Supporting Your Mental Health Throughout Your Career

Thanks, Lindsay. Absolutely. How can mental health practices aid in my career growth and professional development, especially as I take on more responsibility? This is a great question. You know what, Rosie? The first place I'm going to start with this question is to ask you, what are we up against here? Thanks, Lindsay. So important to learn to implement mental health practices as you continue to grow in your career, because there are pretty common struggles that work against us when we're given more and more responsibility. Number one, guilt and shame. We often hold onto guilt and shame, punishing ourselves over and over again for our perceived failures and mistakes. These feelings can be deeply ingrained, making self-forgiveness and in turn growth very challenging. Number two, perfectionism. Many of us strive for perfection in our personal and professional lives. Setting unrealistically high standards for ourselves, and when we fall short, it's difficult to forgive ourselves. Number three, fear of repeating mistakes, repeating mistakes, repeating mistakes, repeating mistakes. Sometimes we don't forgive ourselves because we fear repeating the same mistakes. We think that by holding onto our guilt, we can prevent ourselves from making the same errors again, and it does not work. Those are such great callouts, Rosie. I can definitely relate to all of those. Right? It's so hard to be kind to ourselves. That's why we have you here to give us some tools. Absolutely. In my experience as a business owner who struggles with anxiety, the most important thing has been finding practices that work for me personally, because everyone is different. Number one, company benefits or e a p. It's always worth looking at the benefits your company offers so you can take advantage of what's already being offered. Ask your HR what kind of employee assistance program or e a p your company has to offer. If you're self-employed like I am, you might have benefits through any professional associations you belong to. Number two, take time to get space practices. You can institute on your own. Include going for walks, outside, texting an empathetic friend, meditation, using an app like Headspace, playing with a pet, listening to music, sketching. Really, whatever gives you space and gets you back to a baseline. And number three, build your community. Find your allies at or outside of work, people who care about wellness and mindfulness and will help you stay grounded. Hey, Lindsay, do you have any advice for shy and introverted people on how to find these supportive allies? I'm asking for a friend. Definitely. If you're shy, know yourself. If you know you're introverted, prepare ahead of time. Identify those allies so you're not working against yourself when you're already in a stressful situation. Knowing yourself is a good way to sum up our advice here. If you recognize any of these points within you in regards to guilt and shame, perfectionism and or fear of making mistakes, just know that about yourself...