Author: HairWeavings Editorial Team

If you’ve started to hear whispers in your head it’s time to get out of your business, time to exit, what’s holding you back from starting the exit journey? The following is a list of reasons I’ve heard from business owners over the years. How many of these are stopping you from moving forward?

1. Don’t know what’s next personally.
2. Fearing loss of identity.
3. Concern for employees.
4. Loyalty to customers or clients.
5. Loss of control.
6. Embarrassment, shame.
7. Perceived failure.
8. Fear of regret.
9. Fear of missing out (FOMO).
10. Not time yet.
11. Fear of losing income.
12. Don’t know how to exit.
13. Seems daunting to make such a big change.

All of these are legitimate, and it’s okay if you admit one or more of these reasons are stopping you. If you identify with any of these challenges, you’re in good company. Unofficially, 99.9% of business owners with whom I speak admit to at least one and usually several of these fears. If this is you, it’s okay.

However, I have two suggestions if you want to exit your business but one (or more) of these is stopping you.

Suggestion #1: Create a Clear Vision of Your Abundant Future

The study of positive psychology suggests having a sharp vision of a positive future pulls us forward. A clear image of an abundant future will help you overcome inertia, fear and other negative emotions holding you back.

Based on this idea, I suggest you create a clear, concrete vision of what your life will be like after you exit your business. Where will you live? What will you be doing? Who will you be doing fun things with?

Write down your vision with as much detail as you can. When you have a clear vision of what you want your life to be like without your business, you’ll be able to move ahead. Let me give you an example.

One of my current clients is clear she and her husband want to live in Europe to be near to their daughter and grandkids. She knows it’s not possible if she’s tied to her business. I’ve stressed to this business owner the need to make the vision of the future as clear as she can make it. I’ve suggested she pick out a house they will rent, read up on the region in which they want to settle, and visit the region as much as she can right now.

This business owner has to improve her business in the next few years so she can sell it for what she wants, but the vivid image of the future she wants will draw her forward.

Suggestion #2: Take Action

Psychologists suggest task aversion is to blame when we put off doing something we know we should do. If we view a task as unpleasant, we will often put it off. I’m not a psychologist, but I am a seasoned business owner, and I know to overcome inertia I need to act. The simple task of doing something creates momentum and once started, a task is easier.

You can use any of the tried-and-true behaviors to overcome procrastination to help you. For example:

• Focus on the “why” (see suggestion #1).
• Get a partner to help you plan out the exit journey.
• Break the task of exiting your business into chunks.
• Drop perfectionism (exiting a business is messy and imperfect).

The point is to take action. Here is my challenge to you. If you’re serious about exiting your business in the next two years, take action of any kind in the next 48 hours. Pick something and get started.

For example, you could start to create your vision of your life after you no longer own this business. Or you could contact your accountant and ask her if she has any experience selling a business and, if not, if she knows someone who does have experience. You could reach out to a business owner you know who has recently sold her business and start a conversation.

Summary

Exiting your business is not easy, but it’s doable. If you hear the whispers that it’s time to turn your business over to someone else, then examine what’s holding you back and take action to overcome your objections. You might be surprised how good you’ll feel when you commit to starting the journey to exit your business.

Rather than asking you to reveal if you’re thinking about exiting your business, suggest reasons to delay other business owners might be feeling. If you have any questions about how to get started in exiting a business, please make a comment below and I’ll respond. Thank you.

Further read, 5 Ways to Exit Your Business: Which One Is Right for You?

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Are you looking into exiting your business? Do you have a clear reason why you want to do it? What fears are stopping you to actually take action in that direction?

Originally posted at: Jennifer Pedranti’s Clear and Gold Lens Sunglasses

It began when I was driving home from teaching 3^rd graders after a long day. I was about 38 years old. As a child, I must have had deep thoughts, with my nose always in a book, because I had resting “frownie” face. This cultivated deep furrows between my eyebrows, but they usually sprang back to a smooth forehead by bedtime.

Not that day, though.

No, on that day – after a grueling, sweaty shift at the whiteboard – I glanced at myself in my rearview mirror as I drove home. There they were: the dreaded frown lines, stubbornly etched like the gully erosion I had taught about that day. And those ridges weren’t going anywhere.

Bangs Beauty and Melted Face

On that day, I impulsively cut my bangs. What a cheap form of cosmetic surgery that was! (I know, I write about my bangs a lot.) They covered those pesky lines, but it was a temporary fix. My forehead’s smooth days were over, and I knew it was time to explore the bewildering world of beauty products beyond my trusty SPF 50 sunscreen.

Teaching in a school with no air conditioning meant any makeup I wore typically melted off by lunch. In my 30s though, my skin had this lovely, dewy glow that shone through even after my face had surrendered to the heat.

But after the Day of the Never-Ending Frown Lines, I realized maybe it was time for a more serious skincare regimen. Eventually, my school got air conditioning, but by then I was losing the battle of melted face because of hot flashes and more dreaded wrinkles that allowed the makeup to gather in the creases like a batik artwork.

Pink Eye Is No Joke

Armed with my first powerful eye cream, I returned to school feeling rejuvenated, only to have a third grader ask, “Do you have pink eye?” Ah, the honest brutality of children. My new miracle cream had given me a rash and red, watery eyes.

Eyeshadow Bruises

Once that disaster cleared up, I tried eyeshadow to perk up my face. A new and rather cheap palette of eyeshadows from Walgreens in shades of pink and purple seemed promising. Feeling fabulous, I strutted into class, when a concerned little face peered up at me and asked, “Did somebody punch you? Your eyes look bruised!”

Mascara Boogers

Determined not to be defeated, I moved on to a more fantastic mascara. Aiming for fresh and awake, I opted for some brand that cost more than my day’s salary that offered false eyelash length, but alas it was not waterproof or even water resistant.

By the end of the day, it clumped into the corners of my eyes, leading to comments like, “Why do you have black eye boogers?” from the same brutally honest little ones. I found a mascara with a name like CoverWoman LashBlast SuperDuper Outrageous Waterproof Mascara to take care of those end of work dark circles and black eye boogers. It takes a jackhammer to get it off, but I’m worth it.

Mascara for Eyebrows?

Undeterred, I decided my eyebrows needed attention. After turning 50, they’d started to thin from over-plucking – or were they just fading? Who knows? To this day I wonder if my eyebrow hair has just been relocating to my upper lip and chin.

I tried something called eyebrow mascara, but by noon, my brows looked like tiny caterpillar frass stuck to my face. “Your eyebrows look really strange,” my observant students noted.

Let’s Get Spendy

My mother, ever the supportive soul, bought me something called Frown Eze – stickers for my frown lines that smelled like 1960s elementary school paste. I couldn’t sleep with those things stuck to my face, and each morning I awoke with a sticky, red residue instead of a smooth forehead.

Next, I tried instant firming lotion – the kind that tightens wrinkles right before your eyes in those YouTube videos. But apparently, I used too much, and it became white, flaky crumbles under my eyes. “You have dried toothpaste under your eyes,” came the uninvited critique from a Little in my classroom.

Of course, I made a sarcastic make-up tutorial to help us all spend less money. I mentioned it in a previous article. I want to thank those of you who journeyed to my podcast channel to view it. The video went from 7 views to nearly 400 – older women hold the power! Of course, my hints to use Crayola Markers on the face will lead to many “unsubscribes.”

Finding What Works… for Me

Finally, I discovered an expensive self-tanner. Not the orange-hued QT of my grandma’s era, but a product that promised a natural glow. It worked, mostly. My third graders couldn’t find anything wrong with it, unless I put it on in a hurry and had a weird, dark streak that wouldn’t fade for 2 days.

And so, I’ve settled on this routine: a layer of expensive self-tanner, dry, sunscreen, dry, Bare Minerals to “paint by number” on my uneven skin, jackhammer mascara, and the occasional Crest White Strip for a dazzling smile.

I no longer teach, so if people think I look weird now, at least they’re polite enough not to say it out loud.

In the end, I realized that some days are just a total waste of makeup. I yo-yo between “growing old naturally,” and “fighting age with anything in my arsenal.” But hey, at least I’ve learned a thing or two about beauty products and the unfiltered honesty of children.

I avoid going into stores like Ulta or Sephora without a support animal (or my sister) because I always leave with something bizarre and expensive. And if you’re ever in need of a good laugh, just remember: there’s no problem a pair of scissors and a sense of humor can’t solve.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Did you ever have a day that was a total waste of makeup? Let’s not turn this conversation into a “crab fest,” so let’s keep it lighthearted. For example, did your hair color ever turn out a shocking shade you were not expecting? Did someone in your life ever comment on your makeup or fashion choices only to make you question all that money you spent on something new? Do you think we spend too much time and money trying to hang on to our youth?

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Originally posted at: Katie Ginella’s Red Dress

You’d think that by the time you hit 60, life would give you pass to a stress-free existence. A daily itinerary filled with yoga, afternoon teas, wine time with the girls, and blissful gardening, right? Maybe some traveling with the hubs or friends?

Sadly, no amount of chamomile can shield women over 60 from the stress they still feel every day.

The mental load carried by older women is no joke. It’s a complex web of family duties, health concerns, personal aspirations, and often work too. For many women, this stage is less about fun and relaxation and more about juggling roles and responsibilities.

If these things aren’t managed well, they can cause a tangle of problems and unhealthy repercussions.

The Many Hats of Women Over 60

For most women, reaching retirement age doesn’t mean you really “retire.” You may not be practicing your chosen career any longer, but all the other jobs seem to continue or reinvent themselves.

The Family CEO

If you thought your days as the family’s Chief Everything Officer (CEO) were over, think again. Your adult kids may have flown the nest, but that doesn’t mean they took their problems with them.

• Need to know how to make sauce? Call Mom.
• Babysitter for the weekend? Grandma would love to help – right?
• And let’s not forget all the mundane, daily questions that you’re expected to answer.
  • “Mom, how do I unclog a drain?”
  • “Mom, what’s this weird rash on my kid’s leg?”
  • “Mom, can you watch the dog while we’re in Cancun?”

It’s like a never-ending episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, except you can’t phone a friend and there’s no cash prize at the end – just the satisfaction of knowing you’re still indispensable.

That doesn’t feel like a bad thing, right?

As much as we want our kids to be independent and NOT need us, we still want to be needed. In fact, one of the biggest mental struggles for many mature women is feeling irrelevant and unnecessary.

It’s a slippery slope though.

• Emotional support
• On-call babysitter for the grandkids
• Caregiver for your own aging parents

These roles mean many women find themselves taking on even more at a time in their lives when they thought they’d have more time for themselves.

Balancing these responsibilities requires setting clear boundaries. Remember, it’s okay to say no sometimes.

Grandparenting – The Sequel to Parenting

Sure, grandparenting is all about the fun stuff without the disciplinary struggles. Bu it can also be a lot of work. Especially if your children don’t recognize your boundaries and respect your time.

You remember being in the thick of parenting, right? It’s hard. Rewarding, yes, but also hard. So, you probably get it when your kids call you wanting help with their own children.

They,

• Have questions
• Need a break
• Vent frustrations
• Even have relationship issues

Again, it’s great to be needed, but it’s also really easy for your kids to forget to be considerate of you as they’re dealing with their own life challenges.

And, as much as they want your help, they also want to tell you how the way they’re raising their kids is different (read better) than your old-fashioned ways. So, the message is, “Help me, but do it the way I tell you to.”

My Husband’s Keeper

Let’s not forget your husband or partner. Retirement was supposed to be the golden years of rediscovering each other and enjoying life. But now that you’re both home all the time, it turns out absence may really be the key to make the heart grow fonder.

Who knew you could argue about the correct way to load a dishwasher or the best route to the grocery store?

Maintaining a relationship takes effort at any age, but after 60, it can also mean being the emotional anchor for a partner who might be dealing with their own set of aging anxieties. So, you’re not just juggling your own mental load, but also balancing theirs.

If you’re in a relationship, spending more time together during these years might bring you closer or shine a light on problems hiding in the shadows.

Medical Director

Health is the wild card of the 60+ mental load.

Suddenly, you’re managing doctor’s appointments like a project manager on a tight deadline. It can feel like there are more specialists in your life than characters in a daytime soap opera. And remembering when to take your medication feels like a part-time job.

And all of it is probably x2.

Men are notoriously averse to going to the doctor. They’re often even worse at keeping track of appointments. So, while your right leg is running on your own personal medical treadmill, your left leg is running on his. It can be quite the balancing act.

But there’s a certain camaraderie in this stage of life. Your friends are likely going through the same things, and there’s comfort in shared experiences. Even if those experiences include comparing colonoscopy stories over a cup of herbal tea.

Financial Planner

Financial security is often a significant concern for women over 60. Retirement savings, healthcare costs, and unexpected expenses can weigh heavily on your mind.

This stress can be one of the most uncomfortable portions of the mental load over 60.

Especially if you’re feeling pressure to,

• Help your kids financially
• Purchase gifts for your 14 grandchildren on birthdays and holidays
• Spearhead family travel or events

Be sure to consult a financial advisor if you need guidance. Knowing you have a solid financial plan in place can significantly reduce this stress.

Lightening the Load – How to Manage the Stress as You Age

So, life isn’t as easy during your golden years as the pamphlets made it sound like it’d be. What’s a girl to do?

To begin with – don’t ignore it. It can be tempting to just go along to get along, but don’t. Ignoring the stress from your many responsibilities can lead to some serious repercussions.

Chronic stress is no joke. It can spike blood pressure, ruin sleep, and weaken your immune system. Ever notice how you get sick more easily when you’re overwhelmed? That’s your body reacting to what you refuse to recognize.

Then there’s the emotional toll. Anxiety and depression can make it hard to enjoy life. It’s like carrying a backpack full of rocks everywhere you go – you just feel weighed down and unmotivated.

And it’s a vicious cycle – stress leads to more stress.

This means managing your mental load is crucial.

So,

Focus on Self-Care

This isn’t just about pampering yourself. It’s about maintaining your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Regular exercise, a balanced diet, and adequate sleep are essential.

Making time for activities that bring you joy and relaxation is also necessary. Whether gardening, hiking, cooking, or raising chickens – find your bliss.

Seek Support and Find Your Tribe

Never underestimate the power of a good support system. Friends, family, or a support group – whoever they are, having people to talk to makes a huge difference.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, consider seeking professional help. A counselor can offer strategies to manage stress and cope with your mental load.

So, ladies, take a breather. Delegate tasks, practice self-care, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. And don’t let anyone make light of or dismiss the way you feel. A heavy mental load as you age can be a big problem. Your well-being is worth lightening it.

Let’s Unload:

Have you struggled with the mental load that comes with later life? What’s that been like? If you’ve felt buried under stress and have found ways to cope, please share your experiences and join the conversation.