Entrepreneurial Confidence and Mental Health
The pandemic affects everyone. Today, we are all dealing with a different model for living; many people are working or attending school virtually, there is less social interaction, greater isolation, more juggling of home and work duties, and of course the anxiety and pain if loved ones become sick or die from COVID-19. A study by the CDC in June reported 40% of US adults are struggling with mental health or substance abuse, substantially higher figures than in 2019.
Where does that leave our entrepreneurs? Beginning in March, the Trust Center closed its doors until further notice. We are continuing to support MIT’s entrepreneurship community virtually, including via online resources like Orbit. This past summer, our delta v accelerator moved to a completely virtual experience, including online Demo Day presentations.
One question we continue to ask ourselves is: How has the pandemic affected the mental health of entrepreneurs?
Read more at Entrepreneurship.MIT.edu
There is a mental health crisis in entrepreneurship. Here’s how to tackle it
In the US alone, start-ups create approximately 43% of new jobs annually based on data released by the Census Bureau’s Business Dynamic Statistics (BDS). The Small Business Administration has calculated that from 2000 to 2017, small businesses created 8.4 million net new jobs as opposed to 4.4 million jobs created by large corporations. In 2015 there was a total of 30.2 million small businesses, representing 99.9% of all firms.
But while the data sets have historically focused on the macro wellbeing of local and global economies, they have failed to measure the pernicious impact that mental health disorders have on the micro well-being of founders. Fortunately, the focus of the value analysis has begun to change.
According to Dr Paul Hokemeyer, an expert in elite identity constructs: “Given the extraordinary impact entrepreneurs have on our world economy, it’s critically important they operate in a state of optimum emotional and relational health. Unfortunately, in our current zeitgeist of founder burnout as a benchmark of entrepreneurial excellence, such has not been the case.”
Why Some Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs Could Exacerbate Mental Health Issues and Substance Abuse
Entrepreneurs are go-getters. People who want to build a business, disrupt an industry or simply be their own bosses. The excitement of chasing the next big thing leads some people to become “serial entrepreneurs,” which researcher April J. Spivack and others are investigating as a possible behavioral addiction. In addition, a few traits of some successful entrepreneurs, such as risk-taking and obsessive-compulsive behaviors, are found to be indicative of someone potentially at risk of becoming addicted to substances as well as behaviors, according to the experts at American Addiction Centers.
Dr. Hokemeyer, a clinical and consulting psychotherapist, spoke at the recent World Economic Forum about entrepreneurs and mental health.
“Entrepreneurs are trained to ignore the qualitative needs of their well-being measured in meaningful and authentic relationships, overall life satisfaction and happiness,” he said. “The message they have internalized from the field’s most celebrated entrepreneurs is the outdated prescription of ‘no pain, no gain’ and a pernicious message that success is purely measured in quantitative returns, return on investment and profit.”
In other words, it’s not far-fetched that the basic entrepreneurial structure could potentially lead to or exacerbate mental health issues such as addiction and depression.
7 Ways Successful Entrepreneurs Manage Stress
When it comes to the world of business ownership, success involves developing a plan for stress management. It takes a great deal of effort and energy to run a profitable company. People who are responsible for the health of an organization are frequently under a great deal of pressure.
With this in mind, stress management is critical. However, it can be difficult for business owners to learn how to develop a strategy that works for them. To help we’ve compiled a list of the stress management tactics from seven successful entrepreneurs around the world.
How to Keep the Peace In a Busy, Entrepreneurial Family
Becoming a solopreneur is tough, but it’s easier when you’re single. You don’t have to schedule your life around your spouse’s calendar. There are no kids to pick up from school or cook meals for. When life gets busy, it’s because you—and only you—have a lot going on.
But what happens when you fall in love with another independent person, someone who’s just as driven as you? Can a pair of entrepreneurs merge their lifestyles to start a family, achieve their goals and maintain a peaceful household?
In this episode of Brilliant Thoughts, SUCCESS People Editor Tristan Ahumada talks to Elena Cardone about how to succeed as a family of entrepreneurs. Her husband, Grant Cardone, owns seven companies and manages a $2 billion real estate portfolio. Elena is a Hollywood actress and model-turned-businesswomen. She’s the author of Build an Empire: How to Have it All and produces the annual 10X Ladies and Build an Empire Mastermind events. Their kids contribute to the family business by speaking at growth conferences and seminars.
18 Movies Every Entrepreneur Should Watch
Between documentaries and fictional films, there is a lot you can learn about the plight of entrepreneurs from the comfort of your couch. Whether you are just starting out on your business venture or have been at it for years, you can glean some powerful insights from these 18 provocative and wildly entertaining films.
20 All-Time Best Entrepreneur Books to Make Your Business Successful
Being an entrepreneur is all fun until you realize that you’re actually not as experienced as others. Your knowledge might not be at the same level as those who’ve been in the business for twenty years and that scares you.
No need to worry though, if you have a high teachability index, you will be fine!
The following books will help you grow both in life and in business in order to become a successful entrepreneur. These best entrepreneur books will give you basic knowledge about being an entrepreneur and share advice on what happens while on the journey to entrepreneurial success.
11 real-life entrepreneurs with lives so crazy they deserve their own movie
From The Social Network to Steve Jobs to Girlboss on Netflix , Hollywood has always invested money in actors who dramatically tell how the origins of companies that have changed the world came about.
Mark Zuckerberg , Steve Jobs, and Ray Kroc are just a few of the entrepreneurs whose stories can put you on the edge of your seat. Here are 11 business men and women who deserve their own feature film.
11 Ways for Busy Entrepreneurs to Rest and Recharge
Entrepreneurs are often on the go and rarely take a moment to slow down. However, time off is crucial if you want to prevent burnout and keep your passion for the business alive.
You might wonder how you can balance all your responsibilities and still take time for yourself. To help you combat the stress of building a business, members of Young Entrepreneur Council share some ways for leaders to unplug and recharge, even with a jam-packed schedule.
Why Entrepreneurs Ignore A Formal Plan, The Root Cause Of Business Failure
It might be surprising to learn that many new entrepreneurs ignore advice even when it is given by experts. With as many valuable resources and expert business advice on startups, strategy and financial planning available online today, you would think that more entrepreneurs would succeed at building sustainable business models, but in fact, the opposite is true. Businesses still fail at a staggering rate in both healthy and down-turned economies, and there is not any shortage of research as to why. Take any of the dozens of articles from your favorite platforms and distill their top reasons down to a single root cause, and I have observed that your number one culprit is typically a lack of planning.
From “poor product offering” to “no market demand” or “lack of resources” to “too much competition,” these are all signs of not having a formal business plan in place. Having one is a fundamental step in business development, and every notable business leader, advisor and strategist will tell you that the process of building one increases your survival rate and positions you for long-term success. It is one of the most important documents that an entrepreneur can create for their business because its job is to address the topics above, including all the other reasons for failure commonly reported. Beyond that, it is also used to obtain funding and in-kind support on demand.
Ten Tips for Entrepreneurial Success
Research shows that only about one-third of all start-up ventures in the US are still in existence ten years after inception. However, interestingly the average return from entrepreneurship is still high enough for more and more start up projects to emerge. What are the key success factors that differentiate the successful ventures from those that fail?
- Discovery Driven Planning: Generally past performance is used to plan for the future by existing companies. However, if you are an entrepreneur with a completely novel idea and looking to get started, there is no past data so the approach to planning you use is discovery driven. This approach is a bit like walking in a field with thorns and roses scattered randomly. Each step you take guides you to the next based on the response you get from the marketing field. So you take small steps and learn along the way.
- Track and Refine: The winners in the game of entrepreneurship are able to develop a marketing mix that is just right for their target audience. You can use various tools to do this. For example, you can use call tracking to determine which of your marketing sources generate the most productive leads. In this way you can optimize your marketing budget by focusing on channels that get you the highest Return on Investment (ROI).
Learn more at Blog.Avidtrak.com
Narcissism is associated with entrepreneurial intention but not business success
New research published in the Journal of Business Venturing Insights sheds light on the relationship between narcissistic personality traits and entrepreneurship. The findings indicate that narcissism “is a mixed blessing.”
“Mental health symptoms such as ADHD and autism have traditionally been labeled in a negative light. However, there is increasing evidence that individuals characterized with these symptoms can excel in certain work environments that have a good person-job fit with them,” said study author Yik Kiu Leung, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Tilburg University.
“Since the characteristics of narcissism, such as the need for attention, admiration, and power fit well with the work environment of entrepreneurship, we think it is important to extend previous literature and provide a systematic overview of the link between narcissism and various aspects of entrepreneurship.”
How to Qualify for an SBA Loan in 2021
When you don’t have the personal or investment capital necessary to start a business that requires a good chunk of it, the logical answer is to look into a business loan. And although just about any loan involves receiving a lump sum of cash and paying it back over a period of time, not every loan program is created equal. Out of all the business loan programs out there, many entrepreneurs tend to enjoy the accessibility and simplicity of SBA loans.
But how do you qualify for an SBA loan? The current economy is volatile, and following the financial losses caused by many coronavirus-related closures, more and more businesses are competing for precious capital. Here’s how to get in on what’s available.
Learn how to fund and run your startup with this expert-led training package
Outside an MBA or a professional mentorship, getting access to advanced business insight is extremely difficult. If you’re an entrepreneur with the vision and drive to make a small organization successful, skills like raising capital may still be out of reach because there are few affordable places where you can learn them. The Complete CEO Startups Venture Capital Bundle fills the accessibility gap by providing courses designed to guide you to becoming an effective CEP of your own company, and right now lifetime access is on sale for $40.
This bundle offers seven comprehensive courses spanning 261 lessons comprised of 17 hours of content. You can expect to learn effective strategies for startups and CEOs, capital raising practices; advice on pitching and more. With lifetime access, you’ll be able to parse this information at a pace that works well for you and your company. Learn and return when you need a refresher from this bundle, which will be relevant for any business ventures you decide to pursue in the future.
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