It’s Time to Get Honest About Entrepreneurship…
I feel it’s time to get honest about the emotional toll of entrepreneurship.
As I pour my heart and soul into my business, I struggle emotionally all the time. I’m still in my first year, but I thought it would be a good moment to reflect on my experience in the most honest way I can.
Truth be told, I had no idea what I got myself into when I quit my job and started my own business. But you know what? Maybe that was a good thing because I probably wouldn’t have embarked on this journey had I known how challenging it would be emotionally.
I hear from some entrepreneurs that starting a business is similar to giving birth to a baby. It’s scary, life-transforming, beautiful, and all-consuming.
It is definitely one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had, but today I want to shed some light on entrepreneurship behind the scenes.
Entrepreneurship ain’t glamorous
Unlike what we see in the media, entrepreneurship is not glamorous. Far from it… because you cut back and dramatically simplify your lifestyle to get by. And you make so many sacrifices by saying no to many things you previously valued so that you carve out more time and energy for your venture. Material things became a lot less important to me because I am so immersed in this journey of giving value to others and growing my skills.
Entrepreneurship is all-consuming
I would have never been able to imagine how dominating this experience is in terms of my mental space. My business (my baby) is on my mind almost every waking moment and even at night I often catch myself figuring out challenges that I am facing. There is hardly ever any weekend where I can switch off fully. While I do many other things that don’t involve being in the office, thoughts about my business come and go and it’s very often in those moments that I have the best ideas. You will worry, and you will feel uncertain about anything in the future. I think this is probably one of the key drivers for the next point.
Entrepreneurship is a freaking emotional rollercoaster
Being an entrepreneur means that all the insecurities you’ve had about yourself will be accentuated every single day. You will be confident when you have your first wins and absolutely devastated when things go south. You have to pick yourself up and do it all over again, countless times. The fear of failure is haunting you and tries to get the best of you. You have to overcome not just outer resistance but even more so all of your inner demons that beg you to quit and take the easy route. Mental health as an entrepreneur is a real challenge that is not addressed enough. According to a recent study, entrepreneurs are significantly more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, drug addiction, and bipolar disorder.
You will feel like being pulled in all directions
Being my own boss is amazing! At the same time, it also means that I have to take dozens of small and big decisions every day without anyone to consult. On top of that, everyone will want to sell services to you that get you to 6- or 7-figures quicker. You will feel distracted and confused at times about all the conflicting advice that you see online, in books and courses. In the end, you will have to trust your own gut and just try things out yourself if you want to keep your sanity. External support is great, but it should not paralyze you. All the success stories come down to being persistent, showing up every day and keeping your course. but this is probably the hardest thing to do in such a noisy world.
Your business becomes your identity
This is especially true if you provide a service and you are a solo business owner. Every rejection of your product feels like a personal rejection. You have a hard time distancing yourself from the success or failure of your business. This also means that your identity and confidence become extremely volatile if you don’t manage to distance yourself from your business.
Entrepreneurship is incredibly lonely
As an entrepreneur, you will feel alone in this world. While you may have supportive friends and family, nobody has as much skin in the game as you do and therefore nobody can really empathize with what you are going through. This can feel extremely lonely at times. It definitely helps to build a network of fellow entrepreneurs to fill the emotional void of connection. For me, masterminds and peer relationships have been instrumental in getting over challenges.
Entrepreneurship is super rewarding and much better than an MBA
Entrepreneurship is a battle. You will struggle a lot. But this also means that you will feel meaning and purpose in what you do. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Entrepreneurship is the fastest way to develop your skills and grow as a person. You are out of your comfort zone every day (if you are doing it right) and are becoming a better version of yourself. You are also the most creative you will ever be. I’ve done an MBA and while it was a very valuable experience that prepared me for this journey, it does not even come close to the incredible real-life learning that entrepreneurship provides.
Don’t get me wrong… I am not writing to discourage anyone from making the jump. I am just writing about it to shed some light on the real experience. More and more entrepreneurs have come out recently to share their emotional battles and I believe that a lot of pain could be mitigated if we were more honest about what entrepreneurship is and isn’t. It also really helps to know that you are not alone in finding entrepreneurship soul-crushing at times.
I will leave you with a quote:
“First and foremost, a start-up puts you on an emotional rollercoaster unlike anything you have ever experienced. You flip rapidly from day-to-day — one where you are euphorically convinced you are going to own the world, to a day in which doom seems only weeks away and you feel completely ruined, and back again. Over and over and over. And I’m talking about what happens to stable entrepreneurs. There is so much uncertainty and so much risk around practically everything you are doing. The level of stress that you’re under generally will magnify things incredible highs and unbelievable lows at whiplash speed and huge magnitude. Sound like fun?”
Marc Andreessen — Netscape, A16Z
I am curious about what your experiences have been with entrepreneurship. Does any of this resonate with you? Leave me a comment below.
