As you go through the process of starting your own
business and training yourself to adapt to the new
(often intimidating) commitments you’ve signed
yourself up for, it’s important to be aware of the
mental journey you’re going to be traveling along,
in addition to the physical one of making your
company come to life.
There will be ups and there will most certainly be
downs along the way. If you’re careful to learn
from your mistakes and minimize the negative
outcomes as much as possible, you’ll stand a very
real chance for succeeding in business.
Making the definitive decision to start your own
business and create the lifestyle you want to live, is
worth any amount of hard work; mental and
physical.
In my experience starting businesses, these are the
4 most difficult mental stages of the arduous
journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur.
The Sacrifice.
This is by far the most mentally trying stage of the
journey. At first, everything you do (and achieve)
will feel like an immense sacrifice. When your
friends are all hanging out together on a Friday
night, you’re at home working on your app, doing
freelance work, or putting the finishing touches on
your prototypes.
You’re likely to frequently question yourself, doubt
the work you’ re doing, and seek outside approval
to help you justify all of the time and hard work
you’re putting into your fledgling business.
However, the reality is, you only have a limited
amount of time outside of the hours you already
commit to your day job, so if you want to become
successful with your new business, there’s no other
choice than to utilize the time you do have.
The Grind.
Now that you’ve become comfortable with the
discomfort that is starting a business, learning new
skills, and sharing your ideas with the world, you
start to get into a rhythm. You’ll move into a
routine that helps you maximize your productivity,
so that you’re spending as much time as possible
on your new business.
During this stage, you’ll start picking up
momentum and experiencing bigger wins with
more frequency than when you were just getting
started. You’ve eliminated the regular feelings of
self-doubt, and can focus on growing your business
idea into a valuable solution for your customers.
The Life.
Your new business is generating revenue. You
know who your customers are and how to reach
them. You’ve attained a good amount of traction
and you’re extremely confident in your ability to
serve those customers better than your competitors
can.
If you’ve been launching this business while
keeping your day job, this is likely the phase in
which you’ll finally meet your minimum income
criteria for quitting your day job to focus on
growing the business full-time. It’s exhilarating to
be working on your passion project with all of your
time & energy.
The Freedom.
After all of your hard work, you have a lot to be
proud of.
Your business has achieved product/market fit and
you’re able to scale your operations much more
quickly now that you have the time, energy, and
mental clarity to focus on your longterm vision.
You’re able to step away from the business at times
and trust the systems and people you’ve put in
place to help keep things on track, while you enjoy
the lifestyle benefits of running your own business.
True entrepreneurs never stop challenging
themselves, pushing the boundaries, and operating
with discomfort. It’s how we grow.