Promises, Pressure, and Peace: My mental tool for survival.
As an entrepreneur, one of the most underrated skills is handling pressure. This is what has worked for me so far to turn those situations around.
As an entrepreneur, one of the most underrated skills is handling pressure. The startup journey is a high-pressure rollercoaster, and sooner or later, it reaches you. At that moment, facing a situation with the right mindset is the difference between burnout and survival.
In my experience, the worst possible scenario is when you are failing (which happens very often), and you're not at peace with yourself (which should never happen).
This combo stops you from thinking correctly, and it is game over.
Unfortunately, you cannot avoid failing. In fact, you should develop a love for failing somehow. However, you can (and must) maintain your inner peace no matter what. That’s the challenge.
The best mental tool that works for me is to: only make promises on things you can control.
It sounds more straightforward than it is because, here’s the twist, you do not control almost anything, and it's fine.
The only thing that you really control is: yourself. So, that’s the only thing you can make promises about.
You should never promise yourself that you will succeed.
You should never promise your employees that they will be rich by following you.
You should never promise your investors that you’re building the next unicorn.
Instead, you promise that you’re going to push as hard as you can to make that a reality.
Your implication is something you control. The outcome, success or failure, is not. It works like the totem in Inception: no matter the situation, no matter the outcome, if you’re giving your 100%, you can be at peace with yourself and avoid getting lost.
This simple thought releases tons of pressure when facing difficult situations and has allowed me to focus on what really matters in that situations: turn the situation around.
Hope it helps you as well! ✌🏼