In the business world you see and read about a lot of success stories from professionals and entrepreneurs.
At the same time the overwhelming majority of new founded companies fail. You seldom hear about those stories.
So in this context I’d like to share some thoughts from the perspective of an entrepreneur who has not yet succeeded or failed. We are trying to get SnoozeFest off the ground.
The following has really helped me:
Getting comfortable with the thought of failure
This goes opposite to the advice of some people who claim failure is not an option. I don’t agree. If you haven’t failed you haven’t tried. And when I put my energy and time into doing something I believe in (but with risks), getting comfortable with the thought of failure feels good. Then if I fail, life will go on and another path will unveil itself. It helps not to attach your ego and identity to the success or failure of your professional life.
Nobody thinks about me
This thought is something that I come back to often. We are each the star of our own movie. We are all stuck in our own heads. So when I start thinking, “what will people think about me” or “people will judge me” (which I do too often) I try remind myself with the fact that actually NOBODY thinks about me which is surprisingly comforting. How do I know this? Well, like everyone else, I rarely think about others, I think about me.
Enjoy the process
It's a cliche, but it's true. Don’t attach yourself to the result, attach yourself to the process. Try to enjoy it. We put too much emphasis on some future state or achievement that will give us relief. “When I get there, I’ll finally be content” I have told myself too many times. Well that's false and dangerous. Because in 5 or 10 years I’ll still be myself, stuck in my own head like I am now, with the same anxiety and problems.
So if you’re thinking about doing something different, taking your own path, but you can’t get yourself to do it. I recommend you to welcome failure with open arms. At least for me, it has made it easier to take the leap.