Depressed Entrepreneur?

by joshua on October 30, 2009
in Success Principles

So today I had an email come over from another internet marketer and it spoke about a topic that got me thinking. Have you ever seen, known or heard about a depressed entrepreneur? I thought long and hard about this, I know and have known countless entrepreneurs, some at that TOP of their game, others facing business defeat, others stuck in a rut and the common thread amongst them, not ONE was depressed. So it gets you thinking, what is it about the entrepreneur that allows for him or her, no matter what the situation to remain unaffected by “depression”.

It’s a matter of the heart

The heart, going to the dictionary is defined of course as an internal organ, but that’s not what we are talking about. When you look further into the definitions of the heart, the ones that I want to talk about are:

The vital center and source of one’s being, emotions

The repository of one’s deepest and sincerest feelings and beliefs

Courage; resolution; fortitude

So the heart of the entrepreneur is what it is all about. They know and have always known they were meant to conquer, to press on, to create, to innovate, to overcome obstacles, to never look back and ultimately they were designed and created with an amazing ability to no matter what the situation, to live in a state of mind and heart that will not allow for them to be depressed. The heart of the entrepreneur can never be changed, it can never be satisfied with anything other than being an entrepreneur.

It is this fortitude, this passion, that even in the hardest moments, the entrepreneur assesses the situation, analyzes and looks for the solution. Think about any great entrepreneur of modern time or times past, they have all faced, perceived defeat, perceived failure and perceived challenges. Yet, each and everyone has done what the entrepreneur does best, they OVERCOME and move forward learning from the past and using each trial as a building block towards the success that is inevitable in the life of the entrepreneur.

Looking at the successes and perceived failures that have been a part of my life I can say with full confidence, in all, not once did I enter a state of depression, it was almost as I was unable to go there, that my very being was created without this mechanism. I can remember shutting down a business that we had high hopes and dreams for, one that we believed we could franchise across the country, I remember the last night of operations.

“The store was quiet, there was a sense of peace, a sense of finality and we were closing up shop. Sitting at that place alone after intense hard work of development and operations, I remember shutting off the lights, turning on the alarm and saying to myself, It was a good run let’s move on, what’s next? Literally, several HUNDRED THOUSAND dollars lost and in it all not once was there a moment of depression. Confusion, disappointment of course, but it only lasted a brief moment, at the end of the day what mattered was not the perceived failure, what mattered was, the game is still ON, what’s next!”

See at the very heart of the entrepreneur is something amazing. It is something that we ALL have access to, yet only very few people ever tap into the resources given to us by God. If you don’t believe me, take a child for example, a child has passion, enthusiasm, imagination, creativity, fortitude (just tell them no, they will ask seven different ways to get the yes) and above all BELIEF. Somewhere, down the line we get stomped on, we get isolated, we go to school and listen to teachers who tell those of us with those attributes above, that we have ADD or ADHD or lack of focus, many of our parents repeat the cycle, they don’t know any better, you hear things like, don’t set your goals to high, you can’t do that, stop dreaming, no, no, no, no and eventually the HEART and the passions within are buried deep behind fear and lack of belief.

See the entrepreneur is someone who looked at the teacher and thought, like I did, huh? Don’t tell me I can’t, don’t tell me that idea is unrealistic, don’t tell me what your ‘test” says I am good at, don’t talk to me about business (you have no clue, business is not BOOKS) and ultimately the entrepreneur tuned out those who were a part of their lives who had nothing of real value to add. The entrepreneur either looked at their parents and said, I am not going to follow the thought pattern of my parents it has held them back.

They were blessed, like I was, to have parents or a role model(s) that said you can do what you want. There are no limits to what can be achieved, God has designed us for greatness and we can follow that plan for our lives. When they hit an obstacle, they stopped, the analyzed, they made the decision, do I wait, do I go over, do I go around or do I change direction. When they had perceived failure in life, they didn’t stop and say whoa is me with their head hung low, they said, ‘The past does not equal the future, I will learn, I will implement and I will move forward.”

Check The Heart

See the medical community will focus on our heart as a vital organ. Which of course is very important, equally important is your heart as defined above. Check your heart, do you posses the attributes we talked about, the attributes of the child? If so, stop and appreciate what you have as you are one of a very select few. If not, look deep within the chambers of your heart, you will find them buried deep, covered under the garbage that was allowed in, covered under the years of people of authority telling you that you cannot, telling you that you are unrealistic and ultimately crushing the inspiration that you are made of.

So, look long and hard at the lives of the entrepreneur. It is in the moments of challenge the true entrepreneur emerges and the heart prevails.

Live life with passion, keep charging and I’ll see you at the top.

Josh