Why being a founder can take its toll on your mental health
Founders are powerhouses of creativity, drive and ambition. They’ve started a business from the ground up, achieved fantastic things, and often have plenty of people relying on them (not to mention looking to them for direction and inspiration).
Founding a business is a high-pressure pursuit – capable of bringing untold levels of satisfaction, as well as a whole host of worries and wobbles.
You’re at the helm of something you’re extremely passionate about, you feel like you can’t afford sick days, your mind is always on, and you worry that once you let the ball drop, the whole thing will start to unravel.
But you know what? You’re only human. And by God, do you deserve a rest from time-to-time.
Looking after your wellbeing when you’re at the top
Burnout is a big problem in our busy, busy world. Founders and entrepreneurs feel this more than most, but when you’re in the top spot you don’t always open up or seek support. You’re trying to be all things to all people, and that makes it worryingly easy to neglect yourself.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
FormScore Founder Rob Stephenson is a great example: after recognising that he was in desperate need of some time out, he spent a week at wellbeing retreat Birch for precious quality time with the family. Our avid entrepreneur switched off the emails, disconnected from technology, and allowed himself to just ‘be’. And guess what? The world didn’t fall apart in his absence (even if the Form team did sorely miss him).
This sentiment was echoed by George Bell, Founder of choral wellbeing company On:song, who recently took a total break and “felt revitalised, with greater clarity and concentration” on his return.
Taking time for yourself is even more important when you’re a founder; when so much depends on you, you need to be fighting fit – mentally, physically, emotionally. So working yourself into the ground without any rest or play is entirely counterproductive.
Self-care strategies for the frazzled founder
If you’re struggling for ideas on how best to look after yourself, why not:
Join (or create) a network of fellow founders, where you can talk openly about your struggles, share the pressures you’re under, and support one another with tips and advice
Diarise ‘wellbeing hours’ each week where you focus on an activity that brings you joy (whether that’s a nature walk, an hour’s rest, time with family, or lunch with friends)
Book days off with the same regularity you’d expect your employees to
Make time for at least one full week off every year, where you unplug the tech and don’t engage with work at all (not even a little bit)
Look at where you can delegate responsibilities: you might be a founder, but not everything has to rest on your shoulders; train your people up to provide support when you need it
If you’re unwell, being a founder doesn’t make you superhuman: take time to rest and recover; otherwise, you’ll burn out completely
Any actions you take to place your wellbeing centre stage, even if only for a short while, will help you to recharge, reconnect with your purpose, and put you on a path to more positive mental health.
Sam Griffiths, Health and Performance Coach at Build Your Minimum, has this advice for founders: “Reframe the time you’re not working/switching off as essential to your business growth. Your success is the sum total of your vision, ideas, innovation, and ability for critical thinking and creativity; everything flows from that in my opinion. Work out over time what that looks like on a weekly/monthly basis (for you). The amount of business owners who leave their headspace to weekends or holidays continues to surprise me.”
And freelancers? We see you too.
I founded The Wellness Writer just over a year ago, and being a one-woman band is tough. As a founder once said to me, you’re the HR, marketing, comms, and finance team – all rolled into one, with no-one to delegate to. So this same self-care advice applies to all you freelancers and one-person shows out there. We all need to look after our wellbeing, because success is on our shoulders.
What your fellow founders are saying
As Alex reminds us, whether we’re busy running the world or taking time out, nothing is more important than our health. Although sometimes, it takes something major to make us sit back and take a breath:
“Running a small business definitely comes with its challenges; throw in the uncertainty and isolation of the past 20 months and it’s been a real rollercoaster for my mental health personally. I’ve had to learn that some days/weeks I’ll only be able to achieve and ‘do’ the bare minimum, and that’s ok. But it’s hard as I have a wellbeing business that supports many hundreds of employees each week, so I want to be at my best all the time for the people we support.
Exercise, sleep, social time, and my habits with technology are the biggest proactive drivers of supporting my mental health and wellbeing. I’ve recently done two weeks of quarantine in Australia and this forced me to step back and slow down; it was the absolute best thing for me. Who would have thought someone would speak so highly of quarantine? But what that probably tells me is that us founders all need a holiday. A real holiday where we actually disconnect.” Kevin McAlister, Founder of Lift Your Wellbeing
As Kevin points out, it’s hard when you want to be at your best for the people your business is supporting, but we know that to be at our best, we have to invest in ourselves with the same commitment that good employers invest in their people. And when founders are also parents the challenge can be even more acute:
There’s also the added pressure of being the one to make those tough decisions:
“My compassion gets in the way so often. Whether it's in pricing our services, balancing the boss/friend complex, or trying to be fair to small businesses by putting my profit second. I’m often getting it wrong because I’m "too nice" and this creates a lot of stress.
My co-founder is amazing at taking on the things I find hard and being the "bad cop" if needed. Having a small team also means I can take holiday (not something all founders get!). I've also consulted a professional therapist for the last 2 years who has been absolutely amazing, and I highly recommend it! Twice now I've switched off completely and handed 100% of the reigns over to my co-founder because I couldn't deal with the stress. I took a month off earlier this year to just focus on myself, have no phones, no "switched on" feeling, and just do one day at a time.” Laura Westmore, Founder & Marketing Director at Speccy Media
“For me, the biggest challenge was accepting that striving for perfection is the biggest barrier to progress. Perfect doesn't exist. But done is a great starting point. The pressure to "always be on" has been very difficult for me, and some days I need to accept I'm just going to be less hard on myself.
I have a faithful unwind routine as I have a very busy mind and I find it hard to switch off. I focus on moments of self-care, and I prioritise this. For me, that's a skincare ritual, a bath, an audiobook or mindfulness and certain scents.” Laura Hare, Founder, Laura Elizabeth Marketing (lemarketing.co.uk)
So, there you have it. An absolute wealth of insight from your fellow founders.
So, could it be time for a break?
Article by Emma Attenborough-Sergeant, The Wellness Writer. Helping leaders to improve culture with relatable mental health and wellness content.
Big thanks to every founder who contributed to this article with tips and advice from their experience as founders.