Four time Olympic Gold medalist, Simone Biles pulled out of the Olympics for medical reasons. It was later disclosed that she had been suffering mental distress and what she said was “the twisties“. She describes this as a disassociation with her body where gymnasts to lose their sense of space and dimension in the air — even if they have performed the same thing for years.
At 24 years old and having a combined total of 31 Olympic and World Championship medals, Simone is the most decorated American gymnast of all time.
Simone reportedly won a national championships with broken toes in both feet, a world championship with a kidney stone and was sexually assaulted by her coach. Needless to say, she has nothing to prove and should be applauded for her courageous actions.
But still, I heard people criticize her for not being able to take the pressure. One person said to me “if she can’t stand up to the stress, she should not be at the Olympics. Another added “Maybe she just wanted a free trip to Japan?” (Really, during a pandemic I replied!). This is ridiculous and dismissive of her great achievements. It’s sour grapes from the sidelines where people have no idea what they are talking about. I have never been a gymnast, but I have done endurance cycling so I know how long I train for these events and the last thing I want is not to complete them.
High performers like entrepreneurs suffer from stress, anxiety and depression. Unfortunately, it comes with the career choice. I wrote about this when Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade committed suicide. In my first book, “You Need to Be a Little Crazy“, I discussed my own experiences with all three of these while I was running my third business. I had pushed myself too far after 5 years. For 6 months, I suffered from severe depression and anxiety. Only through therapy, prescription drugs and the support of my friends, was I able to get back to close to a balanced state. These symptoms still haunt me infrequently today. This is a huge issue not only for business owners, but for people in general. To me, it’s the next major pandemic on the horizon.
Mental illness is a disease just like any other sickness in your body. Unfortunately, society tends to marginalize it and doesn’t know how to approach it. As one person told me when I was deep in severe depression- “Just do things that make you happy and you will be okay!”. Ugh!
What you need to do is recognize when the emotional stress gets too much, take a time out like Simone Biles did and reach out for help. This can prevent you from falling into an even bigger hole that will be more difficult to get out of.
Stopping, stepping out or pausing for every small business owner is okay. In fact, it’s needed.
If you are going through a rough patch where you need help, please reach out to me. I am here to listen.
