Entrepreneurs, Be Careful What You Run On

Adrenaline is a hell of a drug; most entrepreneurs are addicted to it.

The thing is: Adrenaline was never meant to sustain anyone for the long run, it exists because we sometimes need a little boost; to run away from a Sabertooth tiger, for example.

My guess is that you aren’t running away from anything actually life-threatening right now. But your body is still pumping tons of adrenaline as you respond to an email, maybe a bit too aggressively. Or as you think about runway, funding, competitors. 

I used to think these things happened to me, that I couldn’t control whether my mind goes into flight or fight mode. It just happened TO ME.

Then I started reading and educating myself on how stress actually works, how our limbic system operates.

Turns out we train ourselves (unknowingly) to generate adrenaline on demand. We make connections that shouldn’t exist. We associate getting an email from our investor with anxiety, we stress every time we see our competitors launch something, we worry all night about launching the new version of the app…

As entrepreneurs, we can ALWAYS find reasons to be worried. That will never change, it’s just the nature of the beast.

Here are a few recommendations from a 40-year-old who took too long to understand:

?? Try to detect when your stomach gets tight and when your breathing gets shallow, as soon as you feel it, step away from your computer, stand up and take 10 deep breaths while straightening your spine and pulling your head towards the ceiling (imagine a string attached to your skull)

?? Ask your partners/employees to tell you when you seem stressed, we’re often very bad at even detecting it. We’ve accepted a certain level of stress as normal… Stress is normal and even necessary sometimes, but being in a constant state of alarm is not.

?? Sleep as well as you can, I personally like to use the Oura ring to track the quality of my sleep. When we’re tired, we get very bad at managing our stress and we sometimes end up creating more stress for people around us.

?? Lastly, talk to your team about stress, as much as you can. Point at it, name it and identify it. Give your team permission to talk about their Anxiety openly, make sure they understand you care about their mental health and stress levels.

?? Invest in your ability to manage your stress, you will find yourself to be a much better leader.

Illustration by designstripe.com