BL110: The Entrepreneur and Burnout [PT. 1]

Burnout, whether you’re an entrepreneur or solopreneur, is no joke. Having your own business requires you to oversee various aspects, that if not done strategically and in order, can cause some serious consequences—especially for your health. It can stop you dead in your tracks from moving forward. What can cause burnout? Well, several factors. This post discusses three of them.

I thought I had traveled back in time over the summer. I completed my first book/toolkit (in our The Busy Entrepreneur’s Guide Series: The Busy Entrepreneur’s Guide To Developing A Brand In 60 Days Or Less or as we call it TBEGTDB). I had put 95% of my energy into developing, researching, condensing and synthesizing both new and previous information from my signature program, AND spent so much time writing the book/toolkit, that I did not spend any time developing a strategic, promotional marketing plan.

Well if you’ve read my post from BL105: Don’t Start A Marketing Campaign Until You’ve Done This, once again, I created a product but planned no marketing campaign to promote it. TBEGTDB was the first product that I created since the release of my Hug-a-Plush™ collection. After the toolkit’s release, I assessed what the heck I did—the good, the bad, and the ugly in all its glory. I came to the conclusion that I had done a half-butt job in promoting the toolkit AFTER I released it rather than planning the promotional campaign in the BEGINNING or before it. I was so exhausted and felt as if I couldn’t do anything else because developing the toolkit drained the life out of me. Although I was happy with the end result, I realized that the real issue behind the lack of a promotional plan was deeper than me making the bad decision not to create the plan. I’m definitely a planner, so what was the problem? The reasons—fear, mindset (including self-sabotage), and loss.

The exact same thing happened later this year. In fact, a month ago to be exact. In the beginning of the year, I co-authored an international bestseller book (journal) with 190+ authors from all over the world. The journal was, of course, not as intense as writing my own book and toolkit, but still, I repeated the same action that I did when I finished TBEGTDB. When the journal and workbook were released in October, the publisher gave each author the tools needed to promote the book such as press releases, emails, a promotional video trailer that we could embed on our websites or do whatever with, high-resolution images of the book cover, and the international best-seller seal. Yet, once again, I did absolutely nothing to promote the journal or the workbook. “Why?” you may be asking. I was burned out (from developing TBEGTDB) AND my mindset was completely off-kilter. Although I stated that I wanted to be seen and stand out, there was a part of me that wanted to stay out of the limelight. Revamping (creating an entirely new business model) and repositioning my business beginning in 2016 caused my brand to stick out like a sore thumb.

Releasing the TBEGTDB toolkit and being too exhausted afterward to create a promotional plan set me back quite a bit. I became lethargic, depressed, discouraged, and had little or no desire to do another thing in my business. All that I wanted to do was veg-out on Netflix^® and Hulu^® —nothing more. I didn’t want to think for that matter. From the time that I released the book and assessing my decision not to create a plan for its release or even promoting the other book, I knew something was really wrong. I realized that:

There was a shedding of tears this year (from the exhaustion and burnout), but at the same time, this year has brought on great opportunities and had been a game-changer for me. I expanded, both within myself and my business. It took a couple of months for me to recover from burnout and land back on my feet again. Dealing with the various facets of my business, I attributed the failure to promote the amazing milestones of the year to burnout. My first thought was that the burnout was brought on by creating the toolkit and not organizing the launch and follow-up plan as well as I should have BEFORE I created it. While I wouldn’t suggest delving into a big venture without a plan, some great things came from me being “pushed over the edge.” I was able to discover what it was that was holding me back and why I didn’t plan the marketing campaign before or in the beginning stages of developing the product. The culprits, or the “combo of three” I like to refer to them as, were—fear, mindset (including self-sabotage), and loss. Not acknowledging and facing the combo of three led to burnout because I procrastinated in working on what I needed to in order to move to the next level of my business. I was replacing the necessary with the unnecessary by focusing on other things to do, knowing very well that the marketing piece was just as important as creating the product. I knew I had to change the scenario of what I would do in my business and my thinking.

As entrepreneurs/solopreneurs, we juggle many moveable parts in our businesses—trying to create products/services for the world, trying to keep our doors open and the lights on, and attempting to keep up with a fast-changing, fast-paced society, among other countless activities.

• How many times have you made crazy mistakes and decisions or created other things to do to avoid what you really need to do and then wonder, ‘What’s wrong with me’?
• How many times have you self-sabotaged yourself and your business—especially when you’re on the brink of some great breakthrough?
• How many times have you been so busy that you intentionally avoided doing certain things that you knew would cause people to pay attention to you and your business because you didn’t want to be seen?

As I mentioned earlier in this post, I had to change my mindset and I realized that in order to go where I wanted, I had to expand not only within my business but within myself as well. Here are three takeaways from this post that I want you to remember.

FEAR.

The fear of being seen or FOMO (the fear of missing out) is something that every entrepreneur/solopreneur will have to face at some point in their career. I didn’t realize the fear of being seen as an underlying factor in my procrastination existed until I met a mindset coach and a group of entrepreneurs. Fear can cause you to go around the barnyard without accomplishing what needs to be done to allow you and your business to reach the next level of success. FOMO. I didn’t touch on this in this post, but FOMO is also a problem because it can cause you to do all sorts of crazy activities that make no sense to moving you closer to the vision that you have for your business. If you try to follow “Joe Schmoe’s” marketing endeavors or his branding, you could be hurting your business. Everything that gurus, the marketplace, or your industry tells you that you should do because it’s hot now, doesn’t mean that you should be doing it. It means you’ll need to find what works for you and create a connection between your business and ideal customers. Doing unnecessary things by avoiding the very things that will propel you and your business forward and focusing on things that are popular for now because of FOMO will eventually lead to burnout and depression.

MINDSET and SELF-SABOTAGE.

As an entrepreneur/solopreneur, when the vision expands, you’ll need to expand with it. Don’t fight it. Embrace it. The mindset has a lot to do with whether we move to the next level in both our personal and business lives. Shifting your mindset and behavior are two of the most challenging things that entrepreneurs/solopreneurs have to face and tackle. If you find that you’re at a standstill and not able to progress, find a coach or someone you can trust that can help you through this challenge. Speaking to others about it can seriously do wonders for you. Take it from me, I’m a huge fan of getting help when needed! Being a successful entrepreneur/solopreneur REQUIRES you to grow in and with your business as you reach and conquer new territory.

THE “LOSS” OF PEOPLE.

You’ll lose people along the way as you create something great in your life and business. Although this hurts, it’s going to be okay. Everyone can’t go with you to where you’re going, but I guarantee that as you keep dreaming big and following the calling for your life, you’ll meet new people who you’ll help expand their vision. And as the force of reciprocity takes place, in return, they’ll help you expand yours.If you don’t want to accept losing people in the process, that’s okay too, but realize that those people may be one of the reasons you don’t expand within yourself and in your business. People that are not willing to change are in comfort zones and they’ll keep you in those zones with them if you allow it. The choice of whether or not to grow is yours. If you do choose to let go of those people, you’ll need to retrain your thinking as well as seek out like-minded people. You can get more involved by meeting people in groups on social media or in-person such as networking or industry events. Think about where other like-minded people in your industry hang out and go there.I’ve “lost” people who I really cared about. I thought they would be with me until the end. Even in the midst of this great loss, I gained a new circle of individuals who understand the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur and have visions for bigger and better things for both their personal lives and businesses. I came to the conclusion that I had to let go of people who no longer wanted to be a part of what I was doing and create the space needed for new people to enter my life.

If you suffer from burnout, assess what caused it. Here are a few questions to ask yourself.

• Are you performing or not performing activities that are self-sabotaging or are out of fear (fear of success, failure, or FOMO)?
• Are you fighting against change or expansion in yourself and business?
• Have you been worried about losing friends and family members that you thought would be with you throughout your entrepreneurial journey?
• Do you try to downplay or not accomplish what you need to in order to go to the next level in your business because you don’t want others to think you’ve changed?

Do what’s needed to reach the next level of success in your personal and business life. Burnout is the result of suffering prolonged periods of stress and performing intense activities such as overworking (activities that you may not necessarily need to be doing or activities that do not help you achieve your ultimate vision). Don’t let fear, your mindset (and self-sabotage), and loss shortchange you of your future. Say the following statement to yourself out loud: