Founders & Small Business Owners - Mental Health & Good & Bad Days

I've been nervous to share this. There's still a stigma around mental health, and I don't want to come across as whiny or like every day is hard, because it isn't. But XL PR works in behavioral health, and I think I owe it to our clients and to all of you to be honest about how I cope in the hard moments. It's the tail end of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, so better late than never! So what do we do on the days when it DOES get that bad? When our brains and emotions are SO big and SO strong that it feels almost unbearable? My emotional regulation coach taught me something that has helped me more than I can say. When I feel isolated and hopeless and thoughts of shutting it all down start to show up, I have a card with several people written on it who I can reach out to. I talked to each of them ahead of time, told them why they're on the card, and they all agreed to answer when they get a heavy text or call from me. It takes the thinking out of the moment. I don't have to figure out what to ground myself to or let my thoughts spiral, I just start texting or calling down the list. I've only had to use it twice this year, and both times it saved my life. If you take anything from this post, please take this: your life matters. Please, PLEASE make your list before you need it. There are people who WILL answer in your hardest moments. And if you're there right now, you can call or text 988 anytime (which I've done once this year too). Which leads me to something I'm SO excited about! As XL PR moves deeper into behavioral health and behavioral finance, I'm launching a free (for now!) Substack in October called The AND Life. I'll interview business owners about their GOOD and BAD days, how they got through, and how they grounded themselves through faith or whatever carried them. Every story will lead back to a small business or PR lesson. Being an entrepreneur is HARD, and it's also REALLY GREAT. Let's talk about the AND and normalize both. Subscribe so you don't miss the first post which will be coming very soon: https://lnkd.in/ekU-g5h5 And if you're a business owner with an AND story about mental health or the good and hard days of building something, I'd love to hear from you and write your story in the newsletter to give hope to this topic that is very taboo!