Could you tell me a time you felt pressure?
Whilst studying in my last year at university I got involved in a start up business where I had the chance to combine two passions of mine in a business context. Quickly the realisation of the the competitive entrepreneurial world hit me and throughout my tenure with the business I had many situations where pressure was high. I often found myself letting it build up without any release mechanisms which, in turn started to affect other elements of my day to day life. When looking back upon this experience, I realise that by removing myself from what I perceived as reality and assessing these situations from a wider perspective rather than in the heat of the moment, it would in turn lead to more rounded solutions. Furthermore, it gave me an understanding that more often than not there are solutions and my perceived sense of reality in the moment was often not as bad as I deemed it to be.
I am a big believer that from every negative comes a positive and my experience made me feel incredibly grateful to the support network that I realised in hindsight was around me. By drawing upon others experiences you can see similarities and solutions much quicker. Nonetheless, this experience was one I greatly cherished and the lessons I have taken I am sure will be beneficial in the future.
My own experience has definitely lead me to have a deeper personal level of understanding on how important mental health is within all members of society, especially those who are recent school or university leavers. Personally, I feel the word "depression" is associated far too regularly with our peers, something we must do more to combat. I am delighted to see the way a friend that I have had little contact with since school is using his experiences in a humble and innovative way to support people. Allowing them to share their emotions. A topic which, my short experience has led me to believe we too regularly leave aside in the growingly competitive modern day landscape