Why I think yoga & meditation is useful for startup founders
Depression, Anxiety and Suicidal tendencies are a lesser known reality in the “Founder Culture”, especially in the SF bay area tech scene. In this series, I explore how to get out of these tendencies and be effective and passionate about your startup.
I love this image of Mirror Lake in Yosemite. It looks Photoshopped, doesn’t it? The lake reflects the mountain perfectly. There is a sereneness to it. Its clear. Its picture perfect. Even a single drop of rain in this lake would be visible. This is like your mind, when you are rested. When there are no mental tensions. When you do not have to raise money. When you do not have to hire 10 employees in 3 months without paying them an arm and a leg. When you do not have to pull all-nighters because your overseas team suddenly has a week long vacation.
Guess what? All of these things happen to each one of us startup founders and our mind looks something like this
Whats happening here?
You cant think right. You cant focus. You are fearful. You are nervous. You, my friend, cant think clearly. This is Chaos. And it’s not fun.
And remember, you are responsible not only for yourself but also for the vision of the company, the execution of the plan and the employees. You are basically in a storm on a small boat, no , scratch that, you are on a frickin log with a python and a tiger as co-passengers and you have no compass, no oar and no food. That’s how your mind is, going through a startup.
There’s a dark side to starting up and it plagues 30% of us — depression is a very common side-effect of starting up — Business Insider writes about suicide and depression in startups, Catherine Shu writes about Founders on depression
So, what does a start up founder do? Well, take a deep breath in. Really.. thats it! Just remember to take your focus to your breath, at least once every hour. Just observe how you are breathing. Is your breath shallow and quick? Is it hurried and tense? Is it deep and slow (thats good!)
Start with observing. You will see the shift. We will go through a few other exercises to help you with taking control of your thoughts and your mind in the next few weeks.
I am in no means an expert at this. I am learning with you. Lets together be more effective founders. We are fierce but without the violence, we are passionate but without the attachment, we are tireless without getting tired.
From one startup founder to another, hang in there — if you are not able to, email me ramesh@yogatailor.com or tweet @rameshdot0
This was originally posted on the yogatailor blog : http://www.yogatailor.com/blog/2016/05/the-importance-of-meditation-and-yoga-for-startup-founders/
