Article 1: The Lonely Entrepreneur | We Need to Talk About This

Entrepreneurs are often expected to wear many hats and manage countless responsibilities. And, amidst all of this, there's a silent struggle that many of us face but seldom discuss: loneliness.

Stepping into entrepreneurship can be likened to a young child clutching a teddy bear, afraid of the dark, and standing at the entrance of a long, shadowy passage. Imagine the panic and fear as they take that hesitant first step, each leading them further into the daunting unknown. This is similar to the entrepreneurial journey.

You walk down a dark path filled with unknowns. Your only source of comfort is the teddy bear—in this case, your fledgling business—yet the risk of losing it is ever-present. Picture yourself standing alone in the middle of that dark passage, with nothing to hold onto and no one to come and rescue you. What happens then? Feel the loneliness, the crushing uncertainty, and the fear of the all-encompassing darkness surrounding you.?

Entrepreneurship is a big, shiny thing that promises many incredible benefits to individuals, communities, and economies. We need new entrepreneurs now more than ever because of unemployment, population growth, low economic activity in many countries and AI. However, we are neglecting to talk enough about the dark side of entrepreneurship: The loneliness.

Entrepreneurship loneliness is more common than we think. Despite being surrounded by people, entrepreneurs often feel isolated because of their unique challenges and pressures, which are difficult for people on the outside to understand.

Be More Human Centered

We need a more human-centered approach to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship development. A customer-centric approach leads us to focus more on the business than anything else. We sometimes sacrifice entrepreneurs like lemmings just to make businesses succeed, and that needs to change. We put process before people.

Businesses come and go, but entrepreneurs should remain in the game. Don’t build businesses; develop people who can build businesses.

Article Series About Entrepreneurship Loneliness

Loneliness impacts mental health, productivity, overall well-being and many other aspects that hinder entrepreneurial success. We need to start talking about it in order to develop and grow the entrepreneurs the world so desperately needs. By shedding light on this issue, we can start addressing it and better support each other.

Prolonged loneliness can lead to mental health issues like anxiety and depression. This is why creating a space where we can openly discuss these feelings without judgment is vital. For now, it is an article series to start the conversation.

This is the first in a series of articles on entrepreneurship loneliness, where I will discuss the different faces of loneliness. I am doing it to spark a conversation and invite other entrepreneurs to comment and share their stories.

Combatting Loneliness: Shift Your Focus

Our single focus as entrepreneurs is to make the business succeed and we sacrifice so much to make it happen. In many cases, our health, wealth and happiness. Understand that your business will not succeed without you. Shift some of that focus to you. You are the most important person in the business; loneliness will reduce your overall performance and impact the business's success. Shift your focus to yourself, and get yourself in the best shape possible navigating this journey. Entrepreneurship is a journey, not a destination. It is the journey of a human being building businesses, some successful, some not. Be kind to yourself.?

Dealing with Loneliness

As mentioned, I want to start the conversation and build from there. Everyone, absolutely everyone, at some point in their life, gets to a point where they run out of answers. It is normal.?

The simplest advice you can follow for now is to follow these three steps:

1. Recognise
2. Reach Out
3. Talk

1. Recognise

Recognise that you are lonely. It does not make you weak or broken. You are simply a human being. It is ok to have these feelings. This is normal.?

2. Reach Out

Reach out to a trusted friend, a fellow entrepreneur, or even an organisation that deals with mental health challenges. You can also search the Internet for such organisations in your local area. Family can be tricky since they might depend on your success; lean on friends, preferably friends who are also entrepreneurs.

Find a space that feels safe for you.

3. Talk

Talk as much as possible and to as many people as you need to. Simply talking about it will already make it much more manageable. Instead of lamenting your situation, try to work towards practical solutions, which are simple steps you can take to ease your entrepreneurial loneliness.

Join the Conversation Today

The article series is to start the conversation. For that purpose, I created a simple form to which you can add your name and email. If enough people join the conversation, I will create a mailing list and start taking action to further this conversation.

If not, I will simply delete it, destroy any data contained within it, and move on. However, having seen the prevalence of loneliness in entrepreneurship, I doubt this will be the case.?

Please follow this link to add your name

Resource List: Share Resources

Here is a link to another form where you can submit resources for entrepreneurs struggling with the effects of loneliness, depression, anxiety and more. I will publish this list as a separate article and build on it as it grows.?

PLEASE: No marketing and self-promotion.?

Follow this link to submit a resource

Help Others by Sharing

If you know someone struggling with this issue, please share this or any other articles with them. Thank you for your support. Let’s see where it leads.

The Whole Article Series

Article 1: The Lonely Entrepreneur | We Need to Talk About This More

Article 2: The Lonely Entrepreneur | The Burden of Expectation

Article 3: The Lonely Entrepreneur | The Burden of Performance

Follow Me for Updates

Please follow me as I explore this topic further in a series of articles. Let's share our experiences and support each other on this journey.

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