Welcome And Why This Matters

Welcome back to Plan Like a Boss, the podcast for entrepreneurs who are done doing business the hard way. I'm your host, Tanya Lawson, and today we are gonna go somewhere a little different. We're getting vulnerable. Uncomfortably vulnerable. No strategy frameworks, no revenue breakdowns, no SEO talk today. Today, we're talking about the thing that nobody in the online business space wants to talk about. And honestly, that silence is part of the problem. So let's fix that right now. I want you to think about all the content you've consumed about entrepreneurship. The morning routine videos, the how I built a six-figure business threads, the productivity hacks, the mindset reels, the hustle highlights. Now I want you to tell me, how often does anyone talk about what it actually costs you? Not financially, mentally. Almost never. And that is the elephant in the room we are addressing today. Someone once described entrepreneurship as jumping off a cliff and building a plane on the way down. And if you've been in this for any length of time, you know that's not even a little bit of an exaggeration. It's chaotic, it's uncertain, and the pressure, the constant, invisible, self-imposed pressure is relentless. Now, here's what struck me about this. If you broke your arm tomorrow, people would hold doors for you, offer you a seat, ask if you needed help. The pain would be visible, and the world would respond to it. But when your mind is breaking, there's no bandage, there's no cast, no visible evidence. So you suffer quietly, and the world keeps moving like nothing is wrong. That ends here today in this episode. I'm going to share some statistics that might shock you. I'm going to share my own story, the parts I don't like to talk about much, and I'm going to give you some real grounded tools to protect your mind while you build your business. Because you can't pour from an empty vessel. And this industry has been asking you to pour from an empty vessel for way too long. Let's call out the culture first because it's important. The startup and online business world has a very specific story. It tells about who succeeds. The best founders work the hardest. The best creators should never slow down. You should always be growing, scaling, grinding, launching, posting, optimizing. And vulnerability, that is not part of the brand. Think about it. As a business owner, as a coach, as a course creator, you're supposed to have it together. Your clients, your audience, your potential investors, they're watching you. So you don't get to fall apart. You keep the mask on and you keep moving. And if you're a team leader or you have employees, you can't even share your deepest fears with the people you work with every day. Because what does that do to their confidence in you? So you carry it alone. And that isolation, it compounds everything. Now, here's where I want you to hear me because these numbers are not small. 72% of entrepreneurs are affected by mental health issues. Founders are twice as likely to suffer from depression, twice as likely to experience suicidal thoughts. These aren't edge cases. This is most of us. And yet the conversation in most business spaces sounds like just optimize your calendar and take cold showers. We treat mental health like a productivity problem instead of a human one. Okay, so here's the part where I get personal. Because I think the only way to break stigma is for you to go first. My first experience with anxiety was after my dad died. I was managing my business. I was having to care for him. I was having to plan his funeral. My mom and sister were completely a wreck. I needed to take care of them. There were financial issues I had to deal with. And it all became too much. But I thought, you know, just give it a little time. This is normal. Everybody goes through this. Well, a year later, when it was getting worse, I realized something had to change because I was on the verge of burnout. I didn't want to go to work. I didn't want to do anything. So in my physical with my doctor, I brought the subject up and she suggested medication. And she put me on Lexapro. She told me it would take about a month for my body to adjust to it. But we would check in after a month and see how I was doing. Well, I took the Lexapro kind of belligerently. I didn't want to take it, but I was willing to give it a shot because I couldn't live that way anymore. And then all of a sudden, I would notice I was having anxiety. And that's when I realized now I notice when I have anxiety instead of just having it 24-7. And Lexa Pro changed my life. It really helped me deal with everything. Yes, I still had a lot on my plate, but medication was necessary for me to handle that anxiety. Fast forward to cancer. Cancer treatment went fine, anxiety not really there, surprisingly. And then I went on a medication after treatment to prevent cancer recurrence. And all of a sudden, I was hit with a hard depression. I had never experienced depression before, but this was crippling. I didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't want to work. I didn't want to do anything. And I didn't care about anything. So while I should have brought it up to my doctor, I didn't because I just didn't care. Until the medication had a worse side effect and my face turned red and started peeling off. And then I talked to my doctor about it. He took me off the medication, and all of a sudden the depression was gone. I was talking to my therapist about it, and she's like, Well, what did your doctor say? My reply, well, I didn't tell him because I just didn't care. And that's the problem. It's hard to seek help when you just don't care. So my therapist kind of shook her finger at me and told me, if this ever happens again, you need to tell him. So fast forward to the new medication. Once again, to keep me from getting cancer. Depression hit again. And instantly I went to my oncologist and I told him what was going on. He decided that since it's happened with both medications, that it's probably this class of drugs that I have to be on. And he was very understanding and told me we had lots of options. And we were going to start just by increasing my Lexaprose since I already tolerated it really well. So we did that. And now, a few weeks later, I feel back to normal. And what I know now, looking back on that initial doctor's visit for anxiety, is that it wasn't caused by weakness. It was caused by simple math. The demand on me, emotionally, creatively, logistically, completely outpaced my resources. I was trying to run a business, take care of my family, deal with my own grief, all on a depleted tank. And eventually, that tank just ran dry. That's not a character flaw, that's science. So why didn't I say something sooner? And why don't most of us? Fear of judgment, plain and simple. We're afraid that if we admit we're struggling, investors will pull back. Clients will start to question us. Our audience will think we don't have it together. The people who look up to us will feel like we've let them down. So we do what we've been trained to do. We push through it. We tell ourselves it's all in our heads. We tell ourselves to walk it off. We tell ourselves that real entrepreneurs don't crack. And that works until it doesn't. Because here's the truth: ignoring your mental health is not discipline. It's self-neglect. And the longer you let it go unaddressed, the further you drift from your creativity, your clarity, and your ability to actually show up for the business you've been building. Eventually, you don't just hit a wall, you retreat, you shut down, you start to feel worthless. Not just as a business owner, but as a person. And that's not a place you can think your way out of by downloading another planner template or batching your content. I want to challenge something you've probably absorbed without even realizing it. The Google definition of success. Strategy, scalability, speed, hustle, more. That definition has never once factored in what it costs you to get there. And I'm here to tell you success at work must not come at the expense of your mental health. Full stop. That is not a trade-off, that is a trap. Here's the thing about your brain that I find fascinating. It actually works better when you feel good, like measurably better. Your prefrontal cortex, the part responsible for decision making, creativity, and strategic thinking, literally functions at a higher level when you're in a state of well-being. So mental health isn't just about avoiding breakdown. It's about building a brain that can actually innovate. Well-being drives creativity. Creativity drives innovation. Innovation drives sustainable success. That's the real formula. And it starts with taking care of yourself, not as a reward after you hit your revenue goal, but as a prerequisite to getting there. All right, so let's get into the actionable stuff because that's what we're here to do. Number one, I want you to detach yourself from the outcome. A huge chunk of entrepreneurial anxiety lives in the future. What if the launch flops? What if nobody buys? What if this whole thing was a mistake? And the antidote? I know it sounds simple, but stay with me. It's presence, not toxic positivity. Not manifesting, just what is the very next step? That's it. What is the one thing in front of you right now? When you zoom all the way in, the overwhelm loses its grip. Number two, practice self-awareness. This one requires you to slow down enough to observe yourself. And that can feel impossibly hard when your to-do list is 10 pages long. But try this. The next time anxiety shows up, don't just push it down. Pause and ask yourself, why am I feeling anxious today? Is it a specific thing I'm avoiding? A decision I keep putting off? A boundary I need to set? You cannot solve a problem you refuse to look at. Self-awareness is how you start to look. And for the mindfulness skeptics in the room, I'm not asking you to meditate for an hour. I'm asking you to find stillness in small moments. A cup of coffee you actually take time to taste. A walk without your phone. A few deep breaths before you open your inbox. Tiny anchors in the present moment can do more than you'd think. Number three, ask for help. This one might be the hardest and the most important. The biggest mistake I see entrepreneurs make is believing they have to figure everything out alone. That asking for help is a sign they're not cut out for this. It's actually the opposite. Showing vulnerability, admitting that you're not okay, that you need support, that you're carrying more than you can carry alone, that is not weakness. That is how you refill the tank. That is how you come back stronger. Whether that's a therapist, a coach, a mastermind, a trusted friend, or a community of people who actually get it, reach out. Let someone in. You do not have to white knuckle your way through building a business. Before I wrap up, I want to look you in the eyes. Or, well, speak directly into your ears, if you're listening on audio, and say this. If you are in a dark place right now, you are not alone, not even close. And I promise you, good things can come from the darkest seasons. I've lived it. If today's episode resonated with you, I would love for you to share your story if you feel comfortable. Drop a comment, send me a DM, or if you know someone who needs to hear this, share this episode with them. The more we talk about this, the less power the stigma has. I'm also going to link mental health resources and crisis hotlines in the show notes, because sometimes the bravest thing you can do is reach out to a professional. There is no shame in that. None. Thank you so much for spending this time with me. I want you to take care of yourself this week, not as a luxury, but as a non negotiable. I'll see you in the next episode. And until then, plan smart, rest often, and remember there's space in this online world for all of us. So keep planning like a boss.