How to be an entrepreneur and not die

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Being passionate about what you do is cool as long as it doesn't turn into an obsession and consume you entirely. Learn how to find balance and remember that there are so many interesting things around.

When you work for hire and read the Facebook feed, where you are subscribed to a thousand and one entrepreneurs, it seems to you that there is nothing difficult about it. There are a million books, articles and case studies on how to and should not do your own business, but I managed to study them all so thoroughly that I made mistakes that no one had warned me about.

Mistake 1: everything by itself

When you launch your project, especially if there were no analogues to it yet, everything is complicated, incomprehensible and strange. The first few months are guaranteed to be out of your life, because the download will be unrealistic. Amazing challenges await you: you will lose money, make mistakes, do non-core work for yourself, hire people, communicate with journalists. In general, you will do many things on your own, because, firstly, you will not have time to acquire suitable employees yet, and secondly, no one knows your business better than you and will not do it right.

Solution: forced rest

When you have your own business, there are no days off. But rest is critical, so set aside hours and days for yourself when you're not doing work. At all.

Work calls, mail, messages, meetings should be banned if you communicate with family, friends, or do your hobbies.

The same approach must be cultivated in your employees: they must clearly know when you should not be bothered with work, and they themselves must be able to rest.

Mistake 2: always online

It seems to you that if you are not in touch, then everything will surely collapse. They call you at any time of the day or night, notifications pop up every 5 minutes in all messengers, and you jerk nervously at the sounds of your phone. In fact, you yourself gave the green light to access your mobile to everyone and did not set personal boundaries. That is why you are expected to have instant responses and access to your body 24 hours a day.

Solution: restricting access to the body

Everything will become much easier when you perform a series of simple actions with your phone.

Set an automatic daily sleep mode from 11:00 pm to 9:00 am, which only allows calls and messages from family to pass in case of emergency.

Disable notifications in all messengers: anyway, you check them every 10-15 minutes, and during this time the disaster will not have time to happen. And, by the way, nothing terrible will happen if you read the message in the messenger (the interlocutor will see it as read) and answer it not immediately, but after a couple of hours, when you finish your current affairs.

Mistake 3: everything to the project

When you do your business, you have everything in it. You talk only about him, think only about him, you try on any new topics for him. Even if you are in the cinema, you will not remember the film or it will be from the series: “Have you seen such a thing there? Count it up, do the same with us! With friends, family, random people, you will only talk about your project, without noticing it yourself. It's fire and cool, but for a very short time.

Solution: switch

If you go to a bar with friends, you are communicating with them, rather than thinking about work in your head. If you watch a movie, then you get into the essence, eat popcorn, discuss the plot, but do not answer in parallel to work letters. If you are traveling on vacation, you do not open corporate chats.

Yes, at first you will have to make an effort, but soon you will get used to it and will be stunned by how many interesting things are around.

Mistake 4: overestimate your capabilities

All people are different: someone knows how to work a lot and for a long time, someone needs frequent breaks, and someone acts on the principle of project work. Everyone has their own pace, their own habits, their own body capabilities and reserves. It often seems that if someone next to you works for wear and tear, then you should too, even if you can no longer. This is how entrepreneurs earn their first nervous breakdowns, insomnia and depression.

Solution: work at your own pace

Distribute the load evenly and take breaks from work when you feel that you are running out of reserves. This is not a weakness or incompetence, but a careful attitude to their resources. And, most importantly, never try to compare yourself with successful and super-effective entrepreneurs from Facebook: many of them are great Russian writers in words, but in reality you will never know the truth behind the letters on the Internet.

Mistake 5: strive for an unattainable ideal

It is very difficult to be perfect in everything. Doing your own business, playing sports regularly, paying attention to loved ones, leading an active social life, developing your hobbies, keeping abreast of all trends and events. Even if you sincerely try to keep up with everything, not allowing yourself weaknesses and compromises, you will not succeed, because it is physically impossible.

Solution: prioritize

If you feel that after a hard day's work you do not have the strength to train, then skip. If you want to spend a day off in bed watching TV shows and pizza, do it, even if you have a strict diet. It's okay to let yourself relax, especially if you're doing your own business. With such an activity, a day goes for three, you will need all your strength and resources in order to grow it. And only your own integrity, calmness and good rest will move you towards your goal more abruptly than trying to jump above your head.