Creator CEO Vanessa Lau on How to Avoid Burnout as an Entrepreneur
Burnout - a tale as old as time. If you are an entrepreneur, burnout is one phenomenon you know you will experience a couple of times in your journey to building a successful business. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental fatigue brought on by prolonged and extreme stress. It happens when you are overburdened, emotionally depleted, and incapable of coping with everyday demands.
The expert content creator and CEO Vanessa Lau recently said that burnout is on the rise and added, "I've been speaking to a number of business owners and creators lately. The consensus has been that this year has been tough for a lot of people. Things have significantly slowed down. Talks of a recession are on the rise."
How does burnout manifest
Burnout does not only manifest as exhaustion and fatigue. Sometimes, it rears its ugly head through prolonged bouts of sadness, irritability, anger, rage, insomnia and sometimes through physical illnesses like high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.
Burnout is not as rare as you might be led to believe. In fact, expert Vanessa Lau is no stranger to burnout. She says, "Throughout the past months, but the past week especially, I've felt a range of emotions: Sadness, frustration, rage, disappointment, hopefulness, celebration, and confusion."
Coping with burnout
The good news is burnout is not some terminal illness you are forced to deal with. Instead, there are many effective ways to deal with it before it worsens. So, if you feel like you are heading down a path that leads to burnout, here are a few reminders!
1. Stay in your own lane
One major cause of burnout is trying to be on the same level as everyone else. Of course, it is good to compare yourself to the competition because it challenges you to grow, but if looking at your competitors makes you run mad with pressure, you may need to get back to the drawing board.
Your competition should inspire you, not cause you to have breakdowns. Vanessa Lau comments, "……. I don't watch my "competitor's stuff. This is to protect my creative integrity but also my mental health. BUT, from time to time, it doesn't mean I don't get curious and start creeping around. And unfortunately, 8/10, I leave feeling stressed and not good enough."
You must remember that you and the next person have different resources and advantages, or lack thereof.
2. In business, it's always something
In business, hell, in life, it's always something. When you put out one fire, another one flares up. It's on rare occasions that everything is perfect. In most cases, you just haven't caught wind of the next problem.
The point is, don't let every single issue consume you and make you think the world is ending. It would help if you struck a balance between making the conscious effort to put fires out while remembering to keep your head above the water. Vanessa Lau adds, "Your business is broken, and if things go well, it always will be. No matter what, so long as you continue running your business, problems will always come up - because that's the game of being an entrepreneur. The moment you recognize this is the moment you start finding peace."
3. If you got through X, then you can get through Y
One common factor with human beings is that they always think whatever challenging situation they're going through is the worst they've ever encountered. It's no different when you are an entrepreneur. In fact, it's much worse because, in most cases, money, clients, profits, or your reputation are on the line.
However, if you sit down and reflect, you'll realize that it's not the worst thing you've ever had to power through. On the contrary, if you look back on childhood, you've probably survived worse.
Vanessa Lau quips, "Sometimes you just have to remember that time is always on your side, and that "this too shall pass" A year from now, so many problems you are going through right now won't be problems anymore. Likely, they would be problems you have conquered and become stronger because of it because there is truly no growth without problems.
4. The result of growth feels great, but the growth process is painful."
It would help if you constantly reminded yourself when you find yourself stressing out and spiralling that growth never has and will never be comfortable. Growth means you are changing from one state to another- someone you have never been to. Why would you be immediately comfortable in a totally foreign place to you? You must look at your business and your CEO role as a baby taking its first steps.
In addition, you shouldn't forget that everyone you look up to also had to get through the awkward stages. Just because Robyn Fenty, aka Rihanna, did not show us how many failed experiments she had to go through before she launched her lingerie line doesn't mean everything was perfect from the minute she had the idea!
Remember, if you aren't uncomfortable, you aren't growing. Vanessa Lau on growing pains- "Forgive yourself and be proud of how courageous you've been. Remember: The person who shows up deserves to be there, and when you avoid failure, you're also avoiding success."