Who hasn’t heard the phrase, “ Entrepreneurship is hard” Seriously, every single person within 100 miles of a startup has heard this before! So here is my problem with that phrase….
No one ever follows it up with WHY!
It is very similar to when people tell you the first step to solving your problems is admitting you have one. But then no one follows that up with what step 2 and 3 and so on may be in that process…
Today I’m going to lay it down on why it’s hard, and this is coming straight from my freaking soul as this was a letter that I wrote to a former COO of mine. He was going through a transition point and struggling with the desire for more stability in his life and this nagging feeling that he had to be an entrepreneur. So for whatever reason I sat down and wrote this letter to him not knowing that one day I would have the balls to get on stage and read it to a room filled with nearly 1000 entrepreneurs or put it up here for the world to see.
It is my hope that by reading this, whether it’s your first time on this entrepreneur roller coaster ride or your 100th, you’ll feel a little less alone:
I know the feeling…
You have no money and no idea what’s going on or why. You want to go out with your friends but can’t, because what if they want to go out to dinner as even a $15 charge will totally screw up you budget. You can’t have all the small pleasures that everyone else seems to enjoy. You live in fear of a lot of odd things that shouldn’t have a fear response. And the real bitch of it all is you work far harder than anyone else you know.
And it’s not just a feeling, it’s true, you are always going to work way harder for less pay until one day very suddenly, you won’t ( you will still work but you’ll have money ). That’s the life we have chosen and honestly I feel it was less of a choice and more of an eventuality. It’s the ultimate version of the type II fun. You are going to struggle in every way one could possibly conceive of struggling — emotional, mental, financial, physical (stress takes a big toll) — and like climbing a mountain you will look up every once in awhile at the view and think, “WOW!,” but then you go right back to the trudging, with the false summits and lack of resources and all of it. But once you’re off that mountain, you sit down on your couch after that day and you wouldn’t trade it for a damn thing.
And I would love to tell you that it gets better, but honestly it doesn’t, it just gets different, every time you have a breakthrough on something you will find the next wall, much like after you climb one mountain you want to climb a bigger one. Even if one day you sell your company of $10M you’re going to wake up 2 days later saying, you know what I need $20M. Whether our mindset is the cure or the disease I have yet to determine myself but for better or for worse it is.
I truly believe that the worst and best parts of us reside in the same place within us and to access the best you have to deal with all the bad crap that comes up with it. But doing so will lead to you becoming the best form of yourself….but first it’s going to hurt.
This period you are experiencing is a growth and transition point and dude, they suck. They are painful. You will question everything including sometimes your own sanity. But these periods are NECESSARY, this is why entrepreneurship is hard. It’s not the workload or the long hours or never ending list of shit to do, or being pulled everywhere at once, it’s these times that you personally have to go through for yourself. It’s growth and growth really hurts, and what sucks is these periods only get more frequent and last longer.
But take comfort in knowing that they are a good sign — you are learning, changing, becoming better, and you are certainly not alone in this feeling. Reflectiveness is the sign of a true leader because you have to walk through the fire first before you can help others do the same.
To sum up: it’s ok and you’re ok, nothing is really wrong although it definitely feels that way right now. You are taking on a monumental task and that is going to require a part of your soul. And I know it’s painful to give that part up but trust me that piece will come back far stronger and better than it ever was before. People like you can make the world better.Truly, you have no idea how many lives you have touched for the better, and you probably never will, as our personalities don’t allow for such recognition, but others see it. What you are building or will build one day will transform so many lives, and that, well, that is worth it.
