Anxiety and the Ambitious Soulpreneur
Anxiety and the Ambitious Soulpreneur
A desire to work in a way that feels meaningful yet being met with various barriers along the way… this can be the triggering and anxiety inducing experience of the soulpreneur journey.
What Makes the Soulpreneur Vulnerable to Increased Anxiety?
Entrepreneurship is one thing but soulpreneurship on the other hand is quite the spiritual experience. Soulpreneurs dig to their depths to come up with new ideas, services, programs, and creative work that aligns with their creativity, passions, and life-force.
We don’t just seek to build businesses or brands for the sole purpose of profit. Don’t get me wrong, profit is good but the Soulpreneur is driven by meaning and deeper purpose.
Soulpreneurs have an innate desire to serve and add value to the world but with that can come a sense of anxiety, restlessness, and frustration in the creation process.
We deeply desire to “get things right”, to make profound impact, and to be of service to a greater good- so much so that at times we can put a lot of pressure on ourselves to produce and be effective in achieving our goals.
Because the soulpreneur is so intimately connected to her work, she can be fairly sensitive to the brutal learning curve of entrepreneurship and personal branding. There may be many moments when you look up and discover that you’ve been operating from a place of lingering anxiety and uneasiness around how to move forward.
Sources and Anxiety Triggers for the Ambitious Soulpreneur
There are many variables that can add to the anxiety of the Soulpreneur but let’s get into a few of the most common sources and components:
Not defining or losing sight of the specific mission, vision, and purpose behind your work
Because soulpreneurs tend to be highly creative, multi passionate, imaginative, and full of thoughts and ideas, we can sometimes get lost in our own depth. This can be tricky and confusing for us when it comes to being strategic about creating a soul-led brand. We can find ourselves thinking in circles and wondering why our brand feels so broad. Remember, the more clarity we have around what our brand is all about and what it is here to do, the easier it will be for us to stay the course. See my mini blog on Personal branding to go over some key basics that can help you to zoom out when you’re feeling lost in the weeds and need to get back on track in a more organized way.
Feelings of rejection and not receiving instant validation
Soulpreneurs usually pour their hearts into their work. Whether you’re a writer, creative, service provider, speaker, community developer, etc it can be difficult when you share your work, opinions, and content with the world and receive little to no positive feedback. For some it can feel extremely discouraging and add to an anxiety cycle around how to move forward. You may find yourself experiencing feelings of rejection due to not being acknowledged or receiving the desired feedback or results you had hoped for. This can be a bit much for our sensitive souls initially. Yet as frustrating as this can feel, vulnerability and sharing our work/authentic opinions is what building a purpose driven brand is all about. Keep in mind that it may take time for your message to reach the right people, but in the meantime we get to keep producing and strategically defining our methods until it does indeed reach those who need it.
The Two P’s: Perfectionism and Procrastination
Perfectionism and procrastination can show up as a cycle and pattern within the Soulpreneur’s journey. This can especially show up as you work to develop your brand using social media and content creation. We care deeply about our work and truly want to be effective and have a sense of genuine connection with others- but how to consistently go about it all can feel overwhelming.
If you spend even a few minutes on Instagram you can bet that you’ll likely see at least two or three posts providing different strategies and various opinions about the “right way” to build your brand or business. The overwhelming amount of information and options can feel like information overload for the Soulpreneur that’s in the early stages of establishing her brand.
This can lead to a constant questioning and uncertainty around what path to take, what strategy to follow, and an overall pattern of “overthinking” and procrastination.
Strategy and quality work is an important component of developing one’s brand however, becoming too preoccupied with doing things the “right way” can also dampen your creativity and prevent you from taking action that you can actually improve upon and learn from with time.
I’m careful about how many opinionated coaches I follow and expose myself to on social media. I’ve had my fair share of feeling frazzled from scrolling and receiving 10 different conflicting forms of advice around how to build my brand. Analysis paralysis is what I got! I’ve learned to pick a few coaches/brands whose work and content I trust and respect and I stick with them. Above all else, developing self-trust is crucial. Keep in mind that others may have valuable guidance to offer but overall it is you that holds the intuitive sense of what direction you want to take your brand in.
“Done is better than perfect” has become a favorite mantra of mine.
Feeling resistant to the idea of “building a personal brand”
We’re in the age of personal connection and with the rise of social media & content creation, people are looking to get a feel for the person behind the work. This can feel a bit too personal, uncomfortable, or even vain for some Soulpreneurs.
This is why it’s important that Soulpreneurs understand and approach branding from a purpose-driven perspective. From this perspective a brand is essentially a platform and body of work that you intentionally create to show where you stand on a specific cause, mission, or vision and to highlight the substance behind the work that you do.
With that said, some Soulpreneurs can feel resistant to getting themselves out there and being the face of a brand. Specifically related to social media, some can find it difficult to get used to the content creation process and may not entirely love putting themselves out there in that way. Insecurities, self-doubt, fear of judgement, and other triggers may arise during the process.
It’s helped me tremendously to sit curiously with any resistance that comes up on my branding journey. I’ve learned to view my hesitation and fears as parts of myself that just need a little more love, encouragement, and support as we embark on this transformational journey. Somatic exercises, Internal Family Systems, and Polyvagal are all therapy modalities that I use with my private practice clients but also use them in my own life as well. It has been super helpful in supporting me in coming out of my shell and learning how to confidently stand behind my brand.
Branding through a Holistic Lens
Through my own experience of developing a personal brand combined with my clinical therapist experience, I’ve come to view branding through a holistic lens. When embarking on your branding journey it’s important to receive support that takes into account all of the ups and downs that may arise. Mental health, stress, and mindset are just as important (I’d argue more) as brand strategy.
For the Soulpreneur, a brand is built and birthed from our higher self. The challenges along the way are meant to be approached and met lovingly as we learn to grow and move beyond them again and again. If we do not learn to embrace the process of compassionately meeting and working with the anxieties, fears, and struggles then we fold underneath them and our light is dimmed. Our light is what fuels our spark to carry on and bring our work and vision to life.
If you’re a Soulpreneur that has struggled with anxiety or has felt triggered and overwhelmed upon building your own brand and business, know that you are not alone. This is a part of the journey and there is much growth to be had here. Find a coach, therapist, or community that can specifically speak to what you’re experiencing and who can support you through this.
Stay true to yourself, remember your vision, learn from your mistakes, express your creativeness, serve, grow, build a brand that you are proud to stand behind.
Brand Well, Be Well,
Jareen
Have you dealt with anxiety while developing your brand? Send me a DM on IG @Jareenmarie or shoot me an email at info@jareenmarie.com and let me know about your experience with being a soulpreneur and building a soul-led brand. Be well girls!
