Many people complain about how stressful it is being an employee and how pleasant it would be to be a business owner, to be a boss. Well, five years ago, I would have said the same thing. However, after working on content marketing strategy for years and starting my own business as well, now I can’t say the same thing anymore. In fact, being a business owner is so much more tiring and stressful, not to mention when we have to deal with more complicated matters. That being said, I have been conducting a research on stress-relieving strategies that have helped me and others who needed it feel reborn and energised. Are you a business owner? In this article, I’m going to help you overcome your stress (if you feel like that). Keep reading to find out!

Box breathing

Managing and running a business is already hard as it is, imagine working as a Navy SEAL. In order to instil energised, calm and focused state in SEAL trainees, former Navy SEAL Mark Divine of SEALFIT teaches the box breathing method. According to research, slow, diaphragmatic breathing can reduce the stress hormone cortisol, as well as improve attention. Below are the steps for box breathing:

• Inhale for four seconds
• Hold your breath for 4 seconds (without clamping your mouth or nose shut)
• Exhale for four seconds
• Hold for four seconds without air in the lungs
• Repeat steps 1-4

You can do this for as little as 5 minutes to enter into a calm and focused state.

Feeling gratitude

We might not often realise this, but some of us complain about what we don’t have instead of being grateful for what we have. This, without us realising it, can cause more stress than we can imagine. According to positive psychology research, when we are grateful for what we have, we can improve our mood, relieve depression, boost the immune system as well as lower blood pressure. If you want to take action on your gratitude, you can simply take time to write down reflections in a gratitude journal as well as convey gratitude to the people around you that have become a part of your success. Remember when you used to pray for the things you have now before you had them? Now you have them, so be grateful and you will be happier.

Meditation

I know it seems to be obvious because well, it’s meditation, right? However, many people still find it difficult to meditate because most of us are still having a hard time concentrating and focusing, right? However, when it comes to benefits, here they are:

• Meditation helps control anxiety
• It reduces stress
• Meditation promotes emotional health
• It also enhances self-awareness
• Meditation boosts attention span
• It may also reduce age-related memory loss
• You can be kinder
• It may help fight addictions
• Meditation also improves the quality of your sleep
• It helps control pain
• It helps lower your blood pressure
• It can be done anywhere

Simply put, meditation is something everyone can do to improve their mental and emotional health. You can do it anywhere, without having to pay much for it – you can even do it freely (if without an instructor). Alternatively, meditation courses and support groups are widely available. There’s a great variety of styles too, each with different strengths and benefits.

Well, I said it, but I know it is not as easy as it might seem. However, the right way to do this is by habituating positive thinking and gratitude. When you are always grateful, even small things can make you happy. If you keep doing this, even if you are a super busy business owner, you can still have healthy lifestyle mentally and physically.