

Entrepreneurs are highly intelligent individuals. They are used to doing everything on their own. They are the same people who may struggle to reach out for help because they are used to being the ones in charge.

Creating a community support system where they feel comfortable admitting failure or defeat instead of having to hide it in isolation is critical.

We are not doing enough to support mental health initiatives for entrepreneurs. We are losing too many brilliant people in our community. It is a real shame and such a tragedy.

And on some level, every one of us is responsible when we keep telling people to build a legacy, but then don’t actually give people the tools to pivot if the definition of their legacy changes course.

 

RESOURCES:

72% Of Entrepreneurs Suffer From Mental Health Issues

The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship

The #Girlboss on Instagram Vs. Real Female Entrepreneurs