How to Deal With Anxiety When You Are Professional and Highly-Successful
You've worked hard to get where you are today, and it hasn't been easy. Your days, nights, and even weekends have been filled with long hours and sacrifices to improve your life and perhaps your family's life. One thing is for certain: success and stress are often married to one another. It's a complicated relationship, for sure.
While you wouldn't change it for the world, it would likely feel like a lie if you said you weren't burnt out. Unfortunately, facing burnout and stress as a highly successful professional just comes with the job description. And while keeping the stress level to a minimum isn't possible at all times, there are definitely ways to manage your anxiety.
Managing Anxiety As A Highly Successful Person
1. Set Boundaries
Setting boundaries in the workplace is important. While you might not have a magic wand to go back to the past and set more, that doesn't mean you have to continue without boundaries, both with yourself and other people.
One of the first and most important steps to keeping anxiety in check is to learn how to set boundaries at work. Implementing boundaries of any kind can feel challenging, so start slow and avoid going from one extreme to the other.
For example, maybe in the past, you readily made yourself available, no matter the hour, to your colleagues or clients. It can be highly uncomfortable to cut the cord completely, so start off small. Only respond to emails once every hour instead of immediately responding. This can enable you to be more present with your family and friends.
2. Delegate
If you're considered highly successful, there's likely a good chance you are in some leadership role at your company. While success does not happen riding the backs of others, it might be time to start slowly relinquishing some of your job duties. We want everything to be done right, of course, but that does not mean you are the only person who can make that happen.
If you have others on your team who would be a good fit for a certain project or task, delegate that role to someone else. This can help you learn, over time, not to bite off more than you can chew. It will effectively help you keep your anxiety levels at a manageable tempo.
3. Mindfulness and Self-Care
Even if you are still working long hours, you can still try to get some good self-care. Maybe you don't have 2 hours every day to devote to reading a book or doing an activity that you enjoy. But, even if it's only for 5 to 10 minutes at a time, you can still squeeze some "me" time in.
Remember that self-care isn't about the fun things in life. Sometimes, it is making sure the basic needs we have as humans are taken care of, too. Be sure to:
Eat nutritious meals throughout the day. It gives your body the fuel and energy it needs to keep up with everything.
Go for short 5 to 10-minute walks multiple times a day to keep your body moving. Exercising also releases feel-good endorphins into the body, which help reduce harmful stress hormones such as cortisone.
Aim for at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
If you find that you are experiencing a particularly bad anxiety day, try doing grounding exercises. Grounding exercises work to distract you from the anxiety. The best and simplest one to try is by identifying:
5 things you can see
4 things you can hear
3 things you can smell
2 things you can touch
1 thing you can taste
4. Reach Out For Support
Being highly successful should not come with the cost of sacrificing your mental health. Reach out to learn more about anxiety therapy.