During December 2021, I was on the edge of burnout…or maybe I was already burnt out but making excuses for myself. I was tired, angry, frustrated and borderline.

Something was wrong, and it had been for a while. But I was not ready to address or name what I was feeling. 

I cannot shy away from discussions around anxiety, mental health and disruption. But in the same line, it's harder to start the conversation when you haven't entirely accepted this is where you are at and contemplating that something needs to be done. 

Ironically, I have a whole chapter dedicated to mental health in my book, Unprepared to Entrepreneur, which I had to re-read myself during the holiday season. 

I was experiencing 'digital anxiety', treating it like a dirty secret. Something I didn’t want to acknowledge at that moment. 

I couldn’t admit that I was quietly losing my digital stability - and with that, my mental and emotional stability. What did this mean? I found myself anxious about meeting people, being online, and shied away from group settings in the fear that I wouldn’t be able to speak my truth.

This is the same energy I will not take into 2022 and want to encourage my fellow businesswomen, leaders and friends to leave negative burnout energy in the past. Let’s learn from our mistakes and the experiences of others so that this year we can truly thrive.

Online, you can't help but look at the success of others.

Now success doesn't mean social likes or clicks, but they know their business strategy, they have posted something, raised funding, taken time off - the list goes on. That measure of success has to be personal to the individual, not the wider community; otherwise, we'd be here for days.

Here is a recap of what was happing up until the day I felt the anxiety hit me.

I had launched a book, was actively promoting the radio show online, become an online brand (!? what this means we will discuss another time), decided to launch a new business; had several business rejections, facilitated office hours to support those in the diversity and entrepreneurship space, started meeting new friends from the online world who I thought could be my future besties, stayed up all hours of the day (and night) re-strategising LMF Network in 2022. Then, I decided that as much as I love business lecturing, I would pause this for a few months and be ravished in being invited to events that once upon a time I wasn't considered for. 

A lot was happening. 

My brain was overloaded with exciting prospects and overwritten by the fact that I needed to share, care and use my digital apps to stay in control. So I can safely say I was not in control, but the digital world indeed controlled me.

I was competing against myself and other business people (random ones online). But there was no competition, and they weren't aware of this race. I was fighting for freedom from the corporate world, only to go above and beyond my 9–5 balancing different personas for different business opportunities to build a business.

What business do you ask? Well, the truth is sometimes I don't even know … somewhere somehow that got lost and dizzy.

The cherry on top was that many business people would share similar things offline in private. However, they showed their facade online, which made me question myself (and them) and this life. 

There's the favourite stat: 1 in 4 of us suffering from mental health unwellbeing (Mind). 

But the reality is that everyone is; it's just packaged in diverse ways — so who knows the truth and the reality of time? 

I was ready to call it quits and do nothing, as I mentioned above. The problem is, doing nothing is not an option.

So what now? 2022 is about investment in one's selves — mind, body and soul.

In all of this, the one thing I forgot to mention is that I found myself drifting away from writing (despite having published somewhat best-selling nonfiction, woop woop). My fear was: Who would read my articles? 

It wasn't a rational response, to be honest. So, to overcome this irrational thought and build to become better, I have decided to regularly blog on topics that come to mind (or you email me) to listen, learn, and live freely. 

My experience of anxiety, despite being a public figure and radio host, reminded me that I must prioritise my mind, body and soul above all else. And that’s what I am here to encourage you to do today.

How can we balance our business and our brains?

1. Limit social media use - delete the apps from your phone and use the desktop version

2. Learn how to cook - fewer UberEats and more fresh ingredients.

3. Say no and enjoy the freedom - we don’t need to be yes people all the time. Say no and get comfortable with the freedom that comes with that time.  4. Read new authors - binge on books that you hadn’t considered before or authors who aren’t similar to yourself. 

5. Explore your surroundings - take a few minutes every day to appreciate what’s around you. Take a new route on a walk or visit an unknown place - this is great for unlocking your imagination.

Sonya Barlow is an award-winning entrepreneur, founder of @LMFNetwork, diversity coach, TEDX Speaker, LinkedIn Changemaker 2021, radio host at the BBC Asian Network’s The Everyday Hustle and author of Unprepared to Entrepreneur. 

In 2020, she was named as one of the most influential women in tech (ComputerWeekly), Winner of the women in software changemakers (Makers and Google), Top 50 BAME entrepreneurs (TechRound), Future Shaper 2020 (Marie Claire UK), InspiringFiftyUK 2021 (accelerateHER) and Forbes 30 under 30 shortlist runner up 2021. 

She has delivered two TEDx talks and is acknowledged as an international keynote speaker. Sonya has had her articles published in Metro, Sifted EU and The Telegraph. 

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