This featured article is brought to you by: Denis Sindler, High-Performance Specialist, Coach, & Public Speaker

If you’re an online entrepreneur, then I believe that you’ve been facing multiple personal, emotional, or physical challenges as you were growing to your first 6 figures or beyond.

Don’t you?

All of these challenges pushed you to your limits, but every single one of them triggered your body to its stress responses without you even knowing it. Naturally, these growth phases push us to our biological safety ceilings, which might be hindering our progress and causing stress and anxiety to arise.

In this blog post, we will explore the significance of the nervous system in managing these challenges and how calibrating it can lead to positive transformations in both personal and professional aspects.

I. Understanding the Nervous System

Imagine your body as a loyal guard dog; the nervous system is like the smart trainer behind it all. The nervous system’s job is to make sure your guard dog knows exactly what to do to keep you safe and secure, just like how a skilled trainer guides and teaches the dog.

The nervous system consists of three main parts: the brain, the spinal cord, and lots of tiny messengers called nerves. The brain acts as the master commander that gives instructions, and the spinal cord acts like a leash, connecting the brain to the rest of the body. The nerves are like little messengers running all over, passing important messages between the brain and the body.

Picture these nerves as alert watchdogs always on duty. They have special radar, just like watchdogs, continuously scanning your surroundings for any signs of danger. If they sense something risky or threatening, like a suspicious stranger or a hazardous situation, they quickly bark out a warning to the brain.

Once the brain hears the warning, it rapidly decides on the best course of action. It might tell your body to stand tall and face danger with courage, just like a protective guard dog. Or, it might signal your body to back away and find safety quickly, just like a cautious watchdog leading you away from harm.

So, the nervous system acts like your body’s guardian, working closely with your guard dog to keep you alert and protected. It’s like a smart trainer teaching your loyal dog friend how to respond to different situations and ensure your safety at all times!

II. Challenges Faced by Online Entrepreneurs

As an online entrepreneur who goes through a growth phase and focuses on reaching the next business goal, it’s natural for us humans to face other unpredictable challenges that we need to figure out as we go. 

• Managing multiple clients and focusing on our business growth
• Hiring our first contractors without knowing what to do
• Saying NO to clients that are no longer aligned with our new belief system, knowing that there is no one else lined up to pay our bills.

There are just a few examples that indicate the fact that your body is reaching your biological safety ceiling, which may be triggering the 2 most common stress responses our body has.

Fight response:

The fight response is a natural reaction to stress, sparking determination and a desire to confront, fix, or dominate the threat/danger.

Flight response:

The flight response prompts entrepreneurs to withdraw or avoid responsibilities in stressful situations. While helpful in immediate danger, it can hinder progress and prevent the full embrace of new experiences and business goals.

III. Reaching Your Biological Safety Ceiling

If you have ever thought, “Once I have this, then it will be easier,” but despite all of your hard work, automation, team members, and commitment to your business, that moment never came. 

The principle of biological safety explains why that time,  “When it should be easier,” never came.

As you can see, the closer you get to your ceiling, the more your body/mind will rebel. Those moments of anxiety, restlessness, indecisiveness, stress, overwhelm, brain fog, and pressure are just signals that your body and brain are fighting against your “will” (like saying, “I will make it happen,” “I will suck it up,” “I will do it anyway”).

So the only way to reach the next business goal that you haven’t yet reached before (and it’s still outside of your biological safety) is through regulating your nervous system.

[Quick question from the person in the 3rd row in the audience]

Question: “So it’s NOT possible for me to reach my goals without having a regulated nervous system?”

Answer: It is still possible… but it’s the way how you reach that goal that makes all the difference.

Without a calibrated nervous system- you can expect a lot of growth pains, suffering, exhaustion, and possible burnout because your mind and body will fight with you.

With a calibrated nervous system– it would require work to reach that goal, but you would be able to do it without having everything around you persistently knocking you off course and slowing your momentum.

IV. Benefits Of Calibrating The Nervous System

Entrepreneurs without a regulated nervous system:

• Constant feelings of anxiety and restlessness.
• Frequent panic attacks or episodes of intense fear.
• Difficulty concentrating and focusing on tasks.
• Insomnia or disrupted sleep patterns.
• Frequent headaches or migraines.

Entrepreneurs with a regulated nervous system:

• Emotional Stability: They would notice a significant decrease in feelings of anxiety and restlessness, allowing them to feel emotionally stable and more in control of their emotions.

• Peaceful State of Mind: They would experience moments of tranquility and a peaceful state of mind, even in challenging situations, making it easier to cope with stress and difficult emotions.
  
• Clarity and Focus: They would find it easier to concentrate and maintain focus on tasks, leading to increased productivity and efficiency in their daily activities.
  
• Restful Sleep: They would enjoy restful and rejuvenating sleep, waking up feeling refreshed and energized, which positively impacts their overall mood and cognitive function during the day.
  
• Physical Well-being: They may notice a reduction in physical symptoms like headaches or migraines, as the regulated nervous system can have a positive effect on overall health and well-being.

V. Techniques For Calibrating Your Nervous System

Inside my private coaching, the “Grounded CEO,” I guide my clients through a variety of techniques that fall into 2 main categories.

Category #1 – Brain-Oriented Approach 

The “Brain-Oriented Approach” is a set of techniques and practices that focus on influencing and regulating the brain’s functions and activities to improve overall well-being. 

And here is one of my favorite techniques that can help you stay calm and focused in moments of high stress, overwhelm, and pressure.

Grounding through your 4 senses:

This exercise is perfect for you if you often find your thoughts wandering into the future (worrying about what might happen)  or dwelling on the past  (thinking about what you forgot to do), but they are never in the present moment.

Try this:

Sigh– What are 5 things that you can see around you right now? (phone, flower, window, a car outside, you get the point…)

Hearing– What are 4 things that you can hear around you? (your breath, car outside, your pet, someone around you, a TV…) 

Touch– What are 3 things that you can physically touch with your hands? (pencil, bed sheets, paper, mug…)

Smell– What are 2 things that you can smell right now (breakfast, fresh pastry in a coffee place, the grass outside, coffee…)

Taste– What is 1 thing that you can taste in your mouth right now? (toothpaste, coffee, soft…) 

Category #2 – Body-Oriented Approach 

The body-oriented approach emphasizes how our mind and body are connected, using movements and physical experiences to improve mental, emotional, and physical health.

Now, let me share one of my favorite techniques that can help you reset your nervous system and reduce stress, and anxiety, that ball in your throat, or the gut-wrenching feeling in your stomach.

It’s called “Box breathing.”

This technique allows you to quickly shift from a “fight or flight” response to a calm and relaxed state by using conscious breathing patterns, just like the way you would breathe inside a box.

Try this:

Inhale for 5 seconds to your belly.

Hold the air in your belly for 5 seconds.

Exhale the air for 5 seconds from your belly.

Hold your breath for 5 seconds.

Important: Take the next 7 minutes to do this exercise, give yourself a chance to try it, and see how it works for you (yes, you do have time for this). You’ll be amazed at how it can relax your entire body and calm you down. (If you feel lightheadedness or tingling or any body sensations, don’t worry, it’s completely normal. Your body is simply telling you that you’ve been under high pressure and stress for too long, and now it’s finally relaxing into its natural state of being.)

VI. Tips For Maintaining a Calibrated Nervous System

The core issue that most established yet anxious entrepreneurs face is that their body is conditioned to live in stressful, tense, and pressured environments. In such situations, their response is often impulsive, aggressive, or irritated.

So here are my 3 tips that can trigger a positive change and the re-patterning process, where your body feels more at ease, calm, and relaxed, even when you’re a busy service provider or agency owner.

1-Relax your jaw

2-Put your tongue on the bottom of your mouth 

3-Breath into your belly instead of shallow chest breaths 

These movements will naturally trigger your body to its natural state, where you feel safe, calm, and relaxed. When your body feels this way, your mind will automatically follow and surrender, leading to more focus, increased productivity, and more ease in your life.

VII. Conclusion

I share this with you because I believe that as online entrepreneurs, we need to accept that nothing in our businesses is always going to be black and white. There are so many situations in that “grey area” in between that we can’t predict or prepare for, yet we have to resolve them as business owners. That’s where our nervous system comes into place, and it will either support you or break you.

I’ve been teaching about the nervous system and its effect on entrepreneurs for 2 years, and I’ve discovered 4 blind spots that we as humans have (without us even realizing it) that might be stifling your service-based business growth and ability to hire and lead a high-performing team.

Take this opportunity to discover the 4 blind spots that are stifling your service-based business growth and learn how to overcome them by taking this interactive quiz right now.

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This featured article is brought to you by: Denis Sindler, High-Performance Specialist, Coach, & Public Speaker

Denis Sindler is the dynamic and multi-passionate founder and CEO of Impactful Leader, an organization deeply committed to championing a future where entrepreneurial success is as much about personal fulfillment and balance as it is about business achievement.

Drawing from his five years of extensive experience in business and having the privilege of coaching over 300 online founders and CEOs, Denis brings a unique and profound understanding of self-leadership. His approach, incorporating the latest advancements in neuroscience and nervous system regulation, is designed to help established business leaders cultivate stability and resilience in the long term and throughout the daily high-pressure situations inherent in their entrepreneurial journey.

Denis empowers leaders with effective strategies to improve decision-making, delegate control more effectively, overcome mental resistance, and lead their teams in a way that’s both effective and sustainable. Through his dedicated coaching, he nurtures healthier habits and fosters a resilient mindset, equipping CEOs with the necessary skills to navigate the challenges of business and lead lives filled with purpose, growth, and long-lasting success.

>>>>> Take Denis’s FREE Quiz! Is Stress Affecting Your Online Business? After taking the quiz, you will discover the 4 stress responses that might be sabotaging your online business growth and which one resonates most with you.

>>>>> Listen to Denis’ Podcast: Grounded CEO. Across the podcast episodes, Denis reveals all of his high-performance tools and methods that helps high achieving CEOs surrender control without sacrificing their business goals. Through the power of neuroscience, psychology, and high-performance tools you will be able to find new way of running your business as a Grounded CEO. So if you’re done pushing, feeling exhausted and burnout from your business then it’s time space things our from your calendar and start listening.

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