Every Entrepreneur's Worst Nightmare
If you're running a business, you've had nightmares. You know the kind — when your efforts to support your family and friends sour, when customers leave in droves, or when employees quit or are laid off due to lack of work. It's not fun. But, you know what's worse?
There's no such thing as an entrepreneur's nightmare.
A nightmare is a bad dream that feels real when you have it. It wakes you up at night, makes you sweat and lose sleep. A nightmare is a psychological phenomenon. It doesn't happen in the real world — only in your mind. And there, your nightmares can be dealt with by turning on a light and going back to bed (or, if necessary, taking something to force yourself to sleep).
Nothing like that happens when you run a business — unless it's happening in your head already. There's no worse feeling than failure. There's no dream you can have that is worse than letting down the people you care about by not providing for them. When things are going badly and you're afraid your business is about to collapse, you may find yourself lying awake at night imagining how it would come crashing down.
But there's nothing in that picture to hold on to. A nightmare is a personal experience. If you have a nightmare, it doesn't affect other people.
Your business is different. You depend on the work of your employees, customers and suppliers. They depend on you. Everyone is affected by any business problems you encounter. There's no escaping that — not even in your sleep.
So how can you deal with nightmares? How do you find the deep breathing that puts an end to a nightmare? How can you handle the stress when no one else will?
Well, there's not much in common between a nightmare and a business problem. Most people stop having nightmares eventually — whether it's because they wake up or because an adult tells them that they're dreaming. Business problems don't have to be solved either. But, even if they're not nightmares, business problems are stressful. They're hard to deal with.
The real trick is to move away from your own personal perspective. You're no good to anyone when you're lying in bed panicking about the future of your company. You need a perspective that includes other people. You need to see the picture from their point of view. When you do that, your problems become manageable.
Dealing with nightmares is hard work — but it's the kind of work that keeps you awake at night because it's important to you. It's the kind of thing that makes your whole world shake. So how can you get started?
Start with yourself — with how you deal with these problems. Ask your loved ones to hold on to a dream they've had (it can be a dream they have when they're older). Ask them what happens when things go wrong in their life (it can be a big risk in an investment project or some other personal venture). Ask them what it would be like for you if those things happened to them.
Ask them to look at how they deal with hardship by getting married, going to school, taking up a new job. These are all examples of things they can do when they're not sleeping well at night. They're examples of things that happen during the day.
Now take your own job seriously — picture yourself working on a project that's important to you — one that no one else can do without you. If your business is making money and you like what you do, maybe you'll stop feeling stress and find yourself sleeping better at night.
Wishing you were having a nightmare? Check out the Great Entrepreneurial Thought of the Day!
Founder's Message: My name is Sam. I run an Internet marketing company called NoDoubt. Actually, I started it from scratch with a few people from my work place after that job was taken away from me and given to someone else who could do it cheaper than me. I didn't give up on NoDoubt. I used my Internet marketing skills to build it into what it is today, and today I'm using my website as a way for people to get in touch with me for their business needs.
Today's Thought: Everything you do has a ripple effect. Actions have consequences.
SUMMARY: Today's Internet Marketing Thought of the Day, is about dealing with nightmares, and using today's talent to help you deal with your business problems.
ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
Actions have consequences. Most people don't like that fact when they're faced with it. They prefer to believe they control their own destiny and can do whatever they want in life.
But that doesn't work in the real world — especially in business and life in general. Good things happen when you follow your dreams, but bad things can happen, too. It all depends on the path you choose.
ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
Life is a continuing series of actions and reactions to your actions. It's as simple as that — whether you're working or playing, things are happening that affect your life every day. It's up to you to figure out what they are and take the right steps in response.
It's easy in business to get caught up in what other people say about your business. It's easy to let the opinions of others shape your idea of how successful yours is becoming. That can be a problem — because if what other people think about you isn't real, it can cause a lot of stress for you when it comes crashing down around you in reality.
ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
So, what have you been doing in your business today? What are you doing now? Are you taking the right steps to be successful tomorrow?
What kind of life do you dream about having on your website and in your business in general? "Everyone here is just so driven to be successful." Does that sound like the environment where you're working today? Or does it sound more like the place where everyone else is an idiot or a loser and they can't get ahead because they don't know what they're doing. Have you ever thought that way yourself? If so, it's time to shake off those thoughts.
Conclusion
When you think about yourself, do you go to bed every night wondering whether you'll wake up tomorrow? If so, get out of that routine. Get your website started today. Start advertising your business today. Pick something related to something you want in life and get serious about it now. Just don't expect overnight success.
But if the thought of starting a business makes you feel lonely and stressed out, the key is not to change what you're already doing — it's to change how you're doing it! Don't let anyone else define your success for you. Define your own success in this moment — and don't waste any more time thinking about what people think.