Taking life one step at a time made all the difference for Brandon Collins as he attempted to navigate a relationship breakdown while building a new small business.
To mark Stress Awareness Month, Health & Protection has been speaking to professionals across the protection and health sectors to recount the most stressful situations they have found themselves in and how they overcame them.
Daunting future
Next up is Brandon Collins, commercial director at HealthHero (pictured), who told us about one of the most stressful points of his career which took place 20 years ago.
“Three months after setting up a small business with a few people, I realised it wasn’t quite as easy as I first expected, and the future looked daunting,” Collins explained.
“As such, typically, many matters were all strained, relationships, both personal and professional, and I started to worry, drank more than usual, and not sleep enough.”
Looking at myself in the mirror
Consequently, Collins revealed he took the hard choice at looking himself in the mirror and trying to work out whether everything that was happening was what he wanted in life.
“So I spoke to my partner at the time and ended up going into couples counselling,” Collins said.
“It taught me that we were not communicating in the right way with each other, and our goals, wishes, and needs were far from aligned.
“This was the first very painful step as following this I thought it was best to move on as counselling had opened my eyes to what was around me and the choices I had to make.
“It didn’t fix anything, it just offered clarity to make choices and move on.”
Knuckling down
While the relationship broke down, Collins added that he put more effort into the business.
“I knuckled down for another six months, by which time the business started to turn around and I could see light at the end of the tunnel, he continued.
“The points that I see highlighted in so many places that resonate for me is to take one step at a time, bite sized chunks, little by little.
“Everything got on top of me and I hit the wall like so many before and so many after me. I now recognise this and ensure I manage it in every day life.”