I’ve spoken a lot about depression in my previous articles, especially depression in women that stems from personal setbacks and dilemmas. But depression isn’t always related to personal trauma, and it definitely isn’t restricted to one gender (crazy, right?). Recently, a friend of mine shared an article on Facebook that sort of blew my mind - not because it was something I didn’t know before, but because it was something that I had never actively paid attention to. In her article, “The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship”, Jessica Bruder talks about how depression affects some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, proving to us that all the Porsche’s in the world can’t save us from that crippling, soul-sucking, red fox screaming feeling that keeps us up at night and drives us insane in the morning (check it out on Inc.’s website). Now that I’m on my way to becoming an entrepreneur (sorry, but I won’t disclose my business plans just yet), and I’m going to be incurring tons and tons of debt, I’ve come to realise that the anxiety that I tried to escape by becoming self-sufficient is coming back to me, but this time it has to do with my business baby rather than the lack of a real baby in my life.
If you happen to be an entrepreneur who suffers from stress, anxiety, crippling thoughts and other such business-related late night mania, please don’t let it take over your soul. Let me tell you a little something about depression, anxiety, and all their cousins, too. They’re not all bad, you know. I’m actually pretty grateful that these guys have been intermittently paying me visits since my early childhood (thanks to them, I think I have a pretty killer personality). Plus, I always tend to do better when I’m in emotional turmoil. Like a super-talented influence in my life recently pointed out, it is in our moments of weakness and solitude that we find our greatest strength and creativity. Be grateful that the universe chose you for a life of struggle and torture (straight up) because that probably means that mediocrity isn’t your cup of tea and that there is something greater that you still have to accomplish (high five, right?). Once you embrace your trauma and decide to push past it, you’ll most def be able to bulldoze through your setbacks and take your business to new heights.
“Zara, can you talk?” Sanam inquired on the other end of the line, sounding restless.
“Yes, what’s up?”
“Dude, something is totally wrong with Javaid. Remember I told you I thought he was cheating? I’m more sure than ever now!” she charged, close to tears.
“Sanam, yaar, you need to calm down. Either confront him about it or chill out and stop with the obsessive paranoid behavior!” At this point, I was almost getting frustrated with her constant insecurities.
“No, Zara, you don’t get it. You’re lucky you’re not married, seriously yaar. It’s 2 a.m. right now and Javaid is still in the lounge huddled around his laptop. He won’t talk to me or anything...and he gets upset if I disturb him! Oh my god, Zara, how the hell am I going to sleep tonight? I’m in so much pain!” Sanam was panicking now, and I could sense that she wanted to cry, but was out of tears.
“I’ve got your back, Sanam, and I can stay up all night with you on the phone if you want. You know that! But seriously, trust me, you’ve always had this habit. It’s nothing, you’re being paranoid for no reason!”
Keep your allies in check, your motivation on high, and your skills on point, and you'll soon go from sad to bad(ass) entrepreneur
***
Changing your perspective on entrepreneurial trauma is super important, but sadly, it’s not enough. Another gem that really helped me during the initial stages of my entrepreneurial initiative is a book called “Managing with Power” by Jeffrey Pfeffer (It’s a totally dry MBA course book but, man, it is so worth the read). Now, the entire book is pretty rad, but Chapter 5, “Resources, Allies, and The New Golden Rule”, is like my absolute favorite. The New Golden Rule is super simple: the person with the gold makes all the rules, baby. As an entrepreneur, you’ve got to get your hands on the gold. Now, the gold literally includes the gold, i.e. the resources, but you don’t have to be the one dishing out the cash to be the one in charge. You just have to be the one smart enough the control the resources (never worry about investment, entrepreneurs, just go for it). Also, another super important thing to note is that you can create resources by providing something that people don’t know they need (this, in my opinion, is everything). Finally, keep your allies in check, your motivation on high, and your skills on point, and you’ll soon go from sad entrepreneur to bad(ass) entrepreneur in no time.
***
Much like his wife, Javaid couldn’t sleep that night either. His business wasn’t doing so well, and he couldn’t stand being the only one in the family with a failing enterprise. He was also deathly scared about confronting his wife with the news, especially because he had recently promised to buy her a watch for her birthday. Exhausted, Javaid decided that the best solution would be to try and fall asleep for the night. As he made his way to his bedroom, he hoped that his wife would be asleep by now, simply because he wanted to raid her medicine cabinet and fish out the Xanax he knew she was hiding.
