Posted on February 7, 2012 by Dave Crenshaw
Being a business owner can be very stressful. No one else fully understands the emotional anguish (and lost sleep!) that comes from not knowing whether you’ll be able to make payroll the next day. On the other hand, few others can fully appreciate the thrill that comes when your calculated risks pay off. This up and down emotional cycle of entrepreneurship is far from healthy. It can lead to poor decision making and, over time, health risks. The trick is to maintain your cool amidst BOTH the highs and the lows. In this video, I’ll teach you a little trick I use and have taught my coaching clients, to help you maintain emotional steadiness as a business owner. Action Steps:
  1. Watch this video and ask yourself: Do I maintain my cool when facing the ups and downs of running a business, or do I let myself get carried away with emotion?                    ...
  2. The next time you experience business stress, read this quote:

The truth is: Things are not as good as I think they are. Things are not as bad as I think they are. I am not as good as I think I am. I am not as bad as I think I am. Truth is.

  1. Click HERE to download the quote. Print it and hang it up in a prominent place where you can easily see it.                                                                                                                   ...
  2. Share your perspective or ask questions on this page.
Principles:
  1. Your success as a business owner and entrepreneur is greatly affected by your ability to maintain your cool under the inevitable highs and lows of entrepreneurship.                                                                                                                          .
  2. Truth exists independent of your perception of it. Understanding this will assist you in maintaining emotional steadiness.
This post was sponsored by the Dave Crenshaw’s  Coaching program. Would you like to make more money, make a difference, and still have a life? Click here to learn how about the coaching packages available: http://DaveCrenshaw.com/coach
This entry was posted in For CEOs and Owners and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
  • Michael Mensah

    Thank you Dave for this video.

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      You’re welcome, Michael. Always good to hear from my friends in Ghana!

  • Manish

    Its was good.

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      Thank you, Manish.

  • Olivier

    Thank you Dave for this nice little video. I’d like to share with you the day I finally discovered I was able to believe in myself and become an entrepreneur . I have been a corporate employee for many years and was successful enough to be close enough to my CEO who’s a guy I respect a lot (CEO of several public companies). Anyway, on a business trip where the both of us were visiting a client in Memphis, we ended celebrating a successful day on Beale Street for a relaxing evening. Then I asked him: “Jeff, it seems you always know exactly what decision to take, where to go, what to do all the time. How do you do it? How come you look so sure when I have doubts all the time?”. He replied “I doubt all the time too. But all employees expect me to lead them and to know where we should go! I MUST appear to know where we are going because if I don’t, nobody will follow…would you?! And as far as decision go, I trust my executive team to inform me and educate me as best as they can, so that I can make the best educated and informed decision. Am I wrong sometime? Of course I am! Nobody has a crystal ball! I do not always make the best decision, but as long as I can correct the course of the action soon enough and turn the negative into positive, I’ll be able to motivate and lead our company to success.” That response from such a successful CEO was a revelation to me.  And nowadays every time I have doubts about anything, I think about that day and what Jeff told me; this helps me go through the bad times and still appear to be a confident leader.
    Best
    Olivier

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      Olivier, this is awesome. Thank you!

      For those of you who were speed reading his post, STOP, and read this quote that he shared, because it describes so many important elements of entrepreneurial leadership:

      “I doubt all the time too. But all employees expect me to lead them and to know where we should go! I MUST appear to know where we are going because if I don’t, nobody will follow…would you?! And as far as decision go, I trust my executive team to inform me and educate me as best as they can, so that I can make the best educated and informed decision. Am I wrong sometime? Of course I am! Nobody has a crystal ball! I do not always make the best decision, but as long as I can correct the course of the action soon enough and turn the negative into positive, I’ll be able to motivate and lead our company to success.”  
      Again, thank you.

      • Olivier

        Thank you Dave. Currently a big fan of yours. Going through your training videos (all of them) on Lynda.com. Keep up the great work.

  • http://twitter.com/tinynow Matt Kreiling

    Thank you for all you do Mr. Crenshaw. In particular, thank you for the clear and rigorous course on lynda.com and for your orderly and memorable way of conveying information in every video I’ve watched.

    This quote reveals that the Truth is important. We live in a world focused on perception and subjectivity. I am so happy to here advice that is objectively true yet can reach us when we are not being very objective.

    Truth is…

    • http://www.DaveCrenshaw.com Dave Crenshaw

      You’re welcome, Matt. Thanks for the supporting words. They keep me going!