Have you ever wondered how entrepreneurs keep going when the going gets tough?
Here are some tips to stay motivated, no matter what.
Entrepreneur Life is Not for the Faint of Heart
Proponents of entrepreneurship sometimes paint it as a life of ease, especially on social media. As is common on social platforms, you typically see the highlight reel: the luxurious vacations to Bali (whatโs up with that?), the fact that they can work from anywhere, and the creative freedom that is available to those who choose a life that isnโt lived from nine to five.
What most people donโt get to see is the hard work that goes into it. The countless hours entrepreneurs spend simply building their brands and interacting with people. The time they have to spend finding leads and keeping them. The hard months where you have more work and closer deadlines than you know what to do with, and the even harder months where youโre not sure how youโll make ends meet.
The truth is that there are two sides to everything – and entrepreneurship is no different. Itโs a struggle that takes, resolve, grit, perspective, perseverance, and motivation to get through. In other words, itโs not for the faint of heart.
Sometimes it involves sleepless nights and working long hours. And most of the time, it involves working beyond your typical working hours on a passion project, networking, etc. Itโs not a job for people who enjoy being passive or want to โclock outโ at the end of the day.
The Unseen Risks of โTang Pingโ and โBai Lanโ Culture
In 2021, Chinese young people sparked a trend called โtang ping,โ which translates to โlying flat.โ Those involved in the movement rejected the idea of hard work in favor of working toward smaller, more attainable goals. The original idea was not to overwork themselves – which isnโt entirely wrong.
However, now the culture has evolved more, becoming โbai lanโ (โlet it rotโ) culture. In this movement, proponents choose to do the bare minimum at their jobs. Some sources are calling it Chinaโs slacker cultureโฆ and itโs arisen from a concern that theyโll never accomplish or excel at what theyโve been asked to do.
In other words, people are giving up.
The danger of giving up (or โletting it rotโ) are obvious: people who feel they canโt contribute and donโt give themselves opportunity to do so will likely struggle to find joy in life. Putting minimal effort into anything is a bad approach, whether itโs work, relationships, or hobbies. It could easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy: you donโt believe you can do anything, so you donโt try, and you end up doing nothing.
The danger of lying flat – or not overworking – is more elusive, but still important. Essentially, itโs an exchange of hard things for easy things. Taking the huge dreams you have and trading them for something that isnโt as difficult and comes more naturally to you.
This can result in stagnation rather than growth. Imagine what could happen to you if you never pushed yourself to do anything you deemed too difficult. Some of the best things in life – our work, our families, and our relationships – have moments where theyโre very difficult.
It comes down to this: by not risking anything, you are taking a huge risk. You risk looking back one day and thinking, โI was afraid to live. I wish Iโd done it differently.โ
Rest is Not the Enemy – but โSafetyโ Is
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with needing to rest. Rest is a good thing, and how much of it you need depends on what season of life youโre in. Weโve even talked before about the importance of rest, of setting boundaries, and how important it is to enable people to help you.
But the idea that you should make a low-risk life your goal is damaging in a way that most people donโt see until they end up with a mid-life crisisโฆ and some people donโt see it until itโs almost too late.
Be willing to do hard things. Itโs like a muscle: you have to exercise it.
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