Riding the roller coaster of entrepreneurship

Running my own business produced some of the best days of my life, and some of the worst.

I’ve won big deals and then lost them again. I’ve hired the perfect person who would transform my business only to have them accept a counter-offer. I’ve sent an offer out to my list that got a great response, only to figure out that I messed up the landing page, and the form won’t go through.

I feel like we’re not growing fast enough, and also like we’re not delivering on our current work. I close the biggest deal of my life, then hang up to work with the bookkeeper to figure out how to make payroll.

Sometimes these things come in streaks…sometimes more than one in a day!

It’s a lot!

It’s overwhelming, physically, and emotionally. It consumes my resilience day-after-day. The ups-and-downs can feel like they are going to swamp me.

Until one day they don’t.

I don’t know how it happens; at some point, the same things happen, but having ridden through so many, it’s just not as scary anymore.

I have a team I can trust, I have some cash in the bank, and what would be a crisis event a few years ago is just a Wednesday now.

I know I’m not bulletproof; I’m no fool! But it doesn’t bother me anymore; I go to work and solve the problem.

Did you experience this shift at some point, or are you still riding the roller coaster?

If you’ve felt this shift, what do you think changed? What advice would you give to folks still riding the roller coaster?

Hit reply and let me know what you think.

H/T to @jasonlk who’s tweetstorm got me thinking about this.