While many of our wings have been clipped and travel is out of the question, our lives have been turned upside down with the pressures of running businesses and surviving through so much change and adaptation.

On top of that, COVID has done a number on many of our businesses, and our dreams have been dashed because the end isn't coming fast enough and it doesn't look like it will. What this does to the mental health of entrepreneurs isn't talked about, but it should be.

Each day, I'm thinking of a million different things; running more than one business, the health and wellbeing of my staff, my family, a building development, a commercial building renovation, raising funds for my tech startup, putting on weight and having my whole social life thrown in tatters because of numerous lockdowns and social distancing. On top of that, there is this thing called life and looking after yourself. Like many entrepreneurs (and people in general), I've put on the 'COVID kilos' and losing them is a lot harder than perhaps when I was much younger.

I was asked the question last week; do you feel stressed and overwhelmed by the current state of affairs? The answer is 'hell yeah!' - who doesn't.

But it's more than that for many entrepreneurs and if you go down to your local GP, I'm sure they have a tablet for it. However, that may not be the right answer for you. If you haven't heard of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, then look it up. 

ENTREPRENEURS HAVE MORE STRESS AND LESS JOB SATISFACTION THAN MANAGERS

Fact. Carrying all the burdens of running a business on their shoulders as well as the need to show empathy for low performing employees due to COVID, most entrepreneurs are stressed out. They spend all of their time trying to be as 'cool as a cucumber' and have been taught to show no vulnerability, so the internalising of all of their emotions quite often lead to bigger problems.

WHAT DOES COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL TRAINING MEAN?

"Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy. It may help you to change unhelpful or unhealthy ways of thinking, feeling and behaving. CBT uses practical self-help strategies. These are designed to immediately improve your quality of life." According to Victorian Health website www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au.

The core idea behind CBT is that an individual can change behavior, thinking, or emotions by understanding and reorganizing the way those three elements interact with each other.

A CBT program if tailored to the individual entrepreneur can work wonders for dealing with stress, fatigue, isolation and the fear of failure - all of which are symptoms of depression but also of many entrepreneurs.

The constant merry-go-round of endless amounts of work, stress around venture performance, sleepless nights and making sacrifices - quite often while feeling under appreciated and at times like your not making the grade - can be insurmountable. Finding ways to cope like exercise and eating well is imperative to performance and wellbeing, but so too is being able to understand the triggers that make you stressed and processing them differently.
Tips on how to make a difference to your entrepreneurial stress levels:

Eat well: eating healthy food, drinking water and avoiding sugar, caffeine and alcohol can go a long way to ensuring that you have enough energy to get through the day.

Exercise: Regular exercise can increase self-confidence, improve your mood, help you relax, and lower symptoms of mild depression and anxiety. Exercise can also improve your sleep, which is often disrupted by stress, depression and anxiety.

Meditation: If you are anything like me, you know that the first few times you meditate, it's a hard slog. Staying still for that long and clearing your mind takes a lot of discipline, but once you conquer it, you won't believe the difference it will make to your life. 

Reading: Read books like "Untethered Soul" by Michael Singer to better understand technique to control your thinking.

Therapy: While Therapy isn't for everyone, it certainly helps to talk to a stranger without judgement. If you pick the right therapist that understands the difference of working with an entrepreneur, it can work wonders. 

DURING COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY, SET GOALS

If you are anything like me, you think that you can do it yourself, but just like developing any plan, you need reminding and reinforcement, and that's exactly what a therapist can do for you. With a therapist you will be able to:

-  Identify specific problems and issues that you have having with your life both professionally and personally.
-  Become aware of unproductive thought patterns and how they impact your life.
-  Identify negative thinking and rethink/reshape in a way that actively changes the way you feel.
-  Learn and practice new behaviours.

While Cognitive Behavioural Therapy isn't for everyone, it certainly is worthwhile checking out.