By Rich Steve Beck

I'm looking over the great feedback from my previous blog about Imposter Syndrome.

What's pretty nuts is that it got re-posted by a friend in the waste management industry on LinkedIn, and then another friend in the Patient Attorney Industry also shared it on LinkedIn. Many people from their fields resonated with imposter syndrome, liking and commenting about how they currently feel or felt in the past.

Turns out, feelings are universal. Yep, believe it or not, we are all human and made to be emotional creatures. Who knew?

According to Forbes - "Depressive symptoms grew from a base of about 193 million people worldwide to 246 million, which is about 28%. Anxiety disorders grew from about 298 million people affected to 374 million, which is about a 25% increase".

Since the dawn of time (well, I wasn't there, but I'm guessing this to be the case), men, especially, are absolutely awful at expressing their emotions and tell themselves to "man up" .

Watch early episodes of Peaky Blinders, and you'll see our anti-hero Thomas Shelby having horrific flashbacks from World War One, suffering from PTSD. Telling yourself to "man up" doesn't serve anyone.

Thankfully, these days, mental health is much more recognized for everyone. Don't let anyone tell you not to get help or that "you'll be okay." No, you actually need to talk about how you feel, either to a friend or a qualified mental health professional.

Listen to your clients' work; they express their feelings through their songs. They tell their stories. So why shouldn't you express your feelings to someone? You serve those who express their feelings daily.

I remember (well, actually, I don't remember a lot of it... thanks, Jagermeister) my early 20s, where, like most folks finding newfound freedom, I used to rely on alcohol to terminate my anxiety. It works until the hangover kicks in the next day... damn!

What I'm trying to say is, I found there's nowhere to hide from yourself because you have to stare at your face every day in the mirror. By talking and listening to others, you might actually find yourself starting to like yourself more.

Also, as my wife has reminded me on numerous occasions, "if you can't help yourself, then how can you help others in your community?" She works in mental health; she knows her stuff.

However, we're not just helping others—we're helping others express themselves through their music to earn ourselves a living.

I bet you've worked with artists expressing every emotion you can think of across multiple styles of music to impact the lives of their fans.

It's okay to have an MOT; it's okay to call someone when you feel like the world sucks (it doesn't, by the way... it's how you feel... and that feeling is normal!).

My Australian friend Tony "Jack the Bear" Mantz posted a while ago about turning off the news. It worked well for me, so it might for others as well. We are bombarded with so much negativity on TV or on our phones.

What happens when you delete the news app on your phone that you read while eating your cornflakes at your kitchen table (I didn't say sitting on the toilet... oh wait, I just did) or drinking your coffee in your studio?

Even if it makes you feel 1% better, could that be worth doing?

It might actually give you 5 minutes of free time in your day to call a friend or network with someone.

You never know; that friend might also need to talk to you. Then both of your days and emotions can be served.

Talking to another human being and being your genuine self is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things you can do, I've found in the past few decades of hanging out on this planet.

I think back to the PMFC interviews I did with Amir Derakh, Mike Exeter, and Kellii Scott, as well as many others... each of those interviews (whether it be for a fleeting moment or for a few minutes) had a common thread: mental health.