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 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.

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. All of this tension can also lead to one feeling like an imposter – where we present a facsimile of a person who 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 who in many cases, don’t get to avail of, or have time to benefit from these mental health initiatives themselves – what happens to 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 form 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 the 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 lives, then we are filled. We are full-filled. This is how personal fulfillment is achieved.

So to obtain maximum personal fulfilment, we must fill our voids following 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 center part of our brain to make manifest. The executive center 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 least costly way. What I mean by less costly is in terms of all the resources that are needed – time, energy, and effort.

It is our internal priorities that activate most effectively the executive center 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.

To optimize your mental health and operate at your full potential, it’s important to engage the executive center of your brain. This helps you become more innovative, objective, and organized while achieving your goals efficiently. Strengthening your connection with your unconscious can further enhance this process. 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.

In my experience, over 90% of individuals, executives, and business owners I’ve worked with don’t align with their internal priorities. They often fail to operate from their executive center. And this is the main reason they struggle, while others thrive.

For many people that are not operating from their, internal priorities, it can lead to them feeling a lack of fulfillment 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 is that your unconscious tries to fill these voids, and if the person does not work in line with their internal priorities, then they do not fill these voids.

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 lead us to discover our true purpose and mission in life.

So when we consciously know our internal priorities, and we mold our business or our career around our internal priorities, two main things happen.

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

And secondly, we are utilising our executive center the most and beginning to open the connection to our unconscious, and in turn to the superconscious. This alignment, enables us to achieve our vision, our goals, and our objectives in the fastest, easiest, and least costly way.

When this is done, the results that clients get are amazing. And apart from the personal fulfillment 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.

By asking specific questions and exploring the answers, we uncover evidence from our lives. This reveals what our unconscious is striving to fulfill. These desires manifest 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.

That’s when you get maximum fulfillment in your life and you are expressing your true authentic self. You are bringing yourself, your executive center, your unconscious, and the superconscious more into alignment. You’re more creative, more innovative, and more objective. It’s your true authentic inner leader.

When challenges like recessions, pandemics, or financial losses arise, you see opportunities where others see failures. Operating this way transforms setbacks into potential growth. It’s a shift in perspective that makes all the difference. 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.