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One Relatable Story

Welcome to the Club - Starting a Business Was Never Meant to Be Pretty

What drew you into starting a business? The lifestyle? Wealth? Freedom? Notoriety?

For me, it’s about lifestyle. Having agency over how I spend my time and to be 100% authentically me.

As Phil Knight, founder of Nike put it…“I wanted what everyone wants. To be me, full-time.”

For others, it could be having a massive house. Or being seen by your peers as a successful trailblazer.

Whatever it is, that’s the packaging that sold us into leaping into entrepreneurship.

What’s shown on social media is the outcome of grit, late nights and a bit of luck.

The outcome is what drew most of us in.

But that’s the thing, we only see the outcome of what other entrepreneurs have achieved or are achieving. We get the perfectly curated highlight reel. We get the “pretty” version of entrepreneurship.

The reality though is so unsexy.

What we don’t see is dealing with the bone-crushing pressure of making payroll. Being torn between taking a late night meeting from a different timezone vs. tucking the kids into bed. And what we definitely don’t see are the lucky breaks that cracked open opportunities.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because when I compare the reality of entrepreneurship vs. what’s out there on social, (I don’t know about you…), but it made me feel like I was underperforming failing.

It made me put even more pressure on myself on top of the day to day demands.

I’m writing this to you to basically say, if you’re in the bowels of the drudgery of entrepreneurship?

Welcome to the club!

If it feels like it sucks. You’re on the right path. It was always supposed to suck.

Running a business, especially in the early days, is basically about avoiding catastrophic failure day in and day out.

Don’t believe me? Read Phil Knight’s book Shoe Dog. He basically shares that most of the early days of Nike was avoiding bankruptcy and navigating lawsuits.

So exhale a bit. Cut yourself some slack.

If you feel like you’re failing, you’re not failing, you’re failing forward to move you closer to your goal.

If you feel like you’re being a bad parent, guess what? Most of us probably feel the same type of guilt. You’re doing your best.

And if you want to throw in the towel? Guess what, most of us have felt the same, we’re just too stubborn to give up.

Two Thought Provoking Questions

• If someone, in the same situation as you, approached you for advice. Whether it’s about business, family life or navigating relationships. What would you tell them?
• What is one item that’s been on your to-do list for too long? Ask yourself, if you’ve gone this long without doing it, is it really that important to take space in the grey matter of your brain?

One Practical Challenge

Stop multitasking and be present, at least for this week.

If you’re attending a meeting, put your phone on airplane mode

If you’re going to listen to a podcast or audio book, don’t have it playing in the background while doing tasks, dedicate the time to actually listening to it.

If you’re attending your kid’s recital or ball game, leave your phone in your car.

And at the end of the week, assess how it has affected your relationships, productivity and focus.