Exploiting the Dark Arts of Entrepreneurship

“In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control. Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices. — EPICTETUS”

Be ready for the highest highs and lowest lows. You will experience shit that makes you feel like fu*king superman one day, and lows that make life feel like there isn’t any point to what you are doing… And that’s what I want to share with you today.

Welcome to the dark side of entrepreneurship, the side no one talks about… A side where your mind pities in self criticism, doubt and the feeling of not being good enough.

Everyone goes through this at some point in their lives, entrepreneur or not. Going through this dark side and exploring it you come out as a new person with a fresh outlook on life and your purpose.

The way I saw it was like an AUDIT of my life. Auditing out the bad and replacing it with the new.

3 Lessons I learned…

1. I’m sure you’ve heard lots of stories of people going on their last penny, or putting everything they have into one last rush and it works and all of those other turnaround success stories. Well, let me tell you, it doesn’t always end like that and when it doesn’t, you need to be prepared for that mentally. It’s soul destroying to put all of your time, resources and energy into something that doesn’t work out how you imagined it. This is where surrounding yourself with mentors and people who have experienced this is vitally important. Remember, with every failure you are adding layers to your mental strength.
2. There will be times where your emotions get the better of you, even if you try to suppress them or find a healthy outlet for them. You’re too invested in your own enterprise for this not to happen. You may feel depressed and discouraged about your progress, or fearful that you won’t make a profit in a reasonable amount of time. When your emotions get the better of you, you’ll feel miserable and you’ll make worse decisions. The best way to deal with this is to simply accept what you are feeling and using it as a sort of fuel to direct your life in a certain direction for change.
3. There are times when you are dating, but don’t think even for a second that these people will understand you. The first couple of weeks its all great, but the warm fuzzy feeling in your chest goes away; That is unless you find someone who is truly on the same “HUSTLE” level as you, your relationships aren’t going anywhere. I suggest you keep dating but set your intentions straight from day 1.

These are a few lessons I’ve come to learn from my personal experience. If you are prepared to go through them, I look forward to seeing you at the top, if you aren’t prepared to go through this, you’re probably much saner than myself and will have a nice comfortable, yet in my opinion, unfulfilled life.

Being an entrepreneur isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle and you must be prepared to let it become a lifestyle otherwise real entrepreneurship just isn’t for you.