Q. Business has been quieter lately, and I’m finding myself increasingly anxious about what happens if things don’t pick up. How do I stop myself spiralling every time I have a slow week?
When business slows down, our brains have an annoying habit of speeding up. A quiet week quickly becomes “What if next month is worse?”, which becomes “What if I can’t pay my staff?”, and, before long, your brain has you closing the doors on a business that is still very much operating.
This fun piece of mental torture is called catastrophising – taking something that could happen and mentally treating it as though it will happen.
Well-meaning support people (and yourself) will often counter your panic-fuelled thinking with a superlative like “Everything will be fine”. But I know (and you know) that doesn’t usually help. Why? Well, you don’t know that it’s true.
The most effective way to move through the moment of freak-out is to separate what’s happening from what you’re predicting. A thinner pipeline is a fact. “My business is going to fail” is a prediction.
And then ask yourself: what can I actually do about the facts in front of me today?
There’s usually a good number of actions available: call past clients and reconnect with your referral partners. Follow up leads with high-vibe urgency. Temporarily pull back on your expenses. Have the conversation you’ve been avoiding, etc.
The more time you spend in “What if?”, the bigger the anxiety gets. Moving into “What can I do?” puts you back in the driver’s seat.
You don’t need to solve the next six months today. You need to deal with what’s real, identify what’s within your control, and take the next useful action.
Because let’s face it – worrying harder about your pipeline won’t fill it, but doing something might.
If you have a question that you’d like answered by psychotherapist Bronwyn Penhaligon in the Your Health in Mind section of The Adviser, you can email your question in confidence to [email protected].
Or if you feel you need more support, you can visit penhaligons.com.au to schedule a one-on-one appointment.
