Ep 112: How to lower stress and improve the enjoyment of owning a business

Subtitle:

Today we break down various ways we deal with stress and the positive impact challenges they have on our physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual states. Stress isn’t bad. It’s the only way you can grow. But if you don’t frame it correctly, that won’t happen. Exercise, journaling, meditation, drinking water, and finding a creative outlet are all ways you can improve your ability to get the benefits of stress. We discuss all of these topics as well as failure, circumstances, anxiety, balance, and more on this week’s episode!

 

Summary:

On today’s episode, we dive deep on the ways we manage the stress and anxiety that comes with owning an agency. One of the best ways to view stressful situations from a different perspective is to exercise, and then approach the scenario. The endorphins that are released when you exercise help reset your mind and provide a more positive and clear position. It’s important to nourish yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually while also releasing any stress in a healthy way. One of the main things that causes stress and anxiety in the workplace is the fear of failure. Often failure brings pain and shame, two things that no one ever wants. Although failure can be painful and it can seem counterintuitive, we must experience failure in order to succeed. Embrace failure, and become immune to the stress, anxiety, and emotions it can bring. There’s no silver bullet that can eliminate all stress and anxiety, but we have seen the positive impact on our lives, and believe that there are healthy ways to deal with the stress and anxiety from the workplace.

 

Top 3 Curtain Pulls in this episode: 

 

• Exercise has a magical effect on stress. A runner’s high is a brief, deeply relaxing state of euphoria that releases happy hormones into your brain that often eases stress and anxiety. Any kind of exercise can release these happy hormones, reducing stress and allowing for a clearer mind. It’s like magic! “If there's a stressful situation and you go for a workout or a run, on the other side of it, you will see that situation much differently. It's magical.”

• Journal, meditate, and drink water. There are many ways to reduce stress and anxiety but journaling, prayer or meditation, and drinking water are some of the things that have had the greatest impact for the guys. Nourishing your body physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally as well as finding a way to release your anxiety in a healthy manner are key when trying to deal with and view your stress differently. “The healthier you are, the fuller you are physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, the easier it is for you to be able to sit in those situations and be positive, do what you need to do, and think clearly.”

• Become immune to failure. Everyone avoids pain, it was programmed into us, and failure can often bring pain. This is why we often avoid failure. What we should do instead is look for the opportunities that failure provides and not allow ourselves as people to be defined by our failures. “The truth is, if you want to succeed at something, you have to fail at it. You're never going to do it on your first try.”

 

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About The Guys: 

Bob Hutchins: Founder of BuzzPlant, a digital agency that he ran from from 2000 -2017. He is also the author of 3 books. More on Bob: 

• Bob on LinkedIn
• twitter.com/BobHutchins
• instagram.com/bwhutchins
• Bob on Facebook

Brad Ayres: Founder of Anthem Republic, an award-winning ad agency. Brad’s knowledge has led some of the biggest brands in the world. Originally from Detroit, Brad is an OG in the ad agency world and has the wisdom and scars to prove it. Currently that knowledge is being applied to his boutique agency. More on Brad:

• Brad on LinkedIn
• Anthem Republic
• twitter.com/bradayres
• instagram.com/therealbradayres
• facebook.com/Bradayres

Ken Ott: Co-Founder and Chief Growth Rebel of Metacake, an Ecommerce Growth Team for some of the world’s most influential brands with a mission to Grow Brands That Matter. Ken is also an author, speaker, and was nominated for an Emmy for his acting on the Metacake Youtube Channel (not really). More on Ken: 

• Ken on LinkedIn
• Metacake - An Ecommerce Growth Team
• Growth Rebel TV
• twitter.com/iamKenOtt
• instagram.com/iamKenOtt
• facebook.com/iamKenOtt

 

Show Notes:

[0:31] Bob opens this episode with a chat about coffee, lazy mornings, and .

[3:27] Bob kicks off this week’s topic by asking the guys, “What do you guys do and what can we recommend for other agency people to deal with their anxiety and stress? What are some methods and things that they can and should be doing?”

[4:24] Ken discusses the benefits of being physically healthy and how exercise can change your perception of stressful situations. “The healthier you are, the fuller you are physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, the easier it is for you to be able to sit in those situations and be positive, do what you need to do, and think clearly.”

[6:12] Brad talks about how running helps his stress and anxiety.

[12:56] Ken breaks down the importance of drinking water and the impact it can have on your brain’s function and your ability to view and deal with stressful situations. “When you drink the amount of water you're supposed to drink, you feel and think completely differently.”

[16:00] Bob talks about how journaling helps him prepare and reflect as well as the impact it has on his perspective in stressful situations.

[20:33] Brad discusses how his feelings can influence how he perceives a situation and the importance of balance. “I’m trying to hold on to more truths, and rely on a nice balance. Again, your feelings are important, and they're valuable, and they're valid, but you know, they do change.”

[23:22] Ken dives deep on feelings and circumstances and talks about the importance of seeing things for what they are and nothing more. “See things for what they are and nothing more.”

[25:46] Bob talks about the importance of being slow to judge a situation.

[27:25] Brad challenges himself and the listeners to become ok with being wrong. “I think sometimes we go around and we hold so much stress, because we want to feel like we can't be wrong or you can't fail.”

[28:49] Ken talks about the importance of failure. “The truth is, if you want to succeed at something, you have to fail at it. You're never going to do it on your first try.”

[30:09] Ken says that, “You have to become immune to failure in order to grow and succeed at anything”

[32:50] Bob discusses another tactic to help manage stress and anxiety. “Another very important tactic for stress and anxiety is prayer, meditation, and deep breathing.”

[36:15] Brad talks about how it is unhealthy and impossible to take on all of the stress and grief of the world and how that can cause anxiety.

[39:45] Bob discusses the importance of having a creative outlet to release stress. “Edward O. Wilson, I think, was a British philosopher. His quote really explains what we were talking about. It’s “The real problem of humanity is the following. We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology.””

[43:21] Bob wraps up by saying, “What we're talking about is doing things that are human, specifically that only humans can do. So do more human things when you feel stress and anxiety.”