Entrepreneurship Anxiety

[MetalGear]

I was taking a walk today thinking about this thread and my own entrepreneurship related anxiety and I remembered something a martial arts teacher taught me once.

"Don't try harder, try softer and be economical with your movement".

The biggest challenge for me is just not knowing how long sometime is supposed to take or where something can go wrong.

It'll take me a couple of years to become an overnight success.

MG

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

In a lot of respects, entrepreneurship is like performance art.

You create something, put it on a stage, and the audience either claps, boos, or does something in between.

In effect, a piece of you is exposed.

So yes, a level of anxiety comes with the territory, unless you're like @AndrewNC who apparently is now a Shaolin monk.

 

[Scot]

I've been trying out a lot of what was suggested here. Like today, I set three goals, small ones.

I've already gotten two done, about to do the third, so far it's kept me in check.

It doesn't mean I'm still not chomping at the bit with this damn copacker though.

 

[JokerCrazyBeatz]

@Scot THANK YOU FOR THIS THREAD !!!!!! I've been going through the same things . Last year I developed my Fastlane mindset . And this year I've been focused on building my business . Taking on my first true leadership roles and working to leave my 9-5 . And out of the blue (and possibly because I was smoking a lot of weed while everything was comming together haha) . I ended up with crazyyyyyy anxiety and I never had any of it b4 . This thread is gold in my book ! I appreciate all of you for your posts !

 

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[PedroG]

I've been dealing with anxiety for about a year. I'm now dealing with jaw problems (TMJ) as a result of clenching. It sucks.

The sense of urgency I've been feeling lately about accomplishing my goals has really helped me focus on what I need to accomplish, but I've taken it too far I think and it's having a negative effect on me. I keep thinking I'm running out of time, and I beat myself up for some of the time I wasted in the last couple of years.

Last year I felt so discouraged about marketing my latest project that I basically gave up and thought I wanted to finish my master's degree (I did about half of it many years ago) and re-enrolled in the university, since my employer was gonna pay for it.

I then left a comfortable job that gave me some downtime to work on my projects, and went to some work at a company with a "startup" culture including working in an open space where everyone can see your monitor. Working in that open space caused me a lot of stress and I believe this is where my jaw clenching problems began.

8 months later I quit and went back to my old job. I've been back about 8 months now. That project that I was discouraged about, I now think has the potential of being my first success! And I just keep thinking about all that time that I wasted. I've now been focusing on learning as much about marketing as possible. And said "F*ck you" to the master's degree. My time is too valuable for that.

A year ago I had no ideas and a failed project, and now I really do believe that that same failed project has huge potential, and I have so many other ideas for other projects, and not enough time.

The fact that I turned 35 this month doesn't help either. I think it was Jack Ma that said if you're 35 and not rich you suck, or something to that effect lol.

I'm trying to take it easy on myself. I've also been busy at work which means I haven't had as much time to work on my side project during work hours, which is frustrating.

I tried going to bed early and waking up at 5am to work on my project before work and I really loved it! Except sometimes I have trouble sleeping so I haven't been able to keep that up lately.

 

[JAJT]

Despite my super easy going, fun-loving nature I get stressed and anxious all the time.

For me, anxiety and stress comes from the build-up towards something - usually something that's against my nature, or something that's hard, or something that I don't know the answer to yet. This IMMEDIATELY disappears once I start doing it, looking into it, or taking SOME form of action. So for me stress and anxiety management is about pushing myself to get to that first step.

I totally agree with the video posted above with Bezos. Action (for me) is the solution to stress and anxiety. It's a trigger that 'something' that isn't getting done needs doing. Taking any form of action towards it solves that problem.

 

[PedroG]

This is the EFT technique that @AndrewNC mentioned. I tried it yesterday when I got home and was very anxious, and it did help. I'm going to continue to experiment with this. From what I've read it can be used to neutralize any negative emotion, not just anxiety.

 

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[Chazmania]

I had just quit my job after years of 'playing business.' [Seriously, check out some of my 'progress threads' a few years back. Pathetic BS.]

I quit February 1st in a stroke of motivation because I thought I had 'solid' clients to last me a few months. By Feb. 10th, my biggest clients was gone and another dropped off the face of the earth and never paid me (many, many months later the owner finally forked over the money).

I felt a bit dizzy. I laid down on our queen size bed and stared at the ceiling fan.

"I can't do this. Why did I quit my job? We have $60,000 in debt + a $160,000 mortgage to pay....who does this shit?" I had even started looking for some part-time jobs. ​

My wife, a woman who is not a natural risk-taker, walks in with our 11 month old. I tell her my worries.

Normally, my wife would freak out alongside me. Not this time. She encouraged me I'd find a way. (Not sure if it was a "or else" statement or not...doesn't matter)...

For months, I toiled. Picking up bare bone clients I didn't enjoy just to scrape by. It wasn't until December I saw a sudden surge in work. $30k in one month.

Since then I've surpassed what I made in my day job in just a few months of 2017.
----------------
Entrepreneurial anxiety?

You'll have it every flippin' day, no matter how much you make. You don't think Jeff Bezos isn't anxious about where Amazon's going? Steve Jobs was anxious everyday of his life.

When you're chasing something worthwhile, you get anxious. You get angry. You lose contact with friends, family, Friday nights. Even when you land a big sale or client that covers your expenses for 6 months...you have a high-moment, then you get right back to being anxious when it doesn't happen again for another day, week or month. ​

How do you solve it?

Embrace it. Every day I read my goals. One of them?

"Embrace my fear of failure. I look forward to objections in the sale so I can prove my value again." Embrace being anxious, notice it, instead of running from it, you run towards it.

That's growth.

Anyone saying you can "get rid of fear or anxiety" is lying to you. We're humans. We fix one problem, there's always another. Embrace it.

Once you get one success, it's proof you can do it. Think of anxiety as the bridge from one big score to the next.

Killer post - you nailed it.

 

[Chazmania]

Despite my super easy going, fun-loving nature I get stressed and anxious all the time.

For me, anxiety and stress comes from the build-up towards something - usually something that's against my nature, or something that's hard, or something that I don't know the answer to yet. This IMMEDIATELY disappears once I start doing it, looking into it, or taking SOME form of action. So for me stress and anxiety management is about pushing myself to get to that first step.

I totally agree with the video posted above with Bezos. Action (for me) is the solution to stress and anxiety. It's a trigger that 'something' that isn't getting done needs doing. Taking any form of action towards it solves that problem.

Yeah I've noticed this too. I've been in situations that were almost unbearable until I got into it and got something done. Sometimes it just takes 'making a dent' in a project to ease the stress.

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

This is the EFT technique that @AndrewNC mentioned. I tried it yesterday when I got home and was very anxious, and it did help. I'm going to continue to experiment with this. From what I've read it can be used to neutralize any negative emotion, not just anxiety.

Oh dear god... please make it stop

 

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[GMSI7D]

Does this game we play called entrepreneurship cause anxiety for you?

I hope I'm not alone here.

Lately I've been dealing with this tap dancing squirrel living in my chest since I started my current project. I'll start off by saying, I have never experienced anxiety issues before in my life. No anxiety attacks, no panics, nada.

When I'm not actively working on my business. Tap tap tap. The tightness starts and I get anxious. I have to do something.
It only happens when I'm not working.

I know working for the sake of doing work is not productive or efficient. And there are times when there's nothing to be done. But I still feel like I NEED to be doing something.

So, am I alone in this? What do you guys do to mitigate this anxiety?

according to the pareto principle, only 20 % of problem are real problems

the remaining 80 % are not that big


your thinking about them make them bigger than they are .

you should grab this book and read key points at least once a month because we tend to forget quickly

 

[MetalGear]

according to the pareto principle, only 20 % of problem are real problems

the remaining 80 % are not that big


your thinking about them make them bigger than they are .

you should grab this book and read key points at least once a month because we tend to forget quickly

View attachment 15041

That is a great book! I haven't read it in a while but it has some great insights.

 

[Philip Marlowe]

@Scot Your comment about wondering when you'll do this or learn that might be helped by a book called 'The ONE Thing' by Gary Keller (of Keller-Williams Realty).

I used to get overwhelmed with next steps and to-do/to-learn lists. The book helped me lay it all out and focus on that one thing that if completed would move me closer to my goals (instead of getting paralyzed and spinning my wheels). There's a lot more to it than that and luckily most days I accomplish more than one thing, but it helped a lot - especially on those tough low-willpower days - to literally accomplish at least one critical task.

I realize that's not a panacea and may not exactly be your issue, but it's a good read and Keller is worth over $100M so I doubt he wrote it to make a buck.

 

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[fastbo]

Does this game we play called entrepreneurship cause anxiety for you?


When I'm not actively working on my business. Tap tap tap. The tightness starts and I get anxious. I have to do something.
It only happens when I'm not working.

You should pick up meditating or other calming activities. When you say to yourself "I get anxious" ask yourself "What are you anxious about?" Most people who say they're anxious, worried, stressed, as a "thing" happening to them really need to figure out what they're anxious, worried, and stressed about. There's always a reason, you may just not fully be aware of it. By being more aware of your thoughts and analyzing them, you'll figure out why.

Taking a blind stab at it, maybe you're worried of failing or not being able to provide, so you feel if you're not constantly busy, then you're wasting opportunity.

Entrepreneurship gets easier with time, just like any skill. Most people are frightened to death when they start out, because most of entrepreneurship is figuring out for yourself what to do. Freedom = no rules or structure at first.

 

[Scot]

@Scot Your comment about wondering when you'll do this or learn that might be helped by a book called 'The ONE Thing' by Gary Keller (of Keller-Williams Realty).

I used to get overwhelmed with next steps and to-do/to-learn lists. The book helped me lay it all out and focus on that one thing that if completed would move me closer to my goals (instead of getting paralyzed and spinning my wheels). There's a lot more to it than that and luckily most days I accomplish more than one thing, but it helped a lot - especially on those tough low-willpower days - to literally accomplish at least one critical task.

I realize that's not a panacea and may not exactly be your issue, but it's a good read and Keller is worth over $100M so I doubt he wrote it to make a buck.

Thanks, I'll check that one out.

You should pick up meditating or other calming activities. When you say to yourself "I get anxious" ask yourself "What are you anxious about?" Most people who say they're anxious, worried, stressed, as a "thing" happening to them really need to figure out what they're anxious, worried, and stressed about. There's always a reason, you may just not fully be aware of it. By being more aware of your thoughts and analyzing them, you'll figure out why.

Taking a blind stab at it, maybe you're worried of failing or not being able to provide, so you feel if you're not constantly busy, then you're wasting opportunity.

Entrepreneurship gets easier with time, just like any skill. Most people are frightened to death when they start out, because most of entrepreneurship is figuring out for yourself what to do. Freedom = no rules or structure at first.

For me, I can pinpoint exactly where the anxiety is coming from. It's from wanting to do something right now, but having to wait. Meditating won't make my copacker work any faster haha

 

[Get Right]

When you're chasing something worthwhile, you get anxious. You get angry. You lose contact with friends, family, Friday nights. Even when you land a big sale or client that covers your expenses for 6 months...you have a high-moment, then you get right back to being anxious when it doesn't happen again for another day, week or month.

This is a fantastic write up of exactly where I am now, thanks! This is a new emotional sequence for me and I was having a hard time defining it.

 

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[Leo Hendrix]

Does this game we play called entrepreneurship cause anxiety for you?

I hope I'm not alone here.

Lately I've been dealing with this tap dancing squirrel living in my chest since I started my current project. I'll start off by saying, I have never experienced anxiety issues before in my life. No anxiety attacks, no panics, nada.

When I'm not actively working on my business. Tap tap tap. The tightness starts and I get anxious. I have to do something.
It only happens when I'm not working.

I know working for the sake of doing work is not productive or efficient. And there are times when there's nothing to be done. But I still feel like I NEED to be doing something.

So, am I alone in this? What do you guys do to mitigate this anxiety?

hmm, I've been reading The New Psychocybernetics when I have a few spare minutes, and I can recall a quote Maxwell Maltz used from another author: 'All Emotion is excitement'... I forgot what else he wrote about or who the other Author but I think he said something about how we feel that emotion depends on our perspective or framing.

Anyway, I think you can still use this anxiety positively by directing it towards the goals you still have to achieve. I guess you have to come up with another system to direct that anxiety productively, I definitely have felt this and cannot seem to stop doing something or rather or thinking while waiting.

I guess for myself I will take up on what others on this thread have mentioned and what I have read in Awaken the Giant Within and The New Psycho Cybernetics, set goals then have my Success Auto-Servo Mechanism, use all my energy and thoughts etc to find ways to achieve them.

Although I am wary of setting goals that could serve as a limiting factor, so maybe set goals as milestones in achieving your vision rather then plateaus.

I've been implementing the system of writing down everything I need to do, as well as keeping index cards with different subject matter on them. My plan is to keep the index cards for now as a personal tracking system for productivity and planning, later on use evernote or something to keep everything online on the cloud somewhere for handy reference anytime I might need them.

I also wrote up a bunch of stuff, quotes and the problem solving mindset onto some index cards then used blu-tac and stuck them up on my wall in front of my desk for easy reference everyday.

As I ramp up with work stuff then I should write more things regarding my operations and systems I will implement and processes, write them down first then later upload,type them up.

 

[MetalGear]

• Recent evidence indicates that not only is our brain “aware” of our gut microbes, but these bacteria can influence our perception of the world and alter our behavior. It is becoming clear that the influence of our microbiota reaches far beyond the gut to affect an aspect of our biology few would have predicted—our mind.
  • Gut Feelings–the "Second Brain" in Our Gastrointestinal Systems [Excerpt]
• For example, the gut microbiota influences the body’s level of the potent neurotransmitter serotonin, which regulates feelings of happiness. Some of the most prescribed drugs in the U.S. for treating anxiety and depression, like Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil, work by modulating levels of serotonin. And serotonin is likely just one of a numerous biochemical messengers dictating our mood and behavior that the microbiota impacts.
  • Gut Feelings–the "Second Brain" in Our Gastrointestinal Systems [Excerpt]
• I am doing more things to take care of my health such as avoiding inflammatory foods and increasing my intake of food with probiotics - sauerkraut, yogurt, kombucha, and kimchi

"...We often talk about a “gut feeling” when we meet someone for the first time. We’re told to “trust our gut instinct” when making a difficult decision or that it’s “gut check time” when faced with a situation that tests our nerve and determination. This mind-gut connection is not just metaphorical. Our brain and gut are connected by an extensive network of neurons and a highway of chemicals and hormones that constantly provide feedback about how hungry we are, whether or not we’re experiencing stress, or if we’ve ingested a disease-causing microbe. - Gut Feelings–the "Second Brain" in Our Gastrointestinal Systems [Excerpt]

"With an astonishing 100 million neurons—more than in the spinal cord but a lot fewer than in the brain—arrayed over an intricately folded surface area more than a hundred times greater than that of your skin, he has found, the ENS can work all on its own, without any input from the brain, to control the movement and absorption of food throughout the intestines. No other organ can call its own tune without the baton of that conductor who stands on the pedestal above the neck." - Your Backup Brain

More References:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/healthy_aging/healthy_body/the-brain-gut-connection
A Second Brain: How microbes in your gut may affect your body and mind - Science in the News
Stress and the sensitive gut - Harvard Health
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/magazine/can-the-bacteria-in-your-gut-explain-your-mood.html?_r=0
Think Twice: How the Gut's "Second Brain" Influences Mood and Well-Being
The Second Brain In Your Gut - The Connection

 

[kytro360]

I saw a TED Talk that said to reframe it in your brain as "excitement" and not anxiety. Imma be honest... that shit don't work lol.

 

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[pds]

@Scot I'm glad you made this thread because this is something I encounter occasionally. The Bezos video resonated with me. I think a lot of my stress/anxiety comes from lack of progress. If its something that's in my control and I'm not doing anything about it, I get stressed out. Most likely I'm procrastinating on the main task that will move the ball forward either due to fear or some other limiting belief. Once I tackle it head on, it helps to make it go away. Taking action usually solves that problem for me. And the more action I take, the more momentum I build. When I lack focus, the stress usually creeps back in.

In your example w/ the copacker, that is out of your control, so you shouldn't be stressed out. Waiting around on others sucks especially when you're excited about getting things moving along. Is there something else that you could be doing to move the ball forward while you wait on the copacker? Maybe you could start building a list? Get a head start on marketing so that when you eventually launch you have customers ready to buy.

 

[luniac]

from my personal experience, an effective way to control chronic anxiety is to generate acute stress.
Ex. Cold Shower, Workout, Intense Jump Rope, Critical Thinking Challenge, Being Creepy in Public(lol)

My theory is doing these kinds of activities everyday will create a "baseline" in your brain which will give you a sense of perspective of what's really worth stressing over in life(not much)

Case in point, the moments before i step into a freezing cold shower butt naked, the only thing im stressed about is the freezing cold shower.
When i'm in that freezing cold shower, all im thinking about is the freezing cold shower.
When i step out of that shower I'm the goddamn batman.

You don't need antidepressants if you have running water.

 

[Scot]

@Scot I'm glad you made this thread because this is something I encounter occasionally. The Bezos video resonated with me. I think a lot of my stress/anxiety comes from lack of progress. If its something that's in my control and I'm not doing anything about it, I get stressed out. Most likely I'm procrastinating on the main task that will move the ball forward either due to fear or some other limiting belief. Once I tackle it head on, it helps to make it go away. Taking action usually solves that problem for me. And the more action I take, the more momentum I build. When I lack focus, the stress usually creeps back in.

In your example w/ the copacker, that is out of your control, so you shouldn't be stressed out. Waiting around on others sucks especially when you're excited about getting things moving along. Is there something else that you could be doing to move the ball forward while you wait on the copacker? Maybe you could start building a list? Get a head start on marketing so that when you eventually launch you have customers ready to buy.

That's what I've done. I've started making small lists of goals I can accomplish while I wait. It's also led time to get a lot of other things accomplished so that when my product gets produced, I'm over prepared for launch.

 

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