Unloading the Plate: Mastering Mental Health and Entrepreneurship

This week’s blog is here to remind you, you aren’t alone in your entrepreneurial struggles and overwhelm - this sh*t is hard. Most entrepreneurs I’ve met are hungry and their plates are piled up like the plate of bugs Timon and Pumbaa are chowing down on all while singing “Hakuna Matata” (AKA: Don’t worry”) to Simba right after his dad died and Scar is now after him (uh….spoiler if you haven’t seen the OG Lion King, but also it’s been like 20+ years, were you really going to watch it now????????)

This month has been all about Mental Health Awareness. We’ve covered:

• May 1 - Riding the Waves of Entrepreneurship & learning some facts about entrepreneurship and mental health. 

• May 8 - Abundance vs Scarcity Mindset and what to do about the “Frenemy Follow”

• May 15 - Pivoting isn’t a failure, and finding a new space in….the Blue Ocean…

• May 22 - Time is our biggest obstacle and how to effectively Time Block

Here’s the thing: this is all real-life entrepreneur sh*t. We love to say YES and to do it all. We have ideas spewing out of us like the geyser at Yellowstone. We love our freedom, we love breaking the rules, being in charge, and being proud of all the things we’ve accomplished. Okay okay, I can’t speak for you - this is most definitely how I feel, but I have an inkling you might feel the same.  

Another thing I love, and I can only imagine you do too - is to fill my plate FULL. 

Do you ever have this conversation: 

Them: “You’re just so busy, how do you do it all?”

I always respond this way: “Yeah, I guess I’d rather be busy than bored…it keeps me out of trouble.” 

While that is about 89% factual (just ask my spouse) the answer is just as meaningless as the question. 

It’s like saying:

Them: “Hey, how are you?” 

Me: “Good, super busy. What about you?”

Them: “OMG, same.”

What the f*ck did we even talk about, literally nothing. No joke, I started a few years ago answering with “I’m okay” just to see if anyone actually noticed that I didn’t immediately say “Good, how are you?” The people who are actually paying attention will continue the conversation. Before we dive too deep into this side salad - let’s go back to packing your plate full and busy-ness. 

We’ve established, through research and practice, that entrepreneurship is inherently stressful. Then, you have all of the other factors of your life that play into the stress of it all. 

Babes, this sh*t is serious. Taking action and having a “strat” (a new term coined by my 12-year-old that is short for “strategy”) for your mental health is just as important as knowing your KPIs and keeping your books balanced. We don’t skip payroll, leg day, or mental health “strats.” (Okay skip leg day, who the F cares….)  

Back to your full plate… It’s heavy, I know - because I have one too. I filled my plate and I’m staring at it like “F*ck, I gotta eat all of this.” Quick lil’ idea that may shock you: we don’t have to eat it all. 

Before we dive into our action items, one last resource I’d love to share with you. If you’re a podcast fanatic, you’ll love this one….

Alex Liebermann, co-founder of Morning Brew, has a few podcasts that I love. He’s been open about his own struggles with his mental health after selling Morning Brew and leaving the company. He launched Imposters - a podcast all about founders, their mental health struggles, and how they overcame them. These podcasts include stars like Michelle Williams discussing overcoming depression after Destiny’s Child, Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson overcoming an eating disorder and starting a company, and Paul English, the co-founder of Kayak, overcoming and managing his bipolar disorder.  

These podcasts are a great reminder that entrepreneurship is hard, and we are not alone in our struggles. 

As we end May and move into Summer, many of us have a shift in entrepreneurial seasons as well. We tend to slow down or speed up, what season are you shifting into? 

Let’s take a Reality Inventory.

Your plate is FULL AF. I know it, you know it. We are taking a tip from Dwight D Eisenhower and using the “Eisenhower Box” to help visualize and categorize the importance of what to eat first from your full plate of food. (My doctor suggests eating a lot of protein, lucky for you I’m not a doctor, ha!)

Use the following categories to help organize your plate, and set you up for the season you want to move into this Summer:

Urgent and important (do these first, eat them while they’re hot.)

1. Important, but not urgent (tasks you can schedule for later, think leftovers.)

2. Urgent, but not important (tasks you can potentially delegate to someone else or place into a batch of tasks like we discussed last week for help with time blocking.)

3. Neither urgent nor important (scrape this sh*t off your plate completely.) 

As you reflect upon your answers, remind yourself what you are working towards and of your purpose. Do your boxes align with your bigger picture?

Where can you say YES right now? Where can you say NO right now?

Think of this as one of those perfectly little Pinterest-portioned lunch boxes but for you and the season you want to move into. 

As we close out May and Mental Health Awareness Month, take a look at your heaping full plate. Remember, you’re not alone, whether through listening to the stories of the Imposters podcast or if you have experienced any of the symptoms above due to overwhelm, entrepreneurship is hard. 

The reality is saying no is hard too, we might feel like we are letting someone down or turning down what could be an opportunity, but remember, some tasks need to be scraped off your plate. As we shift into our desired season, it’s critical to think about what truly deserves our energy. 

The Eisenhower Box “strat” isn’t about just trying to make it through the day, it’s about aligning to your bigger YES the one you’ve been working on all this time. Don’t just fill up on your beautiful Pinterest-worthy lunch box, nourish your entrepreneurial spirit and your mental health.

Remember, being an entrepreneur isn’t just about enduring stress and managing chaos. It's about thriving through strategic choices, being courageous in your decisions, capable in your actions, and strong in your convictions. Here’s to a summer of clarity, purpose, and alignment. Stay courageous, stay capable, stay strong. 

Oh b*y, another idea…. as we look ahead to June and July, I’m launching The Anti-Book Club Summer. One of the women I interviewed joked about how we will do just about anything to feel connected sometimes, and that includes joining a book club you hate. So I’ll do the reading, and send you my favorite two takeaways from the books I read.

If you want to join my anti-book club, you can’t - because remember, it’s not a book club. But, you can read what I’m reading, the first two books are: Selling the Dream and The Right It. 

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