Welcome to the Moments of Mindfulness series. Each month, we'll send you a gentle reminder to take some time out from the chaos to regain some calm, take back control and rejuvenate yourself. Exactly what's needed? We thought so!
We believe in the importance of minding your mind and want to help you explore practical ways of de-stressing that you can implement into your everyday.
If you're always in high stress survival mode, how can you expect to focus and think strategically?
First up is a simple breathwork meditation to bring you back to calm led by mental health coach Caoilfhionn Buckley. We recommend you create moments of recovery like this throughout the day. We hope you enjoy the next few minutes of peace.
You can reach out to Caoilfhionn for additional support directly on caoilfhionn.buckley@thriveprogramme.org
It's no secret that part and parcel of being a founder is experiencing the full spectrum of emotions - often all within a matter of hours. The relentless passion and drive to solve a problem comes with the burden of high expectation and pressure, which often comes from ourselves.
Hustle culture is everywhere in the startup world and often seen as the only path to success. Grind, grind, grind and you'll be successful. But the culture of being always on can come at a price. Quite often hustle culture can impact on your mental health, relationships and everything else in your life. We're big advocates for building healthy habits and prioritising balance instead and believe that's a far more sustainable path to success.
So below are a few simple tools to prioritise your wellbeing...
- You don't have to go it alone - share your highs and lows with your peers and network
- Disconnect to reconnect - take time out to unwind and switch off (see above breathwork meditation!)
- Be brave enough to say no! Set boundaries and stick to them
- Be intentional and realistic about what you can achieve each day/week/month. It's not A-Z, it's A-B, B-C, etc!
Reflections
A good friend (and startup founder) recently said ‘we are all in the same storm, just different boats’. There is so much power and comfort in being able to share experiences and learnings. We'd invite you to connect with other founders at a similar stage to you, even if it's just for a shoulder to lean on in hard times or a pat on the back in good times. The Raise family sit on Slack. You should join us.
If this moment of mindfulness has resonated with you and you feel it would benefit others, please share with them and invite them to join the movement.
Take care,
Your friends at Raise
Member discussion