Having been a business owner for over 10 years and now nearing my 5th year as an entrepreneur, I can tell you that being an entrepreneur is much harder and requires quite a significant amount of mental power over simply owning a business. While being a business owner is not easy, it has a more systematic approach to succeeding as money is often the measure and the concept tends to be black and white. Since being an entrepreneur involves being innovative and doing what others have not done yet or perhaps doing it better, there certainly is a lot of trial and error as well as a lot of frustration and failures that pile up before you actually reach a steady level of success. That being said, it is very easy for entrepreneurs to get burned out especially if they have hit a plateau they can’t get past.
Here are 5 things you can make sure to do so you don’t get burned out.
1. Exercise regularly and push with velocity when doing so.
You may have heard this before but I am referring to hardcore exercising routines that enable you to push the envelope each day. By pushing your body, you enable your mind to feel accomplished and despite having found a plateau with entrepreneurship, you certainly enable yourself to experience success on an important health based level. Wining physically is very important, as important as wining mentally.
2. Indulge from time to time on your wants, rather than needs.
Feeling bootstrapped sucks and can become very difficult to deal with especially if for long periods of time. Since most entrepreneurs give up their personal comforts and sacrifice their wants in order to fund their companies, it is key to remember what the rewards feel like. From simply going out to a fine dining restaurant or taking a vacation, try to allow some leverage monetarily to remind you of whats ahead and that the bootstrapped status doesn’t last forever.
3. Set guidelines for when to work and when to play.
While structure may not exist like a 9-5, make sure to create an environment that allows to mentally separating yourself from your work for a day or certain hours. It could be simply making Saturday a day away from the computer or office or perhaps no work past 8PM. Make sure to keep true to that promise so that you don’t lose the connection you have to your friends or family members. As much as many may feel like it is difficult to stay away from work, it is necessary to remain disciplined and balanced.
4. Learn to let go of failure and move forward without looking back.
Many of the marketing techniques or products you launch will have a different outcome than you expect. From the lack of market response to technical difficulties or negative consumer responses, you might feel like all hope is lost and feel like giving up as this will happen more than once. Make sure to understand that you are doing something others haven’t done and that is new to you, if it was easy everyone would be doing it. Since you are the only one at it, simply remember to allow yourself constructive criticism rather than an emotional uproar.
5. Surround yourself with others who have done what you wish to accomplish.
When I personally felt like I was burned out, having lunch or dinner with a friend who had succeeded in a similar field enabled me to remember why I started to begin with. It also re-enforced that I was on the right path. Receiving constructive critics from those you believe in, whose judgment and expertise you trust, can give you boost above and beyond what you’d expect, but more importantly keep you from crashing.
There you have it, five tips on how to ensure you don’t burn out in your difficult journey to the top, especially since it takes some time before you reach your very own level of success. One last tip I will leave you with is that money matters but it cannot be your focus and the only thing you celebrate, instead celebrate the progress you make even if not monetary in nature. Celebrating smaller but relevant victories will re-enforce in your mind that you are progressing and enable you to avoid burn outs.
