I was lucky enough to be invited to the British Library for BIPC Start Up Day sponsored by Santandar. I did not know what to expect to be honest, just excited to learn and meet like minded individuals. When i got to the event there was an hour of Networking which was great, there were so many young people around with a passion to start up their own business. I met a girl who owned a swap clothing business, a hypnotherapist, a lady with an idea for an innovative hanger and many more!

There were various talks and mentoring classes on the day, the ones that made an impact to last in my mind were the following talks:

• Facebook did a talk about using their platform to market and sell and how big the audience reach is, specially because it also owns Instagram.

• Some successful businesses spoke about the struggles of starting up their companies, they spoke about not paying themselves for years because they were committed to make their business work, the mental implications of working for yourself and the positives when you start to grow.

• How working for yourself can affect your mental health and how you can look after yourself to reduce this.

As it was Mental Health Week last week i was really happy to hear Mind do a talk about the how everyone can be affected by work and it affect them mentally. They spoke about it being something that happens to everyone but it is just not spoken about. The statistics they presented were that:

• Depression is now the leading cause of health problems in the world, affecting over 300 million people globally.

• Half (48%) of all employees have experiences a mental health problem in their role. Only half of these people have talked to their employer about their mental health.

• 15% of the UK workforce does not have an employer. 45% freelancers say that they haven’t considered their mental health before going into self employment.

Mind spoke about what can be done to help yourself and build awareness:

• Keep A Journal - Working for yourself means you most of the time do not have anyone congratulating you for your achievements so you more than often do not praise the things that you achieve. Keeping a journal at the end of each working day planning your next day and journalising what you have achieved most of all is important.

• Talk about mental health. It is such a taboo in todays world talking about how you are feeling or if you do not feel normal. The worry of what others will think of you, the thought that you may be different or not understood but the reality is it happens to everyone but people do not talk about it. Talking is ok and most of all not feeling ok is ok. We all need to check in on ourselves and our friends and families because you never know anyone could be going through troubles and need to talk but just does not know how to.

• Talk about walk. I am guilty of this, i find i can be too humble and not want to talk about my work or what i have achieved to anyone so i just make it sound boring and tend to change the subject when asked about what i do for work but the truth is you should be proud and talk about what you do. Its hard when you have no one to talk to daily as you would in an office environment so when you meet with your friends or family speak about your day and what you achieved or even if anything went wrong.

Looking after yourself is so hugely important. Making sure you are ok is something everyone should do, below some ways of how you can:

• Add Structure - Make a daily plan each day, wake up have some coffee and breakfast, do your exercise, work, have lunch, work, have a tea break, work, go for a walk to if you need to - give your day a routine.

• Leave Home - Sometimes working from home can be lonely and waking up and going to sleep in the same environment can be dull. Change it up, go to a coffee shop some days and work there, library - change your settings to make it exciting.

• Eat, Sleep and exercise - you come first, you will not be able to be efficient if you do not do these three things, its just how our bodies work.

• Celebrate little wins - This is so important, ensure everything you achieve you celebrate! Talk about it, tell your friends and family or spouse and go out for a meal or drinks to make yourself feel good about it.

• Rethink rejection - Rejection enables you to grow and learn, its important to not let this get to you too much as you can only learn from things that do not go your way and get better. Trying is so vital to learn, celebrate that you tried, learn and attempt again - do not give up.

• Always be learning - Make sure you sign up to go to these talks, meet like minding people do not single yourself out. Going to this talk was so refreshing for me to talk to people going through the same struggles and successes as me, i was being taught things i already have been but a refresher never hurts and new energy is always important to get you motivated! go to exhibitions, create new experiences - make sure you are happy because you always be more efficient when you feel positive.

• Add YOU to the to do list - You are important, your story is important - allow yourself to be - change things up, its ok to take a day or two off to do exactly what you want. Spend time with people that make you feel great and get those energy levels up - being positive is so important when working for yourself because it is only you who can put force behind your ideas - no one else will so your well being is important.

• Try to open up - Talking to people is important, go to networking events or talks so you can meet people in your position - speak to them about your worries they may have the same. Get out of the house, go for walks, call your friends and family and chat.

• Have a Wellbeing Action Plan - Make sure you are active, this is important for your body to function well. Write down things you love doing and make sure you are doing things from that list every week. You do not want to look back at your life and have any regrets - fill your life with experiences and happy memories. Make time for you.

I hope this little write up helps even one person. Feel free to just write a message to us anonymously and talk about how your feeling if you fancy a chat :)

Signup to Event Brite, there are many talks that are always happening well if you’re in London. Google events and go - most are usually free.