Who is looking after the mental health of business owners and managers?

As the world prepares for a new normal, it’s fair to say that the mental health of everyone has had many challenges over the past three months. And while coping with change can be very difficult for a lot of people, we will in fact need to face more changes and more uncertainty in the months to come.

Will we return to normal, or a new normal? My wife once told me that the only “normal” there is, is the cycle on a washing machine!
And she is so right.

And while many people might be struggling on the inside, there’s the tendency to put on a “brave face” to the outside world – for our colleagues, our staff, our clients and our suppliers. And all of this tension can also lead to one feeling like an imposter – where we present a facsimile of a person that is coping, yet on the inside, the reality is very different.

There are many programs and initiatives for staff to help deal with mental health, fear, stress, anxiety, and depression; such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, exercise, and many others.

But what about the business owners and the managers that in many cases, don’t get to avail of, or have time to benefit from these mental health initiatives themselves – what happens for them? What can they do? And more so than staff, they have to maintain that “brave face”. After all, they need to show leadership. They can’t be seen to be weak.

And how is it that some business owners and managers thrive, even in a challenging economic market, while others struggle?

Well that’s been part of my study for over thirty years while working with high-level executives and business owners; and what has been incorporated into what I call The Genius Code™ , where the science and research forms the most comprehensive and practical methodology available.

So where does one start?

Well, we are all unique. There is no “normal”. And with us being unique we also have a unique set of what I call internal priorities.

Let’s go back to the Greek philosophers.

Aristotle referred to the fact that each individual has an inner desire to fill what is empty in their life. What is most void in our life. We seek to fill what is empty, i.e. we seek to fill these voids. Many of which were created in the formative years of our upbringing.

The voids which are most empty in our life, we will unconsciously want to fill the most. In other words, we unconsciously prioritise these voids. And we unconsciously seek out ways to fill these voids.

When we fill these voids or this inner emptiness in our life, then we are filled. We are full-filled. This is how personal fulfilment is achieved.

So in order to obtain maximum personal fulfilment, we must fill our voids in accordance with the voids that are of most priority.

And because we are unconsciously seeking out ways to fill these voids in line with what is of most priority, we therefore have what I refer to as a set of internal priorities.

It is also these internal priorities that our unconscious is actively getting the executive centre part of our brain to make manifest. The executive centre in our brain is located in the prefrontal cortex. It’s responsible for organisation, innovation, objectivity and execution of actions; in the fastest, easiest and less costly way. What I mean by less costly is in terms of all the resources that are needed – time, energy, effort.

It is our internal priorities that activates most effectively the executive centre part of our brain. And while our conscious mind processes 50 bits of information per second, our unconscious mind processes 11 million bits of information per second.

Therefore when it comes to wanting your mental health to be high and to operate at your full potential, achieving maximum fulfilment, being more innovative, objective and organised, and achieving your goals in the fastest, easiest and less costly way possible – then it makes sense to be operating from the executive centre part of your brain and developing your connection with your unconscious. And it is even more important to be doing so when faced with challenges to our business or our livelihoods such as in a pandemic situation or a recession.

Yet in my experience, of all the individuals, executives and business owners that I’ve worked with and observed, over 90% of them don’t operate in line with their internal priorities and their executive centre. And this is the main reason they struggle, while others thrive.

For many people that are not operating from their personal internal priorities, it can lead to them feeling a lack of fulfilment or meaning in their life. Or a sense that they’ve lost their mojo. That they can’t find their purpose or focus in life. As a result their mental health suffers significantly.

The reason being is that your unconscious is trying to fill these voids, and if the person is not working in line with their personal internal priorities, then these voids are not being filled.

Your internal priorities also form your unconscious blueprint when it comes to your relationships, your finances, your business, your health – everything in your life. It is these internal priorities that leads us to discover your true purpose and mission in life.

So when we consciously know our internal priorities, and we mould our business or our career around our internal priorities, two main things are happening.

We are filling our personal voids the most, and therefore we are achieving maximum person fulfilment.

And secondly, we are utilising our executive centre the most and beginning to open the connection to our unconscious, and in turn to the superconscious. And with this alignment, it enables us to achieve our vision, our goals and our objectives in the fastest, easiest and less costly way.

When this is done, the results that clients get are amazing. And apart from the personal fulfilment that they get, life becomes easier for them.

So if our internal priorities are operating from an unconscious level, how do we become aware of them so that we can build our business or career around them?

Well, we look for the evidence in our lives.

Through a series of specific questions and by drilling down on the answers, we’re able to find the evidence that is in our life of what our unconscious is trying to fill the most in our lives, both externally and internally.

Externally in terms of our environment, how we spend our time, how we spend our money, how we use our energy, and how we communicate with others.

And also internally. Our thoughts, our dreams and aspirations, our internal energy and also our internal communication – that little voice inside our heads.

When you know your own unique set of internal priorities, and you build your business, your career, your life around them, then that’s when you’re more motivated, more driven to achieve, more inspired to take action. That’s when you get maximum fulfilment in your life and you are expressing your true authentic self. You are bringing yourself, your executive centre, your unconscious and the superconscious more into alignment. You’re more creative, more innovative, and more objective. It’s your true authentic inner leader.

Then when it comes to challenges that show up in your life like recessions, pandemics, redundancies, health issues, financial loss – whatever it is, when you’re operating in this way, then what you see are opportunities while others see failures. And while others see challenges, you see springboards to higher levels.

It’s what makes the difference between the person that struggles, versus the person that is thriving. That’s the best way owners and managers can look after their wellbeing and mental health.