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Hi, this is Sharon from Superfast Recruitment, and today we have a completely different topic. And more than that, I suspect a topic that many of you will relate to.
Like many business owners, Denise and I have a lot of friends in business, and we’ve had some interesting conversations in the last few weeks that relate to client conversations, and some of the social media groups that we’re in.
Now, the topic is feeling flat, feeling a bit low, feeling out of sorts.
People have used different words in conversations and on online chats that we’ve been having, to describe how it is for them right now.
Lockdown Uncertainty
And it’s not surprising, is it? We have had the weirdest, toughest, most challenging year that any business owner probably has ever faced and hopefully will ever face.
When you think about it, we have been looking out for our businesses and keeping them afloat – if we can, trying to keep it up on a growth trajectory. Of course, that’s sector dependent, isn’t it?
We’ve been showing up and propping up and supporting team members. We’ve been there for our family, for friends.
At some point, when you’re carrying the weight of all that on your shoulders, it’s going to have an impact, and it’s going to take a toll.
Over the weekend, I was chatting to a friend who described their Sunday morning as being in floods of tears. It took them back to their childhood, having a good, good old sob into a pillow.
And she wasn’t the only person on Sunday who had a few tears either, because I saw various people chatting about it in some of the different groups that we’re in.
So what I want to do in this blog is share a few ways of handling this emotion and this flat feeling that many of you have been describing.
I have a coaching practice, as well as everything that I do in Superfast Recruitment and I’ve been having this conversation with clients there, too.
So let’s look where you can start.
Turning Things Around in Your Business
I think the first thing that I want to say to you is, please cut yourself some slack, guys, because it’s a huge responsibility being a business owner.
You’re not superhuman. I know we like to think that we’re superheroes: superman or superwoman, and we are incredibly resilient, but it’s okay to be a human being.
Okay, so stop beating yourself up about the fact that you should always be able to turn on the inspirational side of you, that motivational side, and just recognise that it’s okay to feel the way that you’re feeling.
And even when you are feeling a bit flat, what do you do? Now, we all have different strategies, don’t we?
We all have different inspirational, motivational mentors that we might go and watch a video of; we all have hobbies that we might go and do.
So for me, if I’m not feeling myself, I always find it helps to just take a time out and go and have a walk, go out into nature.
I know for many of our clients listening to this as well – it will be exercise and taking time out to go and have a run or go and do a workout.
Whether it’s at the gym, socially distanced with a group of people, or whether it’s in front of a video at home, it’s about showing up.
Even if you don’t do your regular workout, putting your gym kit on, showing up in front of that video camera, or heading out for a run and doing five minutes and not your 30-minute run around the village that you might normally do; it’s the fact that you put your kit on, you show up, and you put one foot in front of the other.
And we can apply that principle to the business.
There are some days when I haven’t felt like getting in front of this video camera because I felt flat. And yet the best thing for me to do is get in front of the camera.
So we pick a subject that I really love talking about because that’s easy. I put on a different outfit because that helps me change my mood a little bit, as well.
And I get in front of that camera. And we don’t always publish what I might have recorded because maybe I’m not happy about it. But the fact that I’ve got in front of the camera and I’ve talked to people, and I’ve shown up, and I’ve done my bit, I feel better because I’ve just put one foot in front of the other.
So when you think about you and your business and all the different things that you need to do, just remember that you don’t have to do all those things today. Choose one thing that you’re going to show up for today, and just take one small action and move forward.
The Importance of Showing Up
And another thing that you can do, is that if you are going to show up and do that one thing – put everything into it.
Whether it’s for five minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour, just put everything into it and see what comes out at the end.
And I can guarantee that you will feel different as a result of it.
So whatever strategies you have that work for you, make it important to give yourself the time and the permission to take a break and do something that will help shift your energy and your mood, because then you’ll be able to move forward.
And remember, be kind to yourself, guys. Stop beating yourself up, and look at the gains rather than the gap.
I’ve started a success journal, and I was sharing it with some colleagues in an exercise group that I’m in. It’s where you look at what are all the good things that I’ve achieved and that I’ve done that day, and that’s what I write about.
Even if it’s just a bullet point list, even if it’s five things or three things, or if it’s one thing, it goes down. And each day, it’s building up what are the successes. So that when I am feeling a bit out of sorts with myself, I can go back, and I can read all those successes.
Because, boy, sometimes we just need that pep up, don’t we?
Finally
So I hope some of those strategies have been helpful. If you liked this post and would like to explore more of our insights on leadership, coaching and owning a successful recruitment marketing company, head to our blog where you will find hundreds more blogs and podcasts.
We’ve also got several more free recruitment marketing resources available to download on our website. Click here to browse and download the recruitment marketing guides which will help you get a clearer picture of your recruitment marketing and where you can take it.
That’s Sharon Newey from Superfast Recruitment.
