Episode 24:How to Overcome Overwhelm- Webinar Coming Up!

Hello, hello, everyone, and welcome back to the six Figure Systems podcast. I have a very exciting announcement for you all. Um, this podcast is designed to be like a little appetizer, a little intro into a webinar that I have coming up on September 23 at 08:00 p.m. the eastern, just in case you're looking for time zones. And I want to share with you a course about how to overcome stress as a solopreneur currently. But I also want to make sure that if you want a larger bit of information, if you want to see the visuals that I'll be discussing for this episode, you can either, if you're listening to this live, register for the webinar using the link in my show notes, or if you would like to watch the replay after the 23rd, I will put that replay in here for you to enjoy. But with that all being said, very exciting things coming up. And today we're going to be talking about stress as a solo product. And it's something that we are probably quite familiar with it because the first thing we're going to talk about is, ah, why solopreneurs experience more stress than other workers. And fun fact, by 3% on average, by, ah, a study that was done. And then we're going to learn what you can do to shift from stressed to successful. You might not be thinking, thinking that stress is inhibiting your success, but it is. And we're going to talk about that today. And last but not least, we're going to talk about not only how you can make a quick shift currently, but I also want you to prevent future stressors. I don't want you to go about your business feeling like you're constantly putting out fires, and we're going to talk about how to prevent those future stressors and stop them from doing a little sabotage for your business. So, uh, first and foremost, when we're thinking about being a solopreneur, the reason why solopreneurs experience more stress than other workers is because any typical worker experience, you have one job, right? So if you as, um, an elementary school teacher, I came to school and I was teaching now, within that role, I would definitely teach different subjects. I was teaching first grade at the time for six years. So within that time period, I would teach reading and I would teach writing. And they would be segmented in different aspects, which again, is obviously, of course, very challenging. However, within a business, not only are you running your business and you're doing the marketing, which, by the way, in any other larger company, that would be a CMO, that would be a graphic designer, a branding person, a copywriter, all of these different roles that you have to fill as an individual. Not only that, but you're also the sales team. You are also the chief financial officer. You are responsible for planning everyone's time. You are really wearing every single hat that you possibly could imagine. And all as a solopreneur, it falls on your shoulders. So a lot of my clients, like myself, tend to be on the high achieving side of things. We like to do it all. We like to do it to the best of our ability. And one of the things that I have found is that when you have that expectation of a traditional work environment and then you step into the world of entrepreneurship, what happens is there is a there. It can feel really heavy, especially if you've never done roles like that before. So that's the first thing that you want to know, is that if you were feeling stressed as a solopreneur, it's normal. But here's what I want to offer you. I was thinking about it this week, and I was thinking about how different our world would be if there were more solopreneurs that were responsible for our economy. I was actually talking with a travel agent I met at a networking event. And within her business, you could just see the passion, the excitement that she had. We're going to Disney, like I mentioned, in November, and she just, like, was lighting up about it, and she was sharing about all the fun things that you can do in Disney. And I've never worked with a travel agent before. I've never experienced that before. But just seeing her joy and her excitement, I was like, wow, can you imagine if the world and our experiences within our lives, if we were investing in things like that, investing in experiences, investing in people's true zones of genius, which is, I feel like as solopreneurs, you are really, when you are in full service for your clients, you are fully showing up for them and in your best capacity. That's the thing that I find about so many solopreneurs. We get into the business because we love what we do. We love to serve our people. I, uh, loved life coaching, and I was like, this is amazing. Everybody needs a life coach. And then there was all that other minutia, all the other behind the scenes stuff that I did not love. And that's why I obviously created systems around it. But I just want you to think about if the world was run by more small business owners, if more small business owners were able to manage the stress of the job and create more impact, how different our lives would be. Because as much as I love corporations and know how necessary they are, they're not giving a dig to anybody or anything like that. But I do think that there is a magic that you experience when it is just one person that is doing what they love, their true passion, the things that they are, unique gifts and talents, that's something that you can't find anywhere else. And that's one of the reasons why I want to help you all overcome stress. Because if you are able to manage the stress and mitigate the stress, then what happens is then you're able to do more work, you have more capacity, you can help more people. And that's the reason why we all got started in these things in our businesses in the first place. So that's what I want you to think about first and foremost. And also just thank you for doing the work that you do. I know that it's not easy. I know that it is tends to be more stressful than another job, but the work that you're doing is wonderful and amazing. And I want to help teach you how to shift those stressors that you're experiencing and change that to a more successful situation. So you might be thinking, yes, Megan, I'm stressed, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm not going to be successful. Right? And a lot of us have found that for me personally, in a lot of other instances where I was achieving goals, whether it was running a marathon or doing national boards or, um, um, like, speaking on tv on behalf of the teacher union, like, anything that I did, that was, like a big, pivotal moment for me. I felt stressed beforehand, and then I accomplished the task. So it kind of created this cycle in my mind that I have to be stressed in order to be successful. Like, if I'm stressed out about something, it gets me into action. And, I mean, how many of us, I feel like that. That, like, we work well under deadlines and we feel really good about, like, at, uh, if I. And again, I think that's true. That can be helpful for you, but I want to rein it in for these specific reasons. Within your business, if you are constantly functioning in a stress state, what happens is your nervous system, your body, is feeling the pressure and feeling the tension so much. So, within your business, what happens is your brain actually cuts off the blood flow to your prefrontal cortex. So, in English, what I mean by that is when you're stressed, your prefrontal cortex is a part of your brain that's responsible for logic and decision making. So you might be thinking that being stressed in your business has served you. It has probably served you in your life and in other goals, just like it has for myself and many other clients. However, what you'll find is that when you are in a stressed state, you aren't able to think as clearly, literally on a biological level, because your brain is cutting off blood flow. It feels like it's in a fight, flight, freeze, or bond response, and it's not actually helping you create as much success as you could. So I hope you hear this, and I want you to realize that if you've been able to create as much as you have as a solopreneur, with the amount of stress that you've been feeling, I want to offer to you that if you were to be less stressed, what would happen is you would create even more success, that creating an alleviating stress would actually make your business even more successful than it is right now. So, great news. And what we want to do is, uh, when, if you guys would like to listen to the whole, um, webinar that I'm doing, I think it will be really helpful for you, because I think I'm going to phrase this kind of webinar as not your average stress solutions. Because I think a lot of us, when we hear about stress, a lot of times we hear about, like, stress or burnout, we hear the typical solutions. Right? So there is, okay, you need to prioritize better. How are you managing your time? Are you delegating? Do you have boundaries? Are you taking breaks? Have you meditated? Are you taking care of yourself? And I'm saying this in a joking way, obviously, those things are insanely important. But I want to get to a deeper reason. When we're thinking about you, you know, those things. I guarantee that there is not a single person listening to this podcast that doesn't think, oh, if I manage my time better, I'd be less stressed. I think we all know that. But why aren't we managing our time better? Why aren't we putting boundaries in place? What is actually happening? And what is, why aren't we exercising? Why aren't we making time for ourselves? I'm pretty sure everyone has heard that, yes, self care is important, but why aren't you doing that? That's what we're talking about today. When you're thinking about the reg, the typical reasons why people address stress is they're addressing the stress at, uh, the symptomatic level. So what's happening is you are maybe feeling tired and you're feeling super stressed. And so you might think that a solution for you. Let's say you are working maybe like, and for me personally coaching 8 hours a day and that, and you leave the day feeling tired and it makes you feel stressed about the back end of your business because you also have to market after that and you have to do sales and you have to manage your leads and you have to plan not at all, speaking for personal experience. But that is sometimes how we feel when we are in our businesses. So if you know that, like myself, that it probably would be better for my business and for my life if I carved out some time to get that marketing done, to get my planning done. But here's the thing. We don't do it right. You know what to do. I don't think that there is, I think that everyone who I've heard who is listening to this podcast, you know what to do. So why aren't you doing it? That's the question that we want to answer. And here is the reason. When we, let's say, okay, if you are like, I'm feeling stressed with your business, and let's say you decide to add on exercise, right? You know, I've heard that exercise can help. I can increase my endorphins. This can be good. But you're still stressed. You're still feeling stress from the situations that you're in. So how are you going to actually, like, that is a, it's almost like a band aid on a broken bone. That's not actually the real reason that the working out isn't going to solve the real reason why you're stressed. If anything, adding on more things to your schedule might make things even more stressful. If you think about within, like, if someone was like, hey, you should, uh, cut out a lunch break. And you do, let's say you do it. You actually do the things. You change your circumstances to fit your life, guess what happens? You still will be feeling stressed because you haven't dealt with what the root cause of stress really is. Now, today I'm going to be talking about your subconscious and I'm going to give you a super quick overview. If you want to hear more, come to the webinar. I'm also going to be doing a, um, more in depth version of this. However, one of the things I want you to think about, and one things that I didn't know is that when you are feeling stress and that is an emotion that you're experiencing, there is that that feeling of stress is something that you can control, and you don't control it by changing your circumstances. You don't control it by creating more time in your schedule. You don't create it by going and getting a massage. You create it from the way that you think. So let me just give you a little overview real quick. We're going to get nerdy, and it's going to be great. You're going to love it. So, within your subconscious, within your brain, the part of you that is actually creating the, um, stress experience, we want to go back and think about your body when you are feeling stress and that nervous system response, your actual physical body. And again, I am note not claiming to be a neuroscientist, so I'm going to be giving you a real, like, just a light explanation of this. But I think it's going to be insanely helpful for you because it was for me. So what's happening is your brain and your body need to interpret the world around you. And what's happening is you're constantly looking out for safety. You're looking to see, okay, is this going to hurt me? What can I prevent? So that way, I don't experience pain. And when you think about your brain working like that, you have to figure out, okay, there's an external event. My business is happening. I have clients. I want clients. I know that social media exists. These are all things that exist within our frame of reference for our business. And your brain is experiencing all of that information so quickly. What's happening is that information is coming at you at, uh, 2 million bits of information per second. And what happens is, from that 2 million bits of information per second, your brain can't possibly hold all that information all the time. We're quick. Not that quick. So what happens is your brain has to have some sort of filter, and it goes from 2 million bits of information per second to 134 bits of information per second. Okay? So when I heard that, I was like, okay, what is the filter? What is the filter? How is my brain actually filtering from the world outside of me to this 134 bits of information per second? And the reason why this is so important to understand is you. That is your subconscious, and I call it your self concept. That's another way you can think about it. And that's all of your past experiences, present experiences, your values, how you think about yourself. And what happens is when your brain experiences the world, filters through your little self concept, and then it takes it to a thought. What's literally happening is there is a neuron firing, like a little electrical pulse, and it is secreting a hormone. You guys have probably heard of cortisol. That, my friends, is a stress hormone. So what's literally happening? If we want to solve for stress, instead of going to the workout class, instead of changing your schedule, you have to change the way your brain is working, because the hormone won't stop secreting if you don't change the electrical pulse in your brain. You know what I mean? It's like the electrical pulse is still going. You could be at yoga. You could be like, namaste over here. And your brain is still going to be thinking about, oh, my gosh, did I make enough money this month? Can I pay this contractor? Do I need to create. How many more clients do I need? Why haven't I signed a client right now? All of those thoughts are still going on, even if you change the circumstances. So you have to solve stress at the source. And that means that you need to change the way that you think. We literally need to rewire your neurons. And that's, as a life coach, that's what I was able to do previously. So what you want to do is in order for. And then again, also think about not only the fact that, like, if you're stressed, you're literally cutting off blood flow to logic, but what also happens is you create this cycle in your head, and it's just going and perpetuating and creating this cortisol and going through. And I want you to think about m. If I were trying to, like, let's just say, write a post, wrote a social media post, and I'm trying to write a post from a really stressed and anxious state, versus if I'm writing a post from a calm, regulated, and grounded state, you're going to get two very different results. And this is why you need to be thinking about the way that you're. You need to be thinking about the way you're thinking a lot more often than you think. And, uh, again, your brain is trying to look out for you. It's trying to protect you. But when you think of the way that the human brain is designed, it's trying to keep you safe. So it's just on the lookout for problems, pretty much constantly. So what happens is your brain is hardwired for negativity. If, as a developing species, if we heard a rustle in the bushes and we were like, oh, no big deal, and it turns out it was a tiger, guess what happened? You got eight, you were eaten by a tiger. And so what you want to do is what happens. Then we know that is something that is fascinating. I love learning about this kind of stuff because I'm like, if you can hack this, you can create whatever you want. It's truly amazing. So when you think about your brain, it makes sense as to why it's thinking so negatively. The stress hormones that you are pumping out. Logical. However, what your brain doesn't realize is it hasn't realized the difference between emotional danger, like putting yourself out there on the gram, and physical danger. Your brain thinks that a rejected consult literally means the same thing as you, like getting eaten. That's why it feels so terrible. So we know this. Now, upon knowing this, what you need to recognize is that when you build awareness for the times that you're stressed, I want you to remember this. It takes five positive thoughts to replace every negative thought. So what I want you to do, if you're in the heat of the moment and you're like, megs, I am stressed. What you do is pause, and I want you to identify why. What is going on up here, you know, in your brain that is creating the feeling of stress for you? It could be that you. And again, what's going to be happening is your brain is just going to be triggered. You know, it's just going to have, like, a certain thing where maybe visibility is scary for you, maybe rejection scary for you. Maybe failure is scary for you. Abandonment is scary for you. We all have our own stuff based on our own past. That's your self concept. So what we want to do is we want to feel the stress, and then we want to notice what is going on up here. Now, a thought. It sounds really fancy. You know, it sounds like an electrical impulse. You know, that sounds really jazzy. What I want you to think about is a thought is just a sentence in your brain. And when I heard this, when I was like, wait, the, like, when I heard that people, like, were hearing their own thoughts, I literally thought that meant they were schizophrenic. So, okay, this is where I was starting my coaching business. This is, like, the level of awareness I have. It was great. But I, uh, want you to think about. You do have conscious thoughts that you think and a lot of subconscious thoughts that you are thinking at every minute of every day. So what you want to do is you want to build awareness for what are the thoughts that you have when you're feeling triggered into a stress response? So you're going to feel it, and you're like, whoop. Hold on. What is going on. And maybe it's you're preparing for a webinar, and you're thinking, this is really hard. You might be recording or trying to create a website, and then you have this thought, I'll never get this finished. You might go to write an Instagram post, and you might be thinking, I have no idea how to do this. The algorithm keeps changing. It's a whole thing. So I want you to know that those are what I call limiting beliefs or limiting thoughts. I also like to think about them as, uh, stress thoughts. So if those thoughts are what's causing stress, what we want to do is we want to shift those thoughts. Okay? So in the moment, let's say that you are feeling, okay, this is hard. I want you to find. So, again, going back to your brain, I realize I didn't say this. It takes five positive thoughts to replace every negative thought. Five. And, ah, again, our brain is designed to think negatively. So I, uh, want you to think about, okay, if I'm noticing that I'm going to prepare for a webinar and I'm thinking it's hard, what are five positive thoughts? I can think instead? What? And it could be about the webinar itself. You could be thinking, well, I've done some presentations before. I'm sure I can figure out this one. Instead of thinking, this is hard, you could be thinking, well, I know how to work things in my website so I can at least get things figured out there. Um, what is easy for me is I know how to post, maybe I know how to put something on my story. I know how to create a link for people to sign up. So there are three aspects of the webinar that are easy. And maybe just creating the presentation is hard. Maybe figuring out the technology to deliver said webinar is hard. Either way, what you want to do is you want to channel that, and you want to recognize, okay, when I'm having what I'm feeling, that stress response in the moment, five positive thoughts to replace that negative thought. Now, I don't want you. I want to go beyond that today, and I don't even want to just talk about when you were in the stress response. I want to talk about how to even prevent those stress responses. So every day, literally every day, when I'm doing my. I call it thought work. Or, like, you can think about it as, like, journaling. It's productive ways for me to get out all this junk that's in my brain, at least the majority of things that would self sabotage me and create a positive experience. So I would think about, like, all the things that might be on my mind that could be stressful and I could be thinking about, ooh, okay, uh, I'm learning how to manage a team. This is really hard. And I'm going to pause myself in that moment and I'm going to be like, oh, I'm going to switch that limiting belief to an empowering one by thinking instead of, this is hard. I can do hard things. I've done a lot of hard things in my life, as I'm sure you have as well. And this is a way more empowering way to be thinking about the way that you want to take, take on this obstacle in your business. The thought, uh, like I mentioned previously, I'll never get this finished. That's sometimes how I feel about, I don't know if any of you guys do quickbooks or accounting, but we are going doing a deep dive into my finances, personal and business. And I just feel like, oh, my God, this is never going to be done. And I'm like, okay, thank you, brain, for offering me this limiting thought or a limiting belief, but that's not going to help me get this done. So instead, I want to think the thought, I will absolutely finish this. I am a closer. I will make it happen. And that's just what I do. Last but not least, the thought I don't know how to do this has come up so many different times in my business. Currently it's coming up with Facebook ads. I'm trying to learn that and is a new beast. And what, instead of thinking, I don't know how to do this, I might think of thought, I can figure this out. I figured out so much harder stuff before I taught kids virtually in Covid six year olds on little Chromebooks from in a pandemic. Okay, so I can. If I can figure out that, I can absolutely figure this out, too. And I know that you are resilient and insanely capable human beings that are going to be able to overcome these stress responses and truly grow into the amazing solopreneurs that are going to help so many people and truly create these successful and thriving businesses with maybe not entirely stress free, but a little bit less stressed, at least after listening to this episode today. So with that being said, webinar, September Eastern. Be there, be square. If not, come and watch the replay afterwards and make sure you register for that using the link in the show notes. And I cannot wait to see you all there.