As you know I have started blogging (obviously), and then extending that to freelance writing, over the last few months. It’s crazy the sudden change in direction your life can take, but it’s nonetheless very exciting. With that comes the question: what effects has it had on my mental health?
The irony of this question never fails to make me smile, with me being in the Health and Wellbeing space. Because although the experience has been massively beneficial both personally and emotionally, there are still aspects of my health that I need to manage more effectively – and without approaching mental health in the way that I do, it would have taken me a lot longer to realise that. Just because I am writing about mental health, by no means implies that I have everything in my head figured out.
But then, who does – really?
One thing this whole experience has so far reiterated is that mental health is not something that can be ‘fixed’ or ‘solved’, but rather managed in a way that is appropriate for your personal needs or circumstance. By managing something, you are accepting it for what it is, and perhaps how it could be channelled to work for you.
That’s exactly what I did.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I’m some sort of Bill Gates, because I’m clearly not. And I’m not sure that I’d want to be that successful, anyway. Comfortably so is good enough for me.
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I was fed up with feeling like the world was against me, so I decided to take a little detour and try and build something for myself. And at least then if everything falls apart (fingers crossed it doesn’t, it’s all coming together very nicely at the time of writing), then at least I can have the satisfaction of trying to make something of the dreadful time that the last year has been.
Since this has been all new to me, I have had to learn several new skills in order to do what I do. In particular, teaching myself aspects of both on-site and off-site SEO. I love learning new skills because there is always something valuable to be learnt from every experience, good or bad.
With my essentially building my own business (not sure I can quite call it an empire yet) from the ground up, there is the freedom to work on whatever I like, and however I like, within reason. I can focus on my strengths and passions. Because one of my goals in life is to get to a stage where work really doesn’t feel like work. I think my previous feeling of the world being against me, has redirected my focus in that sense.
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Coupled with this is the idea that I love to help people any way that I can. Empathy is a blessing and a curse in many ways, because it allows me to feel on a very deep level, but that can often get too much. But, again, we can use that to our advantage.
This brings me onto my next point very nicely. That being that I do easily get carried away, wanting to do more and more. Which I get, in a sense, is no bad thing – but it becomes an issue when you start taking on too much in the wrong way. Anxiety builds up and can spiral. Then again, that’s to be expected when starting something new.
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Again, it comes down to learning how to manage yourself on a daily basis, and knowing your limits. That is something Jo Woods and I discussed in our coaching session; taking opportunities is great, as long as it’s achievable and taking you in the direction you want to go.
An example of me getting ahead of myself would be when I set up an Instagram profile as well as my LinkedIn and Twitter. I hadn’t taken into consideration how much time it would take up to maintain Instagram as well as everything else. But I’ve now learnt which social media are more beneficial according to how I like to express myself. A lesson that we could all apply to other areas of our lives.
I’ve said a few times that I find the writing very therapeutic. It’s a set time, whatever that writing may be, to sit down and do something that I love doing. Even as I’m writing this, I’m wondering, if the world were to blow up around me, whether I’d really notice (that was sarcastic). As I said my post on journaling, it’s an opportunity to reflect but also lose yourself in imagination and words.
-D
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