How to Overcome Overwhelm As An Entrepreneur
And create the life and business you love.
If you are an entrepreneur, be it a coach, consultant, freelancer, or small business owner, chances are you’ve had to deal with overwhelm.
I can tell you after over two decades in public relations in all capacities, it’s a thankless job. We work 60–80 hours a week, most weekends. As long as the media is working, we’re working. It is literally nonstop. We have to deal with demanding and often low (or no) paying clients for whom we would throw someone off a cliff if it meant we could get them coverage. We are always at the mercy of very fickle members of the media, which unwittingly hold the key to whether we will get to keep our jobs or not. It truly takes a Teflon mindset to be a PR professional.
After a near nervous breakdown in late 2019, I decided to throw in the towel and retire my tech PR practice of nearly 20 years - after the one last Consumer Electronics Show, of course. I was running on all cylinders. I was doing PR, running a nonprofit animal rescue, and planning my escape by transitioning into coaching, which meant taking classes and courses, getting certified, and learning new marketing techniques.
Needless to say, I practically went into full shutdown mode. Something had to give. I couldn’t continue to be all things to all people, constantly having to be in emergency response mode because everything had to happen like yesterday. I couldn’t continue waking up to dozens of emails, texts, and phone calls every day- each demanding my attention and immediate response. Forget about having any kind of morning routine. There was too much work to do from the moment I opened my eyes. My only discipline was that first cup of bullet coffee before I turned on my phone.
And, truth be told, I had started losing my passion for PR. Getting a new client, creating stories and pitch angles, and the neverending stream of events was no longer exciting to me. I will say, I still do get a thrill when one of my stories gets picked up, and that will probably never go away.
As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to get caught up on the whole hustle culture mentality. You see these highly successful entrepreneurs who glamorize being busy. Those in their groups practically…
