How to keep the startup founder's peace of mind

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

Depression, stress, and other mental issues are not uncommon in the unpredictable startup world. We are publishing a translation of an article about this issue from the founder of the 500px community, Evgeny Chebotarev.

Mental health is a fairly new topic both for society and for me personally.

Born in the Soviet Union in the 80s is about the same as being born in the United States in the 60s. The attitude towards people faced with mental problems is the same: it is easy to fire them, not pay attention to them, call them “psychos” (and this is where the conversation usually ends).

Throughout my, admittedly, limited experience, I have come across mentally unhealthy people in my circle of friends, in my family and in a professional environment - the disease knows no boundaries and affects people who, you think, are invulnerable.

Even today, when so much has been written about depression and other mental issues, when their importance is generally recognized, such people receive a polite nod with the words, “I understand,” or worse, they will be silenced by those who has a different opinion on this matter.

Obviously, there is a huge misunderstanding, even though the problem affects many people. This, of course, also applies to people in tech and startups - perhaps even more often than others. For example, we tend to spend a lot of time with our computers and at times begin to feel lonely, even in a room full of people.

As an entrepreneur and founder of a company, I know firsthand what depression is (unfortunately, I could not immediately recognize it), isolation and psychological stress associated with being in the shaky and uncertain world of startups.

Several articles and books I've read talked about the controversial nature of founders: when everything inside falls apart, they have to demonstrate success and happiness - in short, behave in a style of "imitate until you succeed."

In terms of failures, they are not out of the ordinary in Silicon Valley, but the stress of “do it” still weighs on startup founders. You can say whatever you want about failure, but your mom, your friends, and your investors still want you to be successful and make it clear - sometimes unconsciously - with your words or actions.

It never really bothered me: everyone will tell you that everything is okay if you ask him about it on the street. It is an integral part of Western culture (but in fact not the norm for a person born in the Soviet Union).

Most of the pressure was exerted on me by an internal struggle. As a founder, I have kept asking myself many questions over the years.

1. Am I doing my best?
2. Can I grow faster than my company?
3. How can I help my team and the people around me become better?
4. How can I learn to be content with what I have and stop being jealous?
5. Am I complementing or inhibiting my team's growth?
6. What I am doing is actually making a difference?

The list of questions goes on and on. Everything happens in my head, and the answers range from a firm, enthusiastic "yes" to a depressing "no" depending on the time of day. This type of battle is the worst because you are fighting with yourself and not with someone else. It's damn hard to beat someone who sees right through you and knows all your weak points (which are in abundance).

But the worst part is that we have almost no chance of winning this battle. The only way to win, I think, is to learn to live with these issues, be at peace with this part of your personality, understand your feelings and emotions, and find friends to support each other.

I found that in achieving inner harmony a few things can help:

• friends;
• meditation or just rhythmic breathing with closed eyes;
• yoga and exercise;
• competitive games such as ping pong, squash, or bouncers;
• long walks alone or with friends.

But from what you need to get rid of:

• endless swipe to Tinder;
• checking Twitter, Facebook and other social networks every hour;
• Reading unimportant news (that is, news about something happening too far away, or gossip about celebrities) and watching annoying YouTube videos;
• waiting for likes on Instagram, Facebook and other social networks;
• talking to people who make you angry or upset.