The cost of living crisis is being felt far and wide, and if you’re feeling the effects on your mental health, you’re not alone. Whether you're feeling the pinch yourself, or looking for ways to manage stress and boost mental fitness, having the right support structures in place can go a long way for day-to-day resilience.
In this piece, we’ll dive into how to cope with financial stress by building your mental fitness—which is all about developing resilience, adaptability and strong support networks—to ensure your health stays a priority during these challenging times.
As a small business owner, you’re no stranger to stress. That’s why it’s critical you have support structures in place to ensure you don’t become overwhelmed and burnt out.
Tips to support your stress management, you can:
We all know exercise is a core component of being a healthy, balanced human. The good news is that there's no clear research that suggests one type of exercise is more beneficial than another. Exercise as a whole leads to a range of benefits, including an enhanced mood, lower stress levels and higher self esteem.
So, whether you’re a runner, walker or yoga-poser, make sure you take time out to move.
Your resiliency to life’s unexpected ups and downs will massively dictate your ability to cope with the challenges of being an SME. Building mental resilience boils down to your attitude when faced with stress.
By keeping an open, curious mindset—a beginner’s mind—you’re more likely to approach challenges with more mental resilience than before. Ways to build your resilience include:
We’re often our worst critic and the first to point out our own flaws. Try to show yourself compassion in moments of stress and treat yourself with care.
When faced with a tough situation, try to reflect on a time you were faced with similar emotions. How did you get through it? What skills and strategies did you employ that worked? What didn’t? Learning from past experiences will remind you of your capability to get through your current situation.
When stress hits, it’s easy to isolate yourself from others. However, humans need to be connected. It makes us feel safer, calmer, and gives us a sense of belonging. This leads to higher self-esteem, lower stress levels and generally higher feelings of contentment.
Relationships are most fulfilling (and beneficial to our health), when our values are acknowledged by and often shared with the other person.
To help you foster strong social connections and values, you should try:
Every conversation is a great opportunity to switch off from external stimuli and really become present in the moment. Active listening shows the other person that you’re attentive and engaged, making them feel valued and heard.
Our values are our moral guideposts of what we believe are most important in our life. Behaving in alignment with your values minimises cognitive dissonance. By extension, we lower our stress levels, and raise our positive emotions and self efficacy.
Mindfulness for business owners is all about re-centering your state of mind into a place of clarity and calm. Having been consistently linked to better psychological wellbeing and decreased stress, practising mindfulness is a health gold-mine for SMEs.
By practising mindfulness on a regular basis, you might find yourself:
These skills and knowledge will allow you to approach the challenges of being an SME with a more actively engaged, emotionally controlled attitude.
Informal Mindfulness: Your New Healthy HabitThere are small, informal ways to practise mindfulness that don't require you to set aside time—which is great when you're a time-poor SME. When used regularly throughout your day, these exercises can be just as beneficial to your mental wellbeing. |
Mindfulness, stress management, building social connections and resilience are all skills—they take time, practice and patience. As with developing any other skill, some guidance and structured learning is incredibly helpful to get you started.
Evidence shows there are a range of skills that underpin mental wellbeing. And, just like we train different muscles to build physical fitness, we can practise a range of skills to build mental fitness and support our ability to thrive.
Whether you're just starting out or deepening an existing mental fitness practice, the Smiling Mind App gives you practical tools you can use anytime, anywhere. And it's completely free, because we believe everyone should have access to the resources they need for mental wellbeing.