Being an entrepreneur – passion and drive, but maybe also despair
products for entrepreneurs, career development products, characteristics of entrepreneurs, psychology of entrepreneurs
There are many challenges to being an entrepreneur, both internal and external. You may be enthused and passionate about a venture, but still feel discouraged, deflated and despairing at times. What can you do about it?
Online entrepreneur Yaro Starak has created, managed and sold a number of different Internet businesses. His main blog Entrepreneur’s Journey is making him and his team more than $10,000 per month, and attracting over 5,000 daily readers.
In his post How To Remain Productive When You Feel Like Giving Up he says, “I know a lot of people look to my story of success as a source of inspiration and that is one of the greatest benefits I enjoy as a blogger, but – and I’m not afraid to admit it – I don’t always feel energized to pursue business and sometimes in my darkest moments, I even consider throwing in the towel.”
He goes on to note, “This feeling is not so common for me now as I have lifestyle flexibility, a more stable income and a better mindset about work, but earlier on, it definitely was a problem.
“I expect you have felt similar feelings of despair or a lack of motivation at different stages of your business development, especially if you are yet to establish an income stream online that is sufficient for you to live off, or if you are right at the beginning and you have not seen one cent of return for the work you have put in.
Inspired or Dejected
“Depending on your world view and personality style, when you hear of the success of others you may either feel inspired or dejected, and while it’s obviously more fruitful to look at other people achieving what you desire as motivation, as a fallible human, jealousy, depression and anger may be your initial responses.
“Your mind is your greatest asset for success in business, but it can be just as strong a force of hindrance, sabotaging your efforts, destroying your work ethic and leaving you with no option but to return to the soul destroying job you promised yourself that you would never go back to.”
Getting help and inspiration
I recently joined his Become A Blogger premium program, which has been very helpful and encouraging. Yaro and his business partner provide business strategies – and perspectives on mindset – that have helped them and others be so successful, plus details on enhancing WordPress blogs, and marketing strategies.
Program participants include many bloggers and entrepreneurs who talk about real marketing issues and successes — all of which is encouraging someone like me who is still working on making my blogs a business I can live on.
He also provides excellent information in his free Blog Profits Blueprint, and more advanced training in the Blog Mastermind System.
Learn from negative feelings
“Despair asks us to grieve our losses, to examine and transform the meaning of our lives, to repair our broken souls. Each of these emotions is purposeful and useful – if we know how to listen to them.” Miriam Greenspan, author of Healing Through the Dark Emotions: The Other Side of Grief, Fear, and Despair.
If you are gifted or especially sensitive, you may experience despair and other feelings more easily and intensely. You might “catastrophize” more, and tend to over-interpret or over-analyze the meanings of business setbacks or lack of growth or what you are doing with your talents.
Clive Hazell, PhD, author of The Experience of Emptiness, speaks of a related existential despair: our experience of emotional trauma and the feeling of remorse that the trauma contributed to a “life unlived” – a feeling of existential guilt: “I have committed the crime of not living, and I shall never live.”
Maybe it’s anxiety
Other experiences such as anxiety can be associated with despair. In my article Fear and creativity is a quote from Eric Maisel , PhD: “… only a small percentage of creative people work as often or as deeply as, by all rights, they might be expected to work. What stops them? Anxiety or some face of anxiety like doubt, worry, or fear. Anxiety is the great silencer of the creative person.”
And in his article In Praise of Positive Obsessions, Dr. Maisel talks about an antidote: “Positive obsessions.. are the fruit of a creator’s efforts to make meaning. Without positive obsessions, life is dull, dreary, and meaningless.” [From my post Existential Depression.]
If anxiety is a real issue in your life, you may have a hard time accessing the emotional resources you need to fully develop your business. I know that has been a problem for me. I sometimes feel too drained to put in the effort I want to.
Getting help
To get help for all this, there are a number of self-help, natural anxiety relief programs on the Anxiety Relief Solutions site.
Another approach is Holosync audio CD programs [yes, I am an affiliate], which promise to support positive changes in your mental/emotional health and ability to handle stress, and to help release dysfunctional feelings and behaviors.
Here are a couple of many testimonials:
“I noticed effects from the first day. I experienced a greater sense of confidence, well being. I experienced a sense of euphoria and also a sense that finally I found something that is making changes to me and is living up to the promises it made..” — Imran Hassan
Author Jack Canfield [The Success Principles etc] says “I have been using Holosync for years now and my meditations have gotten much deeper, I travel with the CD’s, I listen to them on a daily basis. And as a result I have more freedom of expression, a greater sense of relaxation and being stress free, and a greater sense of personal power…”
You can help keep despair and defeat feelings under control by reading articles on success, achievement and personal development in the sections Achievement / Vocation, and Entrepreneurs.
Also, see programs by Jim Rohn, James Ray, Ali Brown and Valerie Young.
March 5th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
[...] Being an entrepreneur – passion and drive, but maybe also despair There are many challenges to being an entrepreneur, both internal and external. You may be enthused and passionate about a venture, but still feel discouraged, deflated and despairing at times. What can you do about it? [...]