There are times is an entrepreneur’s life when the emotions build up. His waking and sleeping hours are full of anxiety, stress, desperation, doubt, fear, and so on. Of course, these emotions under control can be useful to motivate the entrepreneur to succeed. But when they take over, it becomes hard to both focus on details and see the big picture, causing a downward spiral towards ultimate failure.
Anxiety and stress are usually lumped together, but can be easily understood as separate but related concepts. Stress is the emotional burden laying on our shoulders due to present circumstances. Our own or loved ones’ health, financial, or social situations are common causes of stress. Relieving stress is often successful when taking the burden from our shoulders into our own hands, and trying to change the situation, or tossing it off our shoulders, absolving ourselves of this responsibility. In either case, talking with someone, even G-d, is a healthy way of deciding what action to take, or to support our decision.
Anxiety, on the other hand, refers to the fears we experience when contemplating future conditions. These can be rational fears based on analytical data, or irrational fears, based on any number of known or uncertain circumstances. When we cannot identify the cause of our anxiety, it is often helpful to write down some of your fears, and then consider the effects if those fears were to come true. You may be surprised to discover what you’re really afraid of, down the road. I even found that one of my fears was the fear of forgetting my action plans and to do list, causing me to go over everything in my mind constantly. Writing it down took away the stress of remembering and the fear of forgetting.
Once you’ve identified the causes, it’s good to plan an attack to confront or circumvent your fears. Having a plan and sticking to it will help you relax, knowing that you’re on a path to escaping your fears. Talking with someone who’s experienced a similar situation can provide the advice and support to get you through it.
Desperation is a difficult emotion, particularly regarding money and other tangible items because we can count and calculate our fates. As with dating, desperation brings out the worst in people, and is often ignored by all but the most charitable types. We consider anything too available as undesirable, and prejudicially stay clear of it. Counting your blessings, and focusing on the positive things we have in life is a good way to chase away our own desperation. And when that fails, acting and putting on a confident face can put you in a positive, desirable light.
What have you found helped you through the hard times?