Three Things You Need To Know When Running Your Startup
Yuliya Golubev, LMHC, LPC, CASAC-2
Find your passion, follow your dream, be your own boss…We are the startup nation. Companies no longer offer loyalties, expected retirement, or socializing opportunities. The pandemic only intensified the crisis of useless meetings, political games, upper management pressure, and the lack of compassion; the idea of work and life balance is still the idea but not the reality.
So this is it, you made a decision to run your company. You are so fed up with your company that implementing your ideas and following your passion feels natural and desirable. By this time, you've been talking about it with your friends non-stop. You feel energetic and convinced that being an entrepreneur will be magical and bring peace to your personal life.
As you quit your day job, you feel more assured that your decision is correct. You might feel bitter-sweet saying goodbye to the company you have worked for. You are finally on your journey.
As time passes, you might notice some doubts start to cripple in. The first doubt is how to measure your success when you do not have a boss sitting in the next cubical, and you do not have a yearly review. The doubting part starts showing up, which is the first thing you must be aware of when being an entrepreneur. Your self-doubts can reconnect with your inner critic that thrives on external validation and is so scared when it's time to acknowledge the process by itself. The first challenge that might arise is dealing with your imposter syndrome. Your doubts can skyrocket in a geometric progression. Running your own company can highlight your imposter syndrome. Knowing that your doubts do not just come because the sky is blue is important. Of course, we do not live in a vacuum; we are always impacted by what is happening outside of us. However, knowing the familiar narrative, you tell yourself during challenging times is important. If you give a voice to your doubt, it might say, "Other people are better than you. Your work is not important. " By bringing awareness to your doubting part, you start noticing more as a part of yourself rather the reality.
The second thing you need to know is how to acknowledge your success and support yourself through a challenging time. The familiar way of responding to "mistakes" may show up. You might find yourself telling yourself that your work is not good enough and telling yourself that you failed.
Let's say loud and proud, “Mistakes are part of the startup journey.” Let me repeat again, “mistakes are a normative process of learning new skills.”
Imagine a baby learning how to assemble a stacking toy.
The baby is so excited to try a new toy. They might take parts to their mouse, touch, smell, and put them in the wrong order. You can witness so much excitement as the baby tries something new. However, if you spend more time observing the baby putting the stacking toy together, you will see the baby is not mastering their skills right away. What does the baby have to do with me? The baby do not tell themselves something is wrong with them if they cannot perform the skills. They keep trying. Eventually, they can do the stacking toy. Let's start normalizing having tries and errors regarding the startup.
Let's discuss the startup's third challenge: how to keep going when challenges arise. Let me ask you a question now. If you are about to get on George Washington Bridge, the road is closed, as your Google Maps shows an accident.
What would you do if you needed to get to Hoboken, NJ? I predict you will re-center your navigation and find another way. Let's look at what happens when you encounter challenges in your startup journey. Do you start to doubt yourself, your company, and your self-worth? Do you start questioning your decision to be an entrepreneur? How do you normalize the challenges and bumps as a part of your startup journey? Let's go back to our road example. You might feel pissed at the road closed due to an accident on the George Washington Bridge, but it will not stop you from re-center your Google Maps to see your friend in Hoboken.
My name is Yuliya Golubev; I am an NYC therapist who helps entrepreneurs like you who feel lots of doubts about their company and feeling overwhelmed with challenges. If what you read so far resonated with you, you might realize, "I want to have support around my startup," or you might realize the following, "I want to have a safe space to explore my journey and get support around it. I want to have a deep dive into the familiar narrative I am telling myself around challenges; I want to understand how to respond to my mistakes and learn how to bring more support to myself as an entrepreneur rather than being critical of myself." If that's you, I will be honored to be there in your startup's journey. Together, we will unpack the doubts and their function and bring more empowerment.
