Are you Emotionally Obese? Laura Coe Weighs In With Quick Tips for Optimum Emotional Health

Gluten-free. Non-GMO. Sugar-free. Society often places emphasis on what can be done to obtain maximum health and how to achieve the perfect external image. While a focus on the outer benefits of healthy living can be beneficial, a factor often neglected and one that also contributes to a weighty gain, is our emotional weight.

Author of Emotional Obesity and certified life coach, Laura Coe is the leading expert in emotional weight recognition and emotional fitness tactics. Described as an issue caused by an unhealthy buildup of emotional weight stemming from the pressures, doubts, and false beliefs layered on by the outside world — Coe helps her clients to peel back the layers, shed the emotional weight, get into great emotional shape, and most importantly, to be happy.

Just fresh before the Thanksgiving culinary indulgence and standard 7-10 pound external weight gain, we set all food and delicacies aside to chat all things surrounding emotional obesity with Laura Coe. With more entrepreneurs and small businesses on the rise, Coe gets down to the nitty gritty on how small business owners can shed emotional weight, and maximize their potential for healthy and thriving businesses.

Ready to drop the weight? Step on the scale and read on for the scoop.

Inspire N Style: In your experience, what are the top factors that contribute into emotional weight gain for entrepreneurs and small business owners?

Laura Coe: “Entrepreneurs put on pounds quickly when the stresses of business ownership push against an unstable core. Factors such as managing employees, rapid growth, self-imposed deadlines, constant decision making, the pressures of leadership, and sleep deprivation can all cause enormous stress.

When your internal world is aligned, strong and clear, the ever-moving external world does not pile on the emotional weight of self-doubt.”

How detrimental would it be if someone started his or her own business, but failed to drop the emotional weight beforehand or during the process?

“It could be very detrimental. Ask yourself: Why are you starting this business? What are your goals? Why this business now? How will you lead the business? What kind of culture do you want to create?

All of the answers reside within, but when we carry too much emotional weight, we cannot access our internal compass – therefore we make decisions from learned values, and these decisions may not be true to us. Leadership depends on trusting our internal voice.

Specifically, emotional weight can lead you to create the wrong business for you, doubt your decisions, or suffer from anger, anxiety, and stress because real confidence is missing. And, even if you are able to attain ‘success’ while carrying significant emotional weight, you may never have the fulfillment you desire. Fulfillment comes when we make decisions for the reasons that matter to us.”

What are some quick tips for entrepreneurs or small business owners who want to obtain optimum emotional health? What can they start doing today to drop emotional pounds?

• Question where your decisions come from. Do they come from your beliefs or do they come from your learned values? Take time to connect with your inner voice as soon as possible so your choices represent your true self. You will feel happier, more authentic, and everything will be easier.
• Find a mentor. Be intentional about advice. We do not want to blindly follow thoughts that we have not questioned and we also do not want to reinvent the wheel. Find someone who you feel is where you want to be and ask them how they got there. Stay true to yourself, but learn the best tricks available. You still have to make the decisions and a mentor can help you with the process.
• Take care of yourself. You will always be working against endless lists of goals. More work does not always create better outcomes. You will start to unravel, make bad decisions and become an ineffective leader. Invest into yourself with exercise, emotional workouts, or any activity that helps you relieve stress.

For more on Laura Coe and Emotional Obesity, visit her website emotionalobesity.com. Take the quiz and find out your emotional weight here!