Writers’ Rough Drafts – Episode #46 With Sherry Walling

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Dr. Sherry Walling is a licensed clinical psychologist, lecturer and professor, yoga teacher, author, and yes, an entrepreneur herself these days. After extensive time spent treating post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans, working with families in family violence, and supporting the mental health needs of physicians and police officers, she shifted her focus slightly from career-specific work to addressing stress-related problems in high-achieving people. Already an accomplished professional herself, she also has a spouse of nearly two decades who has founded, run, and exited multiple successful businesses.

Getting to know not only the pressure that they often felt personally, but the stories of others in the community and industry, she began talking more about the mental health of entrepreneurs, founders, business executives, and creatives. Before long, she was sharing her observations and conversations on her podcast, ZenFounder, and as a speaker at entrepreneurial and tech conferences. Eventually, she added consulting, events, and creating communities for folks who felt her deep in their soul as they listened to her explain that burning yourself out trying to run and be responsible for it all is the quickest way to losing your creative spark, your ability to execute and communicate, and your motivation. Most importantly, running yourself into the ground at the sacrifice of your actual self will lead you to eventually stop believing in your business, projects, and … well … yourself.

Her book, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together: How to Run Your Business Without Letting it Run You, is exactly what it sounds like—a collection of decades of personal experience, secondary observation, and professional advice with a tough-but-compassionate style that will resonate with anyone who has ever experienced the pervasive burnout, anxiety, depression, and loneliness that come with running your own business and brand.

What You’ll Learn About Writing This Week:

• Why you need to let go of the narrative that you have it all figured out, or it will kill your creative capacity
• How to accept and embrace your vulnerabilities as well as your superpowers in the moments of low
• Spending time outlining and planning your thoughts and writing to get ideas and create something you’re thrilled to share
• Using brief journal entries to help you figure out what you should spend your time doing every day
• Making the shift from academic writing to personal writing endeavors
• Why you may want to spend closer to three months of preparation if you want to finally write that book on your “to do this year” list

Mentioned in This Episode (Links and Resources!):

• The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together: How to Run Your Business Without Letting it Run You
• ZenFounder Podcast
• Bird by Bird (with Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” essay)

You Can Find More of Sherry’s Writing on:

• Her websites, SherryWalling.com and ZenFounder.com
• Twitter, @ZenFounder

Tweetable Quotes From This Episode:

• “If we’re really going to be reflective about ourselves, we both understand our weak points and can really maximize on the ways that we’re awesome that maybe go unseen.” – Dr. Sherry Walling @ZenFounder on #WritersRoughDrafts
• “Burnout … really kills creative problem-solving and creative capacity.” – Dr. Sherry Walling @ZenFounder on #WritersRoughDrafts
• “When you are paying attention to those feelings, over the course of time you get some really good data on the kinds of things you should be spending your time on and the kinds of things you shouldn’t.” – Dr. Sherry Walling @ZenFounder on #WritersRoughDrafts
• “Our best work comes from the inside out.” – Dr. Sherry Walling @ZenFounder on #WritersRoughDrafts
• “I do my best work when I really am mindful of who’s listening and how I hope to serve them, and I’m much less focused on my own ego and brand.” – Dr. Sherry Walling @ZenFounder on #WritersRoughDrafts
• “The shift from writing for someone else to really writing my own truth was a freeing one, although one that took some editing.” – Dr. Sherry Walling @ZenFounder on #WritersRoughDrafts
• “We all need a little bit more encouragement to unlock the coolness within us.” – Dr. Sherry Walling @ZenFounder on #WritersRoughDrafts

Thanks to our Season 4 sponsor: Coworker.com