‘But my website has been down for 3 days!’ I yelled at a customer service representative, instantly regretting yelling at someone who was obviously not at fault. I took a deep breath, and asked the rep to help me fix my website issues today. I needed my website to be up again. I was losing precious potential clients every moment it was down. I was pulling my hair out at the frustration of it all.
Not only that, but I hadn’t had a chance to take a shower in 2 days because I didn’t have time, and my hair needed a cut. If you wanted me to keep on going, I could. I had a long list of things I had to do, and they weren’t getting done. Everyone around me was incompetent, and I was all alone.
It was a miracle I didn’t have a nervous breakdown. Well, I was close to one, when my website miraculously came back up and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Why did I do that to myself? Why did I push myself so hard? What was I trying to do to my business and to myself?
Everyone Seems Against Me Then
Every single business owner on the planet goes through these frustrating days when everything goes wrong, and everyone seems to be against them. They feel frustrated, and unable to pinpoint exactly how they are going to come out on top. They wonder why they ever started their own business, when they could be sitting in a cushy corporate job not worrying about all of this shit.
Believe me, I know what you are going through. This is because everyone goes through the same hellhole every few weeks or months. Every person I know in business has these mental breakdown days at least once every few weeks. It is a normality.
We are trying to do it all. I can’t even imagine how people who have children manage to juggle their children, and business.
But We Aren’t Alone
Whenever I go through this miserable moment of feeling all alone and miserable, I do three things. I take as many deep breaths as I can. I go and take a hot shower even if I barely have time to eat or breathe. And most importantly, I remember that every single business owner on this planet goes through this! Everyone!
Just remembering that there might be at least a hundred other individuals on this planet who are going through exactly what I am, gives me a sense of solace and peace. I feel like I have comrades-in-arms, and they are soldiering on.
If they can do it, I can do it as well. I have a really great imagination and I talk to myself a lot, and to thin air. So, a lot of my day is spent talking to imaginary friends. In those moments, I will talk to those people on this Earth who are going through the same stuff as me and feel their commiseration energies pouring into me, filling me with joy.
We Are Also Not Perfect
The unfortunate matter of the fact is that we are not perfect, and thus, our businesses are not going to be perfect either. Imperfect beings create imperfect stuff. There are going to be moments where we will fail and our businesses will have those moments as well.
Let’s just remember that.
I think we forget that those moments are going to come, so every time they do, we fall into a state of blubbering confusion. But how??? Umm, it is going to happen, and we need to be prepared for it.
IF we remember that the valleys are going to come, because the road is long and hard, then when the valley appears, we can look at it with recognition. Ah, there you are. I was waiting for you, and now I am going to deal with you. So I can get to the good stuff.
We Have To Get Through The Valleys To Get To The Peaks
Do you know how a mountain range looks? How do you know that a peak exists? By comparing it with a valley. Without the existence of a valley, a peak would just be nothing. It wouldn’t exist.
We need the ups and downs to realize that there are ups and downs. Also, the ups and down are so intertwined with each other that we cannot have one without the other.
Life and business isn’t going to be a straight arrow to the end. I can’t even imagine how that would work. It would be a very mundane way to live indeed.
All of those people who own successful businesses now had to go through the same ups and downs that we are going through. They are probably still going through them as well, as I remember listening to so many business owners talking about nervous breakdowns that they had in the recent pasts.
We do pile on the pressure really high on ourselves, don’t we?
Can we please stop doing that?
If We Don’t Have Our Health, We Have No Business Working On Our Business
In that moment, when I was talking to the customer service rep, I felt my heart beating really fast with fear and apprehension, and I felt my shoulder in a lot of pain as it was tightening up. I also felt this sharp pain in my chest as I piled on the stress upon myself.
I had to take a step back in that moment, because I realized that if I lost my health, I wouldn’t be spending any time on my business at all, and all of this wouldn’t matter. The utmost responsibility we have as business owners is our health. That is our first priority!
Ensuring we are healthy and fit, that matters more than the state of our business. You know that without your health nothing else will matter.
I meet so many successful millionaires who are taking twelve pills a day and who can’t get out a chair without the help of two other people. What kind of success is that?
I refuse to trade my health for money. It isn’t worth it. I want both. If it means, going towards success slower, and healthier, then so be it.
