The frustrations an entrepreneur faces are endless – money issues, technology issues, market changes, demanding clients – you name it!
Periodic frustrations are guaranteed. Some days will have more than others.
I have found myself saying the same things to friends, colleagues, and clients, so I thought I should share them with you.
Suggestion 1: Pull up and take a breath
Part of being an entrepreneur is building the plane while you’re flying it. It’s inevitable that you’ll be scrambling to learn things as you go.
This can lead to stress and anxiety, but sometimes there’s an easy way to get ahead of it. Repeat after me: It’s not that freaking hard.
If you say that to yourself, you may feel some of the anxiety melt away. I wrote a whole post on this titled “Magic Want for Entrepreneurs” a few years ago.
I use this technique at least once a week.
And then I do an online search and figure it out.
Suggestion 2: Understand this is usually the root cause
I have a mantra that I use with myself and my clients. Feel free to use it as well: Don’t ascribe to malice things that can be explained by stupidity.
Yep. Ninety percent of the time someone was just being an idiot and they weren’t deliberately trying to mess with you.
Suggestion 3: Remember most people forget to do this
The middle phone call is mostly a thing of the past.
What’s the middle phone call?
The middle phone call is the one where someone lets you know that they are still working on something, but the person they need to talk to is on vacation, buried under another project, has the flu, etc.
People somehow assume you know they are still working on it. The reality is that you assume they have forgotten, which leads to frustration.
I did this short video about the middle phone call.
Suggestion 4: Use a lifeline
Help is a four-letter word, but not that kind. Reach out and ask for help. I promise that most people will not judge you harshly. People actually like to help – so give them a chance to do it.
Truly. We get a hit of happy chemicals in our brains when we help another person. So, while you are getting the information you need, the person helping you is also getting something. I call that a win-win.
Suggestion 5: Ask yourself the critical question
What do you actually know to be true? Dr. Brené Brown has produced some amazing content on this. (Like this short conversation with Oprah.)
We make up stories to explain things and our brains give us a chemical reward for doing it. The problem is: we may have no data points. It could be an elaborate work of fiction!
In my experience, it usually is. You can watch my video on this below.
I hope you will try some (or all!) of these suggestions. I hope they help, and that you experience a little more amusement with the curve balls, and a little less frustration.
