“I should feel better than this.”
I hear this from entrepreneurs (and in my own head) all the time.
You hit targets. On paper, you've made progress. But you don't connect with it because the pressure to continue making progress never goes away.
And there’s always the pull to more. More growth, another challenge, better results. Because it isn't just about the eventual outcome, it's being the founder, the entrepreneur, the MD, the man. It's about how you see yourself. It's your identity.
When things are going well, you feel restless. You await the next problem before you’ve absorbed the win. Emotional stability is only ever temporary.
And when things get really hard, you discount progress, overlook what's working and fixate on what's missing. From the outside, it looks like drive. But in reality, it's unfocused fear.
And this state of being is addictive, entrepreneurialism is addictive. You're wired to respond to variable reward. Uncertain outcomes produce bigger dopamine spikes. This strengthens memory and accelerates habit formation, making this your norm. It becomes who you are.
But there's a performance sweet spot to be found between enough wins (or rather recognition of wins) to feel satisfied, and enough wanting to feel driven.
The only way to find that sweet spot is to stop and reflect. If you don't you'll become a passenger in that variable reward > dopamine loop.
In tough times you lose perspective. In easier periods, you create pressure just to feel engaged again. Your business follows your internal state, not your intent or your wise words.
“A lack of self-awareness is poison. Reflection and review is the antidote.” James Clear
Extract the wins in the hard times, review in the good times and embrace boredom in the in-between times. Because if you can’t find meaning in all three states, you’ll keep sabotaging one to create the other.
