If you’ve been in the entrepreneur space for a while, you’ve probably been totally swamped by people telling you to “not stress” or “not give into the pressure,” but where does this stress and pressure ACTUALLY come from? Almost all of us have had an experience where we’re just feeling STUCK, like something isn’t working and we have to force it just to make any movement forward. In this episode, we’re going to explore why we sometimes feel like we’re stuck (and it usually has to do with “rules” we feel like we have to follow).

Focus On What Really MATTERS:

A lot of focus on the wrong thing when we’re building our business. We focus on the things we THINK people want for us, the things we THINK matter based on other people’s external forces. It’s easy, when we’re entrenched in all the tasks we have to tackle to keep our business running, to get swept up and forget what we’re really doing this all for. 

Why are you on this journey? What did you get into this all for in the first place? Was it to spend more time with your family? To be in control of your own time and schedule? 

Whatever it is, recenter in on it. I’ve seen, SO often, entrepreneurs are miserable in business because they’re working themselves to the bone because they’ve lost track of the thing they wanted to go into business for in the first place…

And half the time, they ALREADY have it! 

Taking that step and realizing that you already have the thing you want, you’re just not LIVING it, can help take off a lot of the stress and pressure you’re feeling as an entrepreneur. 

Don’t Follow The “Rules”

How many of you have heard things like, “You’re supposed to have a fine line to separate family and business completely?” 

That is just one of hundreds of made-up rules society has for us that can make us feel STUCK and like we’re doing something WRONG. 

For me, my business IS my family. My wife and my daughter are involved in the work we’re doing, so the line between family and business is really blurred, and I like it that way. But if I was going to look at what we’re “supposed” to do, based on the rules I have picked up from the people in my life, I would look at what I’ve built here and feel like I was doing something WRONG.

I think this is where a lot of strain comes from. We have these expectations on what we think we’re supposed to do, and we try to follow them without ever understating if they ACTUALLY work for US and what WE want. 

Take a step back and consider the rules you think are important as far as being in a successful business and ask yourself… do they actually matter to you? Do they work for the life YOU are trying to build? 

It’s Not All About The Money

Outside of the entrepreneur space, a lot of people have this belief that people who want to go into business for themselves are greedy – that it’s all about the money. Sometimes, it’s easy to get swept up in that kind of mindset. Not because we actually think we’re greedy, but because, for many of us, money is a huge focus because it’s what we NEED to keep our business going and support our families. 

But it’s not all about the money. 

Like I said above, it’s important to keep in mind the things we’re really doing this for, not just within our own lives but in the world at large. For me, I want to connect to people who are doing AMAZING things. I want to be in the room with other amazing entrepreneurs who are making a difference. 

When we focus on just the money, it can be easy to lose sight of the other amazing things we’re building in our businesses and fee like we’re not really making it happen.

Thanks For Listening! 

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Today’s TOP Take-Aways:

• »Focus On What Really MATTERS [04:44]
• »Don’t Follow The “Rules” [08:08]
• »It’s Not All About The Money [13:46]

Quote:

• » You’re here to contribute and give, you know, find where people need help and where you can help and give it to them, and get paid to do it and get better at it and keep going.

Shout-Out:

• » The Hope.DEV Summit