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Entrepreneurship Anxiety

Scot

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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?
 
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V8Bill

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I call it The Flop. I've studied and lectured on it for years. It's very common. Here's a scenario. Not saying it's you - but it's pretty common among successful entrepreneurs.

"You've" achieved financial freedom (or at least you don't have to go and work as a demeaned slave for money) and now you're at wealth (by my definition anyway) you're a bit unsure what's next or what to do. It's like flopping down onto the lounge after doing all your chores. You sit until something exciting to do occurs to you and you jump up off the lounge to go and do that thing. I think the solution is to focus on your hobbies and passions because they're the reason you wanted wealth in the first place - right? So you could be free to do what you want. Well, now you can.

I define a hobby as something you really like to do (generally) by yourself, for yourself and it makes you smile (think small, personal such as fishing, hot rods/cars, gardening, walking, travelling, exercising, writing...etc).

I define a passion as something you do (generally) with other people, for other people and isn't always a pleasure (family, community, church, helping unfortunate people, growing a new business...etc).

There's overlap of course but when I found myself on "The Flop" it eventually dawned on me that all I can do in my new spare, free life would fall into one of those two categories. Once I'd discovered that truth I knew I only had two choices each day.

You may have either arrived at wealth (not sure what to do next) or you're still on your journey to wealth in which case there's obvious things to do. I say, go out and start enjoying your hobbies and passions. That should go some way towards relieving your anxiety.

Often people think that wealth is the end, the destination, the ultimate goal. I know that it's just the start.

HTH.
 
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MetalGear

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Scot, you are not alone. Very important to keep doing PT and do other normal things.

Here is an excellent thread on anxiety: O/T: Health - Beating/ Managing Anxiety

I am experiencing a bit of this for several reasons and want to share what helped me.
  • Anxiety trigger: I feel like I need to know everything.
    • I will never know everything, so I ask people on the forum or my contacts.
  • Anxiety trigger: I feel like I need to do everything now and don't live in the present moment
    • I tend to over-schedule and set too many goals and I am working on eliminating things from my life on a constant basis
      • Focus on the top 5 things I want to do - "Hell yeah or hell no"
    • We are limited by time and space so I am becoming more processes oriented as they say on the forum
    • Set goals for the week/month/year and then as you check them off - let go of the need to do or think of more when it is time to sleep
    • Setting goals can be tricky for a new entrepreneur or new venture since we don't have the experience - time, money, manpower estimates
    • Reward yourself by sleeping sweetly knowing you valiantly fought and accomplished x,y,z goal for the day
  • Get enough sleep
    • No reading or analyzing anything in bed
    • I saw a sleep specialist and he told me that your bed should only be for sleep and sex
    • We tend to associate a physical place with mental thoughts and memories so have a set time and place to do your work and thinking
    • Otherwise it is like the equivalent of having a birthday party at a funeral home - sure you can do it, but don't.
  • Your mind, body, and spirit are interconnected
    • Feed and maintain all three
    • Have rituals every day to ramp yourself up and ramp yourself down
    • Meditate/pray when you wake up and before you sleep - this is not necessarily a religious practice, take it or leave it
    • Insight Timer is a free meditation app that has helped me - I use it with headphones
    • Excercise - 30 minutes to one hour of exercise every day makes a big difference in your physiology

I hope this helps,
MG

PS, I have a ton of respect for everyone pushing forward. "Through adversity, to the stars".
 

Dsilvar89

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Accept it ! Not a Belief, but as Inner Acceptance.

I feel Anxious, and I'm Okay with it !

When you resist what is happening you cause yourself suffering !

All Negative emotions are mind generated, when you want the future more than the present.

Remember: This too shall pass
 
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AndrewNC

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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?

Why mitigate it when you can get rid of it completely? Shoot me a PM if you'd like help.
 

Locomote

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I get the same thing, sometimes multiple times a day. I think its good (obviously too much it not good) it means your pushing outside the comfort zone. For me it comes from waiting on other people to produce something or to get back to me.

1. Cutting out coffee was a major help, it didn't stop the anxiety but really helped reduce it.

I find when I run and re-run through different possible ideas/out comes/scenarios my mind it ends up like a run away train.

2. Writing down each idea or scenario on paper removes it from my mind and gives me something to reference when I start to feel anxious about that same item again.

And when all else fails...

3. Fresh air and exercise.

I hope this helps!
 

sparechange

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Anxiety is slightly related to diet FYI , aswell as mood etc an example you can try yourself, eat lots of healthy food cut sugar etc and see how you feel!! Next day pig out on chocalte , chips candies and pop drinks etc you will feel like a peice if crap
 
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G

GuestUser450

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@Scot Might be helpful to ask: Are you anxious about fundamentals or methods?

We know methods like marketing never end, but we want instant feedback even when things take time - that's just being impatient.

Fundamentals can always be practiced, but if you're trying to optimize something that's sound...maybe you're asking more from it than you should. Not everything can scale to the moon?
 
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SquatchMan

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This video is great and is so true.

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?

My method is to write everything I need to do for the day in a notebook.

Do the hard things first.
Do the easy things last.
Then cross out the things as I finish them. It feels good.

Easy work first gives me anxiety because I have that feeling that I am only doing easy work to avoid hard work.

In your case, it sounds like your subconscious mind is telling you that you are procrastinating, which is stressing you out. Are there really times when there is no work to be done?
 

Scot

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I call it The Flop. I've studied and lectured on it for years. It's very common. Here's a scenario. Not saying it's you - but it's pretty common among successful entrepreneurs.

"You've" achieved financial freedom (or at least you don't have to go and work as a demeaned slave for money) and now you're at wealth (by my definition anyway) you're a bit unsure what's next or what to do. It's like flopping down onto the lounge after doing all your chores. You sit until something exciting to do occurs to you and you jump up off the lounge to go and do that thing. I think the solution is to focus on your hobbies and passions because they're the reason you wanted wealth in the first place - right? So you could be free to do what you want. Well, now you can.

I define a hobby as something you really like to do (generally) by yourself, for yourself and it makes you smile (think small, personal such as fishing, hot rods/cars, gardening, walking, travelling, exercising, writing...etc). I define a passion as something you do (generally) with other people, for other people and isn't always a pleasure (family, community, church, helping unfortunate people, growing a new business...etc). There's overlap of course but when I found myself on "The Flop" it eventually dawned on me that all I can do in my new spare, free life would fall into one of those two categories. Once I'd discovered that truth I knew I only had two choices each day.

You may have either arrived at wealth (not sure what to do next) or you're still on your journey to wealth in which case there's obvious things to do. I say, go out and start enjoying your hobbies and passions. That should go some way towards relieving your anxiety. Often people think that wealth is the end, the destination, the ultimate goal. I know that it's just the start.

HTH.


I'm not quite sure this is me. Its not so much about enjoying hobbies or not. And I definitely havent gotten to the wealthy part.


Scot, you are not alone. Very important to keep doing PT and do other normal things.

Here is an excellent thread on anxiety: O/T: Health - Beating/ Managing Anxiety

I am experiencing a bit of this for several reasons and want to share what helped me.
  • Anxiety trigger: I feel like I need to know everything.
    • I will never know everything, so I ask people on the forum or my contacts.
  • Anxiety trigger: I feel like I need to do everything now and don't live in the present moment
    • I tend to over-schedule and set too many goals and I am working on eliminating things from my life on a constant basis
      • Focus on the top 5 things I want to do - "Hell yeah or hell no"
    • We are limited by time and space so I am becoming more processes oriented as they say on the forum
    • Set goals for the week/month/year and then as you check them off - let go of the need to do or think of more when it is time to sleep
    • Setting goals can be tricky for a new entrepreneur or new venture since we don't have the experience - time, money, manpower estimates
    • Reward yourself by sleeping sweetly knowing you valiantly fought and accomplished x,y,z goal for the day
  • Get enough sleep
    • No reading or analyzing anything in bed
    • I saw a sleep specialist and he told me that your bed should only be for sleep and sex
    • We tend to associate a physical place with mental thoughts and memories so have a set time and place to do your work and thinking
    • Otherwise it is like the equivalent of having a birthday party at a funeral home - sure you can do it, but don't.
  • Your mind, body, and spirit are interconnected
    • Feed and maintain all three
    • Have rituals every day to ramp yourself up and ramp yourself down
    • Meditate/pray when you wake up and before you sleep - this is not necessarily a religious practice, take it or leave it
    • Insight Timer is a free meditation app that has helped me - I use it with headphones
    • Excercise - 30 minutes to one hour of exercise every day makes a big difference in your physiology

I hope this helps,
MG

PS, I have a ton of respect for everyone pushing forward. "Through adversity, to the stars".

This pretty much sums up my anxiety. Its sitting there knowing my copacker will get back to me about a particular ingredient they need to source, knowing I cannot speed up the process. But I feel like something needs to be actively happening.

Or its knowing I don't know how to do Adwords and I'll need to know it eventually, so my brain starts racing on what resources to tap into.

But I think I need to start setting goals so I have a clear picture of what I'm working on and when they're taken care of, I can rest.

Why mitigate it when you can get rid of it completely? Shoot me a PM if you'd like help.

Its not so much wanting to get rid of it. Honestly, I don't want to 100% get rid of it because the anxiety keeps me on task. The anxiety only pops up when nothings being done. When the anxiety gets me is when I'm not doing anything, but there's either nothing to be done or there's no way I can do it.
 
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Scot

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I get the same thing, sometimes multiple times a day. I think its good (obviously too much it not good) it means your pushing outside the comfort zone. For me it comes from waiting on other people to produce something or to get back to me.

1. Cutting out coffee was a major help, it didn't stop the anxiety but really helped reduce it.

I stopped reading after you spoke sacrilege.

All kidding aside, my diet has been crap lately, Im sure this doesnt help.
 

Dwight Schrute

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Had my first panic attack in my late teens.

Without going into details...

Something in my life was waaayyyy off.
But Stoner-Schrute just rode along with it without much thought.

But once you become sober....
And silent....
Your body and your mind speak to you.

And when somethings off,
that's the time when your gut knocks onto your heart and asks
"Dude! Are you really sure about that??"

So I don't know if you're in such a situation, but maybe you wanna step
back a little and look at the big picture from a helicopter perspective.

Could be your copacker. Does his moral compass point in the same direction as yours?
Could be your entire project. Does it have a Fastlane destination?
Could be anything.

Good luck.
 

MidwestLandlord

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Honestly, I don't want to 100% get rid of it because the anxiety keeps me on task. The anxiety only pops up when nothings being done. When the anxiety gets me is when I'm not doing anything, but there's either nothing to be done or there's no way I can do it.

This describes me for sure.

It's the "hurry up and wait" that gets me. When things are moving along, stuff is happening, I've got lots to manage and follow-up on...I'm good.

When I have to wait for someone or something though, yeah, I stress out. It's anxiety for sure. But with me it tends to come out as anger haha.

You've read Unscripted , no?

The part in the book about feedback loops has helped me tremendously. (Chapter 29, page 210)

Knowing that at some point I will get feedback on what I am doing calms me down. Even if it's bad feedback eventually.

So when I have to wait on something, I'm stuck in that "silence" and have no feedback loop going. It sucks for sure...but it is temporary (I'm saying that to myself as much as I am saying it to you haha)

It's the incongruence between the passion you feel for the project and the lack of feedback.
 
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MetalGear

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From a physiological stand point, anxiety is the same thing as excitement. Except it is in a mentally negative and unhelpful direction.

source: You’re Excited, Not Nervous. You Just Keep Telling Yourself That.

You’re Excited, Not Nervous. You Just Keep Telling Yourself That.
By Melissa Dahl

When you are nervous, people like to tell you to calm down, despite the fact that telling someone to calm down rarely, if ever, results in anyone actually calming down. Anyway, as Olga Khazan notes today in the Atlantic, the research shows that we are likely getting this backward — instead of attempting to tamp down your nerves, it may be better to keep them revved up. The trick, it seems, is to change the way you conceptualize the feeling.

It’s called “anxiety reappraisal,” and it’s something Harvard Business School psychologist Alison Wood Brooks found evidence for in a series of experiments, in which she made her study volunteers do all manner of terrifying things: public speaking, karaoke, math. In each of these trials, she found that when the participants reframed their jitters as excitement, and not anxiety, their performance improved.

And yet that tiny switch in mindset didn’t technically make her volunteers any less anxious, if you judged them by their physiological responses. Their hearts still beat with a frequency that signified arousal, meaning that their brains and bodies remained on high alert. And this may help explain why this little trick works: Both feelings “are aroused emotions,” Khazan writes. “In both, the heart beats faster, cortisol surges, and the body prepares for action.” In other words, anxiety and excitement are not so different on a physiological level, which may be why it’s easier to switch from one to the other than it is to switch from either high arousal state to the comparatively lower arousal state of calmness.

Likewise, both emotions suggest that some kind of uncertainty lies ahead. It’s just that excitement suggests that this potentially uncertain future is something to look forward to, whereas anxiety suggests it’s something to be feared. Brooks uses the terms “opportunity mindset” and “threat mindset,” with the former linked to excitement and the latter linked to anxiety.

You could even take the so-called opportunity mindset idea one step further, by telling yourself that you need that nervous energy to keep you on your toes during a stressful task. In a 2013 study, for example, a trio of psychologists freaked out their study volunteers by making them prepare and deliver an impromptu speech about themselves. They told about half of the participants that, yes, they’d probably feel nervous before they spoke — but to remember that their sweaty palms and racing hearts were signs that their bodies were prepping for action. The other group got no such message, and, in the end, those who were told about the upside of their nerves were less distracted by them.

So! Repeat after me: You’re not nervous; you’re excited. You’re not nervous; you’re excited. You just keep telling yourself that until it works. I’m excited for you!
 

Scot

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This describes me for sure.

It's the "hurry up and wait" that gets me. When things are moving along, stuff is happening, I've got lots to manage and follow-up on...I'm good.

When I have to wait for someone or something though, yeah, I stress out. It's anxiety for sure. But with me it tends to come out as anger haha.

You've read Unscripted , no?

The part in the book about feedback loops has helped me tremendously. (Chapter 29, page 210)

Knowing that at some point I will get feedback on what I am doing calms me down. Even if it's bad feedback eventually.

So when I have to wait on something, I'm stuck in that "silence" and have no feedback loop going. It sucks for sure...but it is temporary (I'm saying that to myself as much as I am saying it to you haha)

It's the incongruence between the passion you feel for the project and the lack of feedback.


I'll have to revisit that chapter. Thanks for that.

I completely agree with that, it's knowing something will happen, but I want it to happen now.


From a physiological stand point, anxiety is the same thing as excitement. Except it is in a mentally negative and unhelpful direction.

source: You’re Excited, Not Nervous. You Just Keep Telling Yourself That.

You’re Excited, Not Nervous. You Just Keep Telling Yourself That.
By Melissa Dahl

When you are nervous, people like to tell you to calm down, despite the fact that telling someone to calm down rarely, if ever, results in anyone actually calming down. Anyway, as Olga Khazan notes today in the Atlantic, the research shows that we are likely getting this backward — instead of attempting to tamp down your nerves, it may be better to keep them revved up. The trick, it seems, is to change the way you conceptualize the feeling.

It’s called “anxiety reappraisal,” and it’s something Harvard Business School psychologist Alison Wood Brooks found evidence for in a series of experiments, in which she made her study volunteers do all manner of terrifying things: public speaking, karaoke, math. In each of these trials, she found that when the participants reframed their jitters as excitement, and not anxiety, their performance improved.

And yet that tiny switch in mindset didn’t technically make her volunteers any less anxious, if you judged them by their physiological responses. Their hearts still beat with a frequency that signified arousal, meaning that their brains and bodies remained on high alert. And this may help explain why this little trick works: Both feelings “are aroused emotions,” Khazan writes. “In both, the heart beats faster, cortisol surges, and the body prepares for action.” In other words, anxiety and excitement are not so different on a physiological level, which may be why it’s easier to switch from one to the other than it is to switch from either high arousal state to the comparatively lower arousal state of calmness.

Likewise, both emotions suggest that some kind of uncertainty lies ahead. It’s just that excitement suggests that this potentially uncertain future is something to look forward to, whereas anxiety suggests it’s something to be feared. Brooks uses the terms “opportunity mindset” and “threat mindset,” with the former linked to excitement and the latter linked to anxiety.

You could even take the so-called opportunity mindset idea one step further, by telling yourself that you need that nervous energy to keep you on your toes during a stressful task. In a 2013 study, for example, a trio of psychologists freaked out their study volunteers by making them prepare and deliver an impromptu speech about themselves. They told about half of the participants that, yes, they’d probably feel nervous before they spoke — but to remember that their sweaty palms and racing hearts were signs that their bodies were prepping for action. The other group got no such message, and, in the end, those who were told about the upside of their nerves were less distracted by them.

So! Repeat after me: You’re not nervous; you’re excited. You’re not nervous; you’re excited. You just keep telling yourself that until it works. I’m excited for you!

I like it! With what @MidwestLandlord said above, it's the passion that doesn't match the expected outcome, or lack there of.

I'm definitely excited about the project and I can't help but think of Violet from Willy Wonka "but daddy, I want it NOW"

Call it impatience, but I think it's excitement and passion for what my vision is.
 

rollerskates

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My massive to do lists cause me anxiety, so I am the reverse of feeling like I should be doing something--I should be! My advice is more for people with an overwhelming to do list.

Here is my pro tip---I realized the other day, writing "Do X" in my planner results in failure and anxiety at the end of the day because I will write in generalities, instead of writing specific steps. Like if something has 3-4 specific steps, I'll write "do X", instead of writing "Step 1", "Step 2".

In short, to cut down on anxiety, be really specific about the steps that need to be taken--all 67 of them. ;)

Diet and sleep help too. They really really do!
 
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MetalGear

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Saturday Night...and I feel like working.

I feel like if I stop, some competition will pop-up and overtake me.

I'm working on it too brother!
 

MetalGear

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Ok...that's it. 10PM on Saturday. I've crushed my goals for the day and worked 12 hours, still not a multi-millionaire.

Time to watch a movie on Amazon and fall asleep or I might go nuts. Back at it tomorrow until 5PM.

I wonder what MJ DeMarco's routine was...

MG
 

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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.
 
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...or is someone who learned how to get rid of anxiety and fear.

Thats enough Andrew we get it...

Scot's OP was to investigate if others were having a similar experience and how they "mitigate" (make less severe) the anxiety of entrepreneurship rather than how to "get rid of it".

It might serve you better share your own personal experience before attempting to poking holes in the personal experience of others.

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.

@Joe Cassandra great story! This last line is gold!
 

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Interesting reading this thread and then seeing @MidwestLandlord reply.

So I started reading and thought "Nah anxiety isn't really my game". Then I saw the way you described it and I thought "Oh, man, I totally do get that, but it doesn't ever feel like a bad thing". So when I saw Midwest's post it all clicked. It totally is excitement and eagerness to get back to it.

I normally get this when I know I need/want to do something on the business because some fleeting thought just came to mind, but I am out and about, or at work, so can't act on it.

I find it really helpful to take notes on my phone. It means I can get it out of my mind and onto (digital) paper and know I will be able to come back to it later. It's also an opportunity to tell myself to chill, there is time.
 
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MetalGear

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Here is an indirectly related article - we may be suffering from decision fatigue.

I think managing decision fatigue is a skill that comes with experience. The more execution experience you have, the better you can plan your time, money, and energy.

It is a lengthy article so go to the NYT site for the rest...

Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?

Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?
By JOHN TIERNEY
Editor’s note: As you navigate a world of choices, revisit this 2011 magazine story on the paralyzing effects of decision fatigue.

Three men doing time in Israeli prisons recently appeared before a parole board consisting of a judge, a criminologist and a social worker. The three prisoners had completed at least two-thirds of their sentences, but the parole board granted freedom to only one of them. Guess which one:

Case 1 (heard at 8:50 a.m.): An Arab Israeli serving a 30-month sentence for fraud.

Case 2 (heard at 3:10 p.m.): A Jewish Israeli serving a 16-month sentence for assault.

Case 3 (heard at 4:25 p.m.): An Arab Israeli serving a 30-month sentence for fraud.

There was a pattern to the parole board’s decisions, but it wasn’t related to the men’s ethnic backgrounds, crimes or sentences. It was all about timing, as researchers discovered by analyzing more than 1,100 decisions over the course of a year. Judges, who would hear the prisoners’ appeals and then get advice from the other members of the board, approved parole in about a third of the cases, but the probability of being paroled fluctuated wildly throughout the day. Prisoners who appeared early in the morning received parole about 70 percent of the time, while those who appeared late in the day were paroled less than 10 percent of the time.
 
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Scot

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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.

Not only is that an awesome story, I like how you look at anxiety.

What I'm beginning to realize is that I'm not the only one and it's normal. Not only is it normal, it's an energy that can be harnessed to keep up pushing towards our goals.

Thats enough Andrew we get it...

Scot's OP was to investigate if others were having a similar experience and how they "mitigate" (make less severe) the anxiety of entrepreneurship rather than how to "get rid of it".

It might serve you better share your own personal experience before attempting to poking holes in the personal experience of others.

@AndrewNC has shared his story more than enough time here on the forum. He has rid himself of his anxiety and we've seen the transformation, so I don't think it's fair to call him out.

I do agree with you, and I've said it above to Andrew. I'm not looking to rid myself of the anxiety because I don't see it as a hindrance. Instead, its an energy that I can mitigate and control to keep me working.

If I were a normal person suffering from regular anxiety, which I'm not, I would definitely seek out a program like Andrew's. But as I said before, the anxiety didn't exist before this project started.

And to me, that's a definite sign that it's something I'm truly passionate about and give a shit about.
 
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AndrewNC

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What if it's not Anxiety?
@Scot

I started building my second business in March 2015.

At the time, I was living in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona and by the time July rolled around, I was in my apartment working non-stop from morning until night, 7 days a week. I never had that "off switch".

For the past, I don't know how long - that switch was always on.

Do you know that switch i'm talking about? Where business is always on your mind?

At the end of July, a girl I went to college with flew in from New York and we drove up to Sedona, Flagstaff, The Grand Canyon, and Las Angeles.

What'd I do during this vacation? Record YouTube videos for my video blog.

Here I am, still earning passive income from my first business, not even needing to work at that point, and I'm still in that 100% ON mode.

So by the time I drop her off at a friend's in Los Angeles, I committed to turning OFF from business until I got back to Scottsdale.

I drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to San Diego. I walked along the beach, climbed bluffs, and was lost in the present moment.

As I'm driving in the warm open stretch of highway from San Diego towards Yuma, my mind completely surrenders to the present moment...That switch is 100% OFF.

In that moment, a burst of insight came to mind with the idea to create a video program teaching others what I learned about building a business. That made me $7,000 in the first month.

That burst of insight came when I has the switch off.

Here's an old video I recorded from that experience:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nb91oGqXqg


At the end, imagine Fleetwood Mac - You can go your own way playing in the background. YouTube took that part down :( At 4:08 is when that burst of insight came - by the windmills

They say in spiritual circles that we have an infinite source of knowledge inside of us and when we turn off our conscious mind, this reduces the "chatter" that blocks this out.

So while I previously thought going 100% 24/7/365 was beneficial...the moral of the story is when you take that time to slow down your mind, unplug, and switch off - it recharges your batteries to perform better, and you will get some genius insights along the way.

Can you see how this is beneficial, and how the old behavior and way of viewing things actually is slowing you down on your business growth?

What are your thoughts? Literally..

Your thoughts are pictures (you know this from my PM to you the other month). Each picture (thought) has an emotion attached to it.

So when this problem occurs, what is the picture that is playing in the back of your mind (it's this picture which causes part of the problem)? It's probably some movie or still picture playing in your mind about some fear unfolding.

Is the picture big? Is it life-sized? Is it colorful? Are you looking through your own eyes?

All of these are signs that you have a strong emotional attachment to the picture that represents the fear.

Whatever that picture is - float out of your body so you see yourself in it, shrink it down to be real small (size of a post-card), and push it farther away. Hear a popping sound as you lock it in place. Notice how the emotions went down.

Reducing emotions.

I made many posts before about EFT to release the emotions. Search YouTube, find a video, and use that on the picture.

When you release the emotional attachment to this fear, when that thought plays in your mind, you won't have the same emotional reaction to it.

But what if it's not anxiety?

I'd say the problem here is self-judgement.

What does it mean about you if (that fear unfolds)?

What strikes the heart?
  • It means I'm not a true entrepreneur.
  • It means I'm a loser.
  • It means I'm not good enough.
  • It means I wasted my life away.
These are just examples of I am... statements. What's yours? It's probably different.

Now this time, focus on releasing the self judgement, and using the EFT to release the judgement from your identity. Bring up a small picture where you see yourself as that and do the technique.

You behave congruent with who you identify yourself as. So if the judgement about the negative identity goes away, the problem fades away.

This should be enough to solve the problem.

If you'd like some more logical advice that doesn't go too deep or heavy into what I just talked about...I wrote a book on the topic: Amazon.com: The Cure for Happiness: Timeless Secrets to a Stress Free Life (9781520482460): Andrew Alexander: Books
 

Kung Fu Steve

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The easiest way to be unhappy is to think about work when you're at home and think about home when you're at work.

When get worried or freaked out or "anxious" or any other emotion -- we do that through a formula. That formula is Physiology, Focus, and Language.

If I asked you how an anxious person stands or moves or uses their body I'm guessing you would tell me things like "my chest gets tight" and "butterflies" -- in that moment it's clear you're restricting your own breath. Probably hunched over, squeezing muscles. A radical change in physiology will literally change how you feel (that's why working out is so good in those moments)

Your focus is a set of habitual questions you ask during that time. Any time you ask a question your focus goes toward answering that (even if you don't quite have an answer the first time you ask it). Instead of focusing on what could go wrong if you don't work? Or what's going to happen if you don't push yourself? (which could be empowering questions in certain situations, but clearly they aren't serving you in this case).

Finally your language. I've developed quite the disdain for the word "anxiety" because society in general has built it up to be this monster of a thing. It's only a word... however how you describe an experience becomes the experience.

If you don't consciously choose your words you can make it worse than it really is. So you go from feeling "a little worried about this" to "man I'm kind of anxious about this" to "I'm having an ANXIETY ATTACK" (holy shit). I guarantee you if you stop using the word anxiety and replaced it with apprehensive, concerned, nervous, uneasy, uptight, careful -- you would have a COMPLETELY different experience.

I'd challenge you to try using a silly word to describe that feeling for the next 30 days or so. See what happens -- it's a fun experiment.

...

Finally on a side note humans only want to change one of two things: how we feel, or how we behave.

But the truth is we SAY we want to change something in our life but our habitual ways of thinking, acting, and even FEELING are habitual for us because they meet a secondary need. (Now we're going really far down the rabbit hole)

That could be something as simple as the significance of a big problem. If you have a big problem, it's important, and therefore most of us associate having a big problem means I'm important, unique, special, different.

It's easy to tell anyone who says "I HAVE ANXIETY" is saying that because 1. it's a conditioned response, 2. it's a significant enough problem that explains why things are the way they are, and finally 3. if that response has been conditioned enough times with enough emotional intensity it becomes our identity. There's a MAJOR difference between saying "Once in a while I get worried about whether or not things are going to work out" and saying "I HAVE ANXIETY"

But I'll sure as hell get off my soap box because I'm just as guilty as the next person.

I've had some big health challenges lately and I'm working harder than ever. (both significant problems that makes me feel important) I've missed the gym all week because I'm "too tired" and I started blaming it on my health challenge. "I've got this thing going on so I should take it easy".

For all of us circumstances might be true... but it's not circumstance that determines our destiny. It's what are you going to do with it? It's not the event. It's the story surrounding the event we tell ourselves that becomes true.

The "anxiety monster" is just a story in our heads. The health issue was something I kept putting off because it "wasn't that bad" -- until it was. I've stopped living the story and started hitting the gawd damn GYM!!!

Ha!

Much longer than I was originally intending but maybe it makes sense :)
 
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Mattie

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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?
Anxiety is something we all have. It's healthy to have some anxiety. If it is tight, based out of fear, fight or flight, it is usually because you're getting out of your comfort zone, afraid of success possibly, afraid of not winning, afraid of failing, afraid of not achieving your goals in life. I learned this last year myself. In my case it was because I was too much in the mental stuffing my head with so much information over two years, trying to do things at a fast pace, and ignoring my emotions and feelings. Stuffing them away. Over exhausting myself, not eating properly, not enough fitness, and not taking care of my physical health. I'm laser focused on projects, tune out everything else, and like many of us forget to have the work life balance.
Simply moving around and walking every day loosened it up for me. Some people go to the Gym.
 
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This is a phenomenal thread with some great thought provoking pieces (particularly from @MetalGear). Personally, I love it when the classic nervous feelings of anxiety kick in... it's pure fight or flight and coming from a competitive sports background where I trained my mind as much as my body there's only option - fight.

Having said that one thing that differs between sport and business for me has been control - not so much in reality, but through visualisation. Before I ran any race I'd run through every possible scenario and know exactly how I'd react. It meant I'd always go into a race confident, free from nerves and cope with anything that might happen.

In business, I always thought it was different, you couldn't possibly visualise anything or truly plan your future because there were too many variables. It hard to be true because it's what happened to me. I'd work so hard to move forward, then would get lost, not through nerves, but ending up at a cross-roads with 100 different options. It would literally feel like the brakes had been slammed on. Another point in my entrepreneurial journey I couldn't have planned for till it happened. For years I'd hit this same point attributing it to not being good enough, not knowing enough... so I'd go off to learn everything.

Problem was I'd come back to the same spot and still wouldn't know what to do and would feel exhausted by it. Truth was it wasn't anxiety or fear, it was classic decision fatigue and paralysis because I failed from the start. Entrepreneurship and running a race are exactly the same. My problem was while I knew I was running 800m when I got to the track, all I knew when I hit the entrepreneurial start line was I needed to move forward and keep going till I broke through the winner's tape... it was no wonder I kept F*cking up because I had no idea where I was heading, no wonder anxiety kept destroying my dreams.

Anxiety comes from uncertainty. It comes from lack of clarity. It comes from being unprepared.

Know who you are, what you want and how you're going to get it... that's how you sucker punch anxiety in the gut.
 

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Since you guys are talking about fear, is thought is throw this out there, back in mike Tyson's prime he said himself he was terrified of all his opponents, he would have nightmares of people beating him and was constantly nervous before fights...there's a YouTube vid out there somewhere I'd link it but I'm on my iphone, just food for thought...and tyson is one of the greatest in fighting ever, so in regards to failure anxiety, you are not alone,
 

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