Meetings. Reports. Charts. Term Sheets. KPIs. Code. Content. Expectation settings. Planning. Thinking. Constantly Working.
But no living. No sanity.
Being 21 and founding a startup is hard work. Dating, hanging out with friends, keeping in touch with family – they take a back seat in the face of the insane number of things you need to do to keep your dream alive.
Here are 3 ways you can break out of the vicious cycle and start living sane, i.e. “How To Stay Sane While Running Your Startup.”
Take some time off every day to work out
Pretty much a no-brainer: get as much exercise as you possibly can. Frustration is pretty easy to come by in the startup game. But exercise has the ability to combat exactly that.
Try to exercise daily, and for three reasons – stress relief, energy, and long-term health. It doesn’t have to be intense like bodybuilding – even a jog around your neighborhood park does the trick!
Meditate/Spend some time alone
It’s a given in any startup that there will come times when your team or some work that you’re doing annoys you. It creates a network of a million negative thoughts in your head that you’re just not able to get out of.
But now, imagine if you had the skill to just flip a switch and make it all go away.
That is the power meditation and solitude can give you. Mind you, it is not an overnight process; it is a journey. But as you get better at it, you’ll be able to silence your thoughts and focus better on the work that you want to do.
Perfection is good, but culture is better
Gordon Flett, a Professor at York University, has this to say about perfection – “The data on perfectionism and actual performance show little payoff in terms of objective achievement.”
If you are the founder of your startup and believe that perfection is one of the core components of your team, then you should reconsider.
The most successful companies are not built around being perfect, but around building a culture of building trust, growing together and giving everyone a safe haven to make mistakes and become better people from them.
Just like the amount of sugar you need to give your early morning cup of coffee that perfect taste, your life needs some moderation to keep it at that perfect level of sanity.
Stop living on the edge, and start creating a balanced sphere of growth and learning.
Remember that you’re here because you want to make yourself happy.
Don’t lose that.
