How to Keep Calm and Take Care

1. Work With People Who Support You

When building your organization, hiring is about so much more than a sparkling résumé: Team chemistry is crucial. “Find your tribe but be selective,” says Durecia Moorer, managing partner and chief marketing officer at marketing and events firm ABCD & Company. “This tribe is a tribe you can be vulnerable with and go to in some of your lowest moments.”

2. Create a Healthy Structure

Briahna Gatlin, founder and CEO of PR firm Swank Publishing, starts her days with meditation before checking her email. “Give yourself 30 to 45 minutes of quiet time before going into work mode,” she says. “After I meditate, I prep my day with a checklist and schedule my eating times as well. It’s important to give yourself structure as well as end your day properly without overworking yourself.”

Comparison is the thief of joy, especially in a crowded and supercharged field like tech. That’s why Nerissa Zhang, who owns two private gyms in San Francisco and is the CEO of The Bright App, a mobile app for fitness professionals, says don’t bother trying to keep up with the Joneses (or Zuckerbergs). “No matter how much success you achieve, you might never ‘look like success’ to some people,” she says.

4. Know When to Take Off the Cape

There is pride in being tough, covering every base and showing up at all hours, but you can’t always be Superman. “You are human!” says Moorer of ABCD & Company. “The grind is real and a necessity to meeting your goals. However, the grind does not mean you work harder instead of smarter,” she says. Moorer’s own fix? “I have found that going to bed early and waking up early enhances my productivity. I may not always get to do it, but I feel the difference when I do.”

5. Sometimes It Takes ‘Micro-Acts’

The road to ending generational poverty can seem daunting, but if you take concrete steps, from volunteering to donating to participating in community events, you can make progress — and feel empowered. “As an individual, I can choose to do micro-acts in my life,” says Ally Invest President Lule Demmissie. “That can make a big difference if everybody else did the same thing.”