50% of Entrepreneurs Face Burnout | How to Prevent It

In this episode, I'm sharing with you how you can prevent mental health issues like burnout or depression. Entrepreneurs are so incredibly stubborn that they often choose to end up in a burnout or depression first, so experience mental health issues, then start experiencing physical symptoms, often psychosomatic, or let their business go to hell, rather than just choosing to get help and seeking support. And I get it, because I'm an entrepreneur and I'm also really super stubborn. Entrepreneurs are the most stubborn people I know. And I like to accuse people of things that I do myself too. Like recently I parked my car next to my friend's and we both got out. His car was a bit dirty and my car was really filthy, literally driven through the woods. Should have gone through the car wash ages ago. And his car was a bit grimy, so he got out and I said, "Hey, you need to wash your car, man." And he got completely defensive and said, "Yeah, I know, it was already my intention, blah blah blah." You get the same effect when you see someone smoking, for example. You say, "Hey, I thought you were going to quit, man." Yeah, they've thought about that themselves dozens of times already. But then they still feel attacked, even if you smoke yourself. Or in my case, park next to someone with a really dirty car yourself. So I'm guilty of it too. And for me, getting help has always been a thing. And why? You might recognize this as an entrepreneur. You can always think of solutions the moment you think of asking for help. So when I think, I'm going to ask my business coach for help, then I think of a question to ask him. But the consequence of that is, when I think of the question, I immediately think of a solution to it too. Then I think of a new question and then there's a solution for that too. And this continues until I think, I don't need coaching or a hypnosis coach. That's how it goes for me. I'm sure that's how it goes for a lot of entrepreneurs. Which means, if you're that entrepreneur, you're probably really super stubborn too. And did you know that for example 50 percent of entrepreneurs are on the verge of burnout? 50 percent. So yeah, chances are either you or an entrepreneur you know is dealing with this. And did you know that there are also 400,000 entrepreneurs in the Netherlands alone who actually suffer from mental health issues? And often that has to do with one thing, at least one root cause. Or at least one of the determining factors for this has to do with whether you have the feeling that you really have control over your life, that you're in control, or whether you have the feeling somewhere, or very much have the feeling, that life is actually deciding for you. Or that your business determines what you have to do. So the moment you just get up every day and automatically run through some kind of pattern again, because you're being lived, then there's a very high chance that you're part of that 50 percent of entrepreneurs who are heading for burnout or going toward depression or going toward other mental health issues, which also lead to physical complaints, think headaches, physical aches, even during exercise. Then it might be that you blame exercise, for example, like "yeah, I exercise excessively." Okay, but why do you exercise excessively? That all has to do with something in your mind. The moment you have the feeling that you don't have control over your life, even if it's just 20 percent, then you already have an increased risk of going under with a business going to hell, relationships in your life going to hell, your health going to hell, mentally going to hell. That's all lurking for you or is already ongoing, because it's not for nothing that you're watching or listening to this episode. Now I already said that you have the feeling that life is living you or that you're in charge, I've run into that myself too. At that time I was an entrepreneur on one hand, but I was also employed because I just wasn't getting my business off the ground yet. I had gone in a different direction. I used to be a DJ-producer, record label owner. When I decided to stop doing that, I had to make a switch toward, in that case, coaching. Later that became hypnosis. But in that switch I was a manager at KPN and I was on the Telford fiber optics project. And what I really noticed about myself is, we were in a location, there were 120 employees and we managed them with 4 team managers. And I always noticed that when I would visit my colleague team manager, so to speak, we always sat with our own team, then I had to walk to the other side of the hall and I always had a rushed feeling. Even when I was working, I always had a rushed feeling. I always had the feeling, not consciously, but just that rushed feeling, which I explained later, the feeling that something was chasing me. That I just had to be rushed or that I had to be chasing something. Why, I don't know what the idea was back then. But when I walked to the other side of the hall, it was like I was sprinting. Like I didn't have the peace to just walk calmly. Even when I went on break, it was quickly getting up, immediately grabbing my food too, eating well. I tried to eat calmly. I was already doing coaching training and such, so I knew that peace during meals was important. But yeah, that really didn't work just like that. And that rushedness, well, that came from somewhere of course. And it's not for nothing that I went through such a shift from essentially a whole DJ world, very outwardly focused, to coaching, which is much more internal. That was caused by something, I've shared about that many times before, but in 2012 I lived in Mallorca and someone suddenly broke through all my walls, so that caused that shift. And in that period afterward, when I was also a manager, I started working on myself. And then I ended up with a therapist and that rushed feeling, I wanted to get rid of that. And I thought, yeah, what does that have to do with? Then we made a timeline. That can be useful. As a hypnotherapist and coach, I don't necessarily work with that myself. Not in the sense of let's work it all out in 2 sessions. So I do work with timelines, but much faster. But anyway, a timeline was made and something did come to light from there, namely when I was 7 years old. I was living with just my mother then and my mother was mentally unstable and an alcoholic. And it was a Tuesday morning and I was 7 years old and I thought, well, I'm going to school, but I woke up and everything was still dark in the house, whereas normally my mother was already awake. So I thought that was strange. And I thought, well, maybe she's sleeping in, let me just do my own things. So I went to get dressed, I also tried to make my bread as best as I could, I wasn't allowed to use the spreader, so I threw sprinkles on a sandwich. That became a mess at school later of course. And then it was time that I really needed my mom for something. I don't remember what it was, my hair or brushing teeth or some more clothing. I don't know. So I called her and she responded from bed. She says no, go back to sleep, it's Saturday. Saturday and I thought no, that's not right, it's Tuesday. I was at school yesterday, today is Tuesday, I have to go to school again, it's Tuesday. But of course I was confused, because my mama was my authority. I only lived with her, only child too. So yeah, she was my go-to person. And I called again, I say "no, no, no, mama, it's Tuesday, you're still half asleep, come on." But yeah, it just wasn't right. And yeah, I don't know exactly what happened then, that's how it is with memories. But somehow I decided then to just take care of everything myself. Maybe that's when I decided to throw sprinkles on my sandwiches. And then I went to school, but yeah, I didn't have a good feeling, because I thought it was strange. My mama reacted really weird. Then in the afternoon suddenly my aunt was in the schoolyard instead of my mama and then I knew something was wrong. And my mama who was mentally just unstable, she had ended up in psychosis and was admitted to a psychiatric clinic. And I was taken home by my aunt and she told me that I couldn't see my mama for a while. That situation, that's what I came to by going into a timeline, which I say, with hypnosis I do that differently, because then I follow the rushed feeling if you have that or whatever is playing out for you, I follow it back to where it originated and then we solve it there. Well, that's what we did with that therapist then too. So I went all the way back to where it originated and we solved it there. And from one day to the next, it's really true, from one day to the next I was suddenly walking slowly across that hall. Suddenly all that rushedness was out of my system and I no longer had the feeling that I was running, as if I was in a rat race, just busy with all kinds of things. Suddenly I had time to stand still and look at my life for a moment and think "hey, how does this work in my life? What do I want in my life? Where do I stand in my life? What changes do I want to make in my life? Where do I stand with my business? Where do I want to go with my business?" Now it might be that you as an entrepreneur, I assume that, have already thought about this for a long time. But have you ever done that from a place of calm? From the sense that you truly have complete control? Because that's what we're talking about. I'm not saying you necessarily suffer from feeling rushed. But the moment you're an entrepreneur, the chances are very high, 50 percent, that you're dealing with burnout-like symptoms, that you could be heading toward depression. That's not for everyone. And I also always say, learned from my mentor of course, you do depression or you do burnout, so you can get out of it too. Because you've also learned beforehand how not to do burnout or not to do depression. So you don't need to make a big deal out of it at all. But you do need to stay ahead of it, or if you're really almost in it, solve it. And you do that by taking the real reins of your life, by making the decisions yourself, by really making choices from within yourself, from your inner you. Not just from what you hear, what might be good for you. No, really from deep inside, from okay, what do you want? What are your values? What do you stand for? How do you want to live your life and how can your business help you with that? Not the other way around. When that doesn't just work out, when you can't manage to really take a moment to reflect, then you have something within yourself to resolve. And then I would definitely consider a hypnosis coach or therapist, me, to have a conversation about 'Hey, what can I do for you?' But know that the moment you have the slightest feeling, doesn't matter what percentage it is, that life is being lived for you, that choices are being made for you. Yes, then you really need to take action, because otherwise it's a slippery slope. And yes, then you eventually slide further down with physical, mental, emotional, relational, financial problems as a result. And yes, you just don't want those. So in summary, entrepreneurs are stubborn. You're an entrepreneur, because otherwise you would have stopped listening long ago. So you're stubborn too. And the chances are very high that you find it very difficult to ask for help, because either you keep coming up with solutions yourself for the questions for help you have. Or you think 'I should be able to do it myself, I don't need anyone' or 'I've always been a lone wolf' or whatever bullshit you tell yourself. But then it does ensure that the chances really increase that you're heading toward all those symptoms, I won't list them again. And you can prevent that by really grabbing life by the balls and saying: 'Hey, I'm in control.' And if you're struggling with that, then getting help is very smart. I certainly hope things are going well with you. I hope things are going well with your loved ones and I of course wish you a very nice day. Bye. --- This transcript has been translated from Dutch.