Lonely (in business) for the Holidays

have you ever felt like you were running your business alone even though you were surrounded by people what if I told you that loneliness in business could be one of your biggest roadblocks I'm Yana henan and this is what we're talking about today what causes it why it's such a killer for your business and how reaching out and having a support group could be one of the smartest things you can do let's face it being a business owner can feel like you're on an island sometimes you're hustling you're grinding and yet a lot of the times you might feel isolated where there you're working from home alone or bouncing between meetings this feeling of loneliness can creep up on you and it's more than just a sad feeling it's a serious problem that can affect your mental health your productivity and even your success loneliness is sneaky it's not just about being physically alone it's that isolation of not having anyone you can talk to about your struggles your successes and feeling like you have this weight on your shoulders constantly and this can happen even if you're surrounded by employees co-workers and even clients and no it's not just a personal issue it affects your business in ways you might not even realize first off no one and I mean no one achieves success by going alone look at Richard Branson founder of Virgin he didn't sit in his corner office pretending to have all the answers he has a network of advisors peers and team members he can turn to for support if you think you can be successful by isolating yourself from others think again you'll have more challenges having your business grow you could be missing out on new ideas fresh perspectives and crucial advice from others who have been there done that burnout hits harder when you're isolated running a business is already hard work but when you're not talking to anyone about the weight that you're carrying the mental strain can become unbearable and a lot of us have been there spending months pouring your heart and soul into a project and then you find yourself dress in exhaustion if you don't have someone you can vent to no one to check in with or bounce ideas off of you may find yourself burned out and not doing your best work isolation also leads to mental health decline loneliness is linked to serious mental health issues this includes depression anxiety and even physical illnesses the studies are out there loneliness affects everything from your immune system to your focus and even if you think you can power through it it's not sustainable able eventually it's going to catch up to you and you'll be forced to deal with the consequences when you least expect it it may even have you uh lose sight of your goals when you're isolated you start to lose perspective you might get too close to the situation and then you might start doubting yourself you may forget the why like why you started the business in the first place you also miss out on the power of shared success loneliness can even hinder your celebrations it's hard to share your wins when there's no one around you to celebrate them with you sure it feels good to accomplish something but it feels that much more better when you have people around you to share in those celebrations and in those wins especially when they understand the grind that you've been through sharing successes is not just for the feel-good moment it can actually keep you motivated for the next challenge and it's proof that you're not alone in your journey a few years back I found myself wearing all the hats in my business and I wasn't leaning on people in leadership like my ambassadors or huddle Chiefs I was at every huddle I went to every networking event I followed up with every single visitor and I was exhausted it got to the point that at least once a day I found myself just sitting completely silently for at least an hour and mind you this wasn't meditation or an introspection my mind was running a million miles an hour without being able to stay on one topic or one action item for more than a minute one day it got so bad that I knew I had had to reach out to someone so I called my mentor as it turns out he's experienced the same thing before and he had me write down a list of all the hats that I wear in my business and then after I was done writing that list I had to circle the three most important things that would help my business grow he then told me that's what I need to focus on just those three things and I had to delegate the rest so I had a meeting with all of We&Co ambassadors we set new kpis new guidelines and new expectations so that I could spend more time focusing on the things that I needed to focus on on top of that we set up calls twice a month with each Ambassador and myself and then at the end of the month we had one big hourlong meeting where we would all come together and go over our kpis not only did my business shift but that loneliness and that isolation that I was feeling subsided the burnout and the stress left and I was left to focus on those three things that I needed to focus on sometimes as business owners we ask ourselves how can I get this done when really we should be asking who can get this done in summary loneliness and isolation in business is a killer it could be that you're overworked you're taking on too much or that you don't have a support group to lean on or simply that you're so busy busying yourself that you're not focusing on those important matters pertinent to your business if you are feeling isolated in your business you're not alone a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners go through this the key is recognizing it talking about it and building a support system to help you get through it believe me when I say it'll make all the difference you don't need to carry the load alone thank you for tuning in uh please like follow And subscribe to all of our social channels and uh yeah at the end of this video there's going to be a slide with our QR code to sign up for our Weekly Newsletter no fluff just the good stuff I'm Yan Henman and I'll see you this time next week [Music]