I made a giant mistake and one of my worst fears came true. I appear to be emotionally numbing myself and I’m worried I’m going to explode at the most inopportune moment.
12 answers from the community
Will you and your startup survive ? Will another weak startup fail ?
I empathize. My startup's on really wobbly legs, and I caught myself becoming angry at my kids because that anger has nowhere else to go. It's tough to find a way to vent while buffing your startup armor.
If you didn't have kids a mistake wouldn't be so costly. So you are right to be angry at them.
Read the book "I Don't Want to Talk About It" by Terrence Real. He talks about covert depression and addiction. We founders and entrepreneurs could perhaps be characterized as addicts. Are we doing this to cover up our own internal feelings of worthlessness and shame?
It's typical business - The weak fail. Get stronger and smarter.
I certainly am. I feel like a loser and the only way that I can be viewed as successful by society is to start a successful company. I actually regret ever getting into this, since now my standards are so skewed that a normal life working a job seems like failure to me.
Had I never gotten the idea to be an entrepreneur then I wouldn't see anything wrong with a normal 9-5 job.
There are plenty of people who are "viewed as successful by society" without starting a successful company. Tim Cook didn't start Apple, Eric Schmidt didn't start Google, Jack Welch didn't start GE. It's great to be driven, but there are lots of ways to be considered successful. Try to relax, "get quiet" and think about what's really important to you and to your life. Might want to try keeping a journal too.
Some people are seen by society as successful merely by hitting the speaking circuit - Guy Kawasaki, Tim 4 Hour Ferris, Robert Kiyosaki
Never heard the word " passion ' in this thread.
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Make sure you spend some time at least weekly, preferably daily, alone. Just you and your thoughts. Go for a walk, sit in a cafe, put some headphones on, sit by a tree (It may sound corny, but some, including me, believe if you sit with your back against a tree, it will draw the negative energy out of you, up it's trunk and get rid of it via its branches). Then refocus and go again. It's tough. Good luck.
Understand 2 things:
1. We project onto others who we are within. Exude Calm & Focus on Depth.
2. Success can take off without warning. Success can come in a blink of an eye. What really matters is to not to worry about losing a few battles, and focusing on the Bigger picture with Hope and Passion.