Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

By Henry Brown

When we look at other entrepreneurs achieving success on such a gradual level it can inspire us in so many ways, but there can be times when we feel the pressures that hinder our creativity. It is not uncommon to hit some form of mental block and this will affect our productivity and well-being. We have to stay focused on our entrepreneurial journey and here are some approaches to ensure that you can overcome mental blocks:

Stop sweating the small stuff

If there’s one thing that keeps us up at night, it’s the little things. Sometimes we can feel that there are so many different things that we’ve got to keep track of that these keep us up at night more than the bigger things. The fact is that the small things are easily outsourced. If you are in the middle of a rebrand and you are spending a long time trying to think of the perfect name that encapsulates your business, you can easily use a business name generator to give you some inspiration. We always feel annoyed that we’re thinking about the smaller things, so instead look at what it actually does for you. The small things are not the big things and ultimately it’s those big things that we should pay attention to.

Recognize the source of your blockage

There can be a million reasons why we are hitting the wall. Sometimes it can be stress brought on by a number of internal and external components. You might be a perfectionist or you could be demotivated for personal reasons. For anybody that’s been to a counselor, identifying the root cause gives you a far better understanding of why you are operating the way you are. This allows you the opportunity to then step away from that mindset or attitude and say to yourself, “I will not do this anymore.” A mental block is just one symptom of stress and there could be a number of symptoms alongside it, in which case you may need to start practicing being less stressed.

Learning to check in with yourself

One of the cardinal sins of entrepreneurs is that they are forever on the go. If we are not able to stop and see where we are physically, mentally, and emotionally, we will never know where we can improve or understand when we should put on the brakes. Learning to check in with yourself to identify when you experience a mental block helps you to take those steps to address it before it becomes too much. We all run the risk of pushing through thinking this will be better in the long run, but if you have a cut that bleeds, you don’t stop to see if it gets bigger, you do something about it now. The same thing applies with regard to your mental and emotional health.

Mental blocks are par for the course of being an entrepreneur and it can be down to the fact that we are overdue for some rest or we have exhausted our creative well. The most important thing to do is to be patient with yourself, rather than give yourself a hard time.

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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.