Entrepreneurial Burnout
- Thread starter jryan54
- Start date
Amazing thread guys. I have it bookmarked. Motivation/burnout has been the biggest problem in my entire life. I have tried everything under the sun.
Here is my list of things that will sap your motivation, obviously this may not apply to everyone, but these are usually my reasons for not getting any work done and just a bunch of other stuff that I have thought about deeply. I have trained myself like a fucking dog to stop being a lazy unproductive burnout.
1. Smoking weed in the daytime. Smoking too much at night and waking up groggy the next morning. The key is to smoke just enough to get you nice and toasty at night. Marijuana is great for brainstorming but the worst thing ever for execution of plans. I take a few bowl hits at night and put it away. I am trying to smoke every other day now as well. My ultimate goal is to smoke only on the weekends. Obviously this does not apply to people who don't smoke.
2. Masturbating. Don't touch yourself too much you know. This saps your drive. This makes you feel like you accomplished something when really you just wasted time jerking off to women who are not actually in your life. Keep your fluids inside, let them drive you! Build up that testosterone. If you have a girl try to only have sex without masturbating ever. If you don't have a girl, try to make masturbation a once a week thing. Porn is the biggest distraction ever. This will definitely burn you out.
3. Staying awake all night until 5AM doing god knows what (usually: reddit/tv/porn/weed/other drugs/other forums/"writing plans") then waking up around 1PM or 2PM, and half the day is gone. To go from waking up at 2PM to waking up at 8AM is impossible. Slowly try to readjust yourself. My first goal was 12PM, I can now kind of do it consistently. My next goal is waking up at 10AM. Ultimately I would love to wake up at 6AM and sleep by 11PM. Follow the sun. Stay away from ALL screens one hour before you try to sleep, I know this sounds crazy in this day and age, but read a book before you sleep. Turn off the goddamn electronics. Take a hot shower one hour before your target bedtime, turn off all the lights, computers, phones, grab your book, snuggle into your bed and read. Make love to your girl. If you are single DON'T jerk off. Keep it in. Be horny, use that energy to work. Trust me on this one. When the clock strikes your bedtime turn off the lights and close your eyes. It will be hard to adjust at first but DO IT! Keep your eyes closed and just lay there until you gotta wake up. In about a week or two you will adjust. Since we work for ourselves (or I imagine so) it is hard to be disciplined. You must discipline yourself. Sleep at night, wake up early morning. This will do you wonders.
4. So you woke up early in the morning because your alarm clock rang. Get up! While trying to adjust my sleep schedule in the beginning I would literally just roll myself out of bed. I would let myself fall to the floor, I would crawl to turn off the alarm, FORCE myself to wash my face. Make yourself a breakfast, eat it. DON'T turn on any screens yet. Enjoy the quiet morning. Read a book/magazine/newspaper.
5. Go exercise, take a walk, go to the gym. Just go OUTSIDE. Go outside in the morning. Pretend your going to work like most people do (I work at home so this is vital so I don't feel like such a slob). If you went to the gym (which I started doing 3 times a week every morning, and just wow... amazing feelings all around) when you get back take a shower, COLD shower. Wake your ass up. Rinse yourself off and meditate. You might be thinking fuck that. This is a mistake. Meditation is incredible. Here are a few amazing meditation resources:
Listen to this guy: Here
Buy this book: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Mind-Thoughts-Meditation-Essential/dp/1586380478/"]Here[/ame]
Buy these beads: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Tibetan-Buddhist-Sandalwood-Necklace-Meditation/dp/B003MRMLKK"]Here[/ame]
Just twenty minutes. Once you get into it you will look forward to meditating every morning. Think of your positive affirmations. Listen to your breath, count the beads. Pray to god. Yes pray! After your 10 to 20 minute meditation. Pray to god. I know how this sounds. If you don't want to pray to god pray to the sun. Pray to something. Express genuine gratitude for your life. Touch your head to the floor.
6. Don't try to work for 10 hours right away. Start off by working just 3 to 5 hours each day. You can do this for sure. But the key words here are: EVERY WEEK DAY. Take off Saturday and Sunday like most people do. Once you get more disciplined increase that time to 6 hours, 8 hours, then work Saturdays, etc. Start off slowly. Keep an exact schedule of the times. When does work start? When does work end? When is lunchtime? When work ends, STOP. When it's lunchtime, STOP, eat your lunch,, don't think about work. Go take another walk and eat lunch outside even. Give yourself an hour for lunch, just how everyone else does it. Then drink a coffee (lunch will make you sleepy and lazy and horny), ignore those feelings YOU ARE IN CHARGE. Drink your coffee and back to work. When work ends turn off all the work screens and now...
7. Eat your dinner, master your hobby (mine is music production/djing), watch tv, go meet some friends at a bar, hangout with your girl, take another walk! Walking is so fucking healthy for you.
The key is to compartmentalize. So when you are working that is all you are thinking about it. You are not going over to reddit/wickedfire/facebook/steam/porn, unless it is part of work. When you are relaxing, you are 100% relaxing guilt free. The only way you can relax guilt free is if you did some work first.
Work first. Relax second. Be FULLY in the moment. If you are working do not think about your girlfriend, if you are with your girlfriend do not think about work. Etc.
I can keep writing about this forever. I have tried to train myself like a dog. I have tried to disrupt my habits. I have tried to rewrite my subconscious code.
I used to work 6 hours in one day. Then do nothing for DAYS. Then do it over and over again. That is why many businesses of mine were half assed and eventually completely blown out by harder working and smarter competitors. I used to go to sleep at 7AM and wake up at 4PM. It took me years, I am serious years, to be able to change this about myself. The laziness and lack of motivation, its like a fucking disease. There is nothing more important than consistency.
Now I go to sleep at 2AM and wake up at 10AM. Gym, long walk & meditation every morning. I work about 5 hours everyday. I mean 5 hours of pure work with no distractions. Some of you may laugh at this, but this is a huge accomplishment for me. Once my 5 hours of work is done I completely zone work out and am able to hang out with my girl/play video games/get a little high/meet friends/do other chores/etc. with absolutely no guilt. I get to enjoy these things as opposed to having the constant cloud of anxiety that I carried with me for years.
I am not perfect and it is such a struggle but I refuse to live the way I've lived the majority of my life. Yes I've made money but never consistently. It comes and goes. That's because I am not consistent. Consistency + execution of plans = long term cash flow. And cash flow is what's up. Grow your cash flow, save it, invest in some real estate or invest back into your business. Build that passive income so that one day when you really don't have to work for your money anymore, you can stop working forever. In my opinion real estate is the ultimate passive income. So until you own enough real estate where you don't ever have to work again you must discipline yourself.
It is either get disciplined and build up that cash flow. Or be a lazy slob and live in a constant state of anxiety and work for the rest of your life. Take control of yourself! Even just for a year. Just say this year I will be like this. BE A ROBOT. JUST ONE YEAR.
I know there are others just like me out there. Having no boss hanging over your head turns you into a motherfucking slob, it is the nature of our internet marketing business.
Hope this helps someone. I can write much much more, but I have to say, at 27 years old I am finally doing okay. My business is moving forward in a clear direction with increasing cash flows and I am immensely enjoying my free time as well. Fuck that guilt. Do your work, then go play.
Also I just want to say why the fuck does galacon shit on everyone everywhere? Do I get banned for pointing this out? Yo Galacon STFU! Your a fucking dumbass and your negativity makes me sick.
I love this forum, and I love this thread. Burnout and lack motivation are my two greatest vices. But I have to conquer them if I want to be rich. And I am finally on the path, just wanted to share some of my thoughts on how I started to get there.
your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.”
-Charles Bukowski
Here is my list of things that will sap your motivation, obviously this may not apply to everyone, but these are usually my reasons for not getting any work done and just a bunch of other stuff that I have thought about deeply. I have trained myself like a fucking dog to stop being a lazy unproductive burnout.
1. Smoking weed in the daytime. Smoking too much at night and waking up groggy the next morning. The key is to smoke just enough to get you nice and toasty at night. Marijuana is great for brainstorming but the worst thing ever for execution of plans. I take a few bowl hits at night and put it away. I am trying to smoke every other day now as well. My ultimate goal is to smoke only on the weekends. Obviously this does not apply to people who don't smoke.
2. Masturbating. Don't touch yourself too much you know. This saps your drive. This makes you feel like you accomplished something when really you just wasted time jerking off to women who are not actually in your life. Keep your fluids inside, let them drive you! Build up that testosterone. If you have a girl try to only have sex without masturbating ever. If you don't have a girl, try to make masturbation a once a week thing. Porn is the biggest distraction ever. This will definitely burn you out.
3. Staying awake all night until 5AM doing god knows what (usually: reddit/tv/porn/weed/other drugs/other forums/"writing plans") then waking up around 1PM or 2PM, and half the day is gone. To go from waking up at 2PM to waking up at 8AM is impossible. Slowly try to readjust yourself. My first goal was 12PM, I can now kind of do it consistently. My next goal is waking up at 10AM. Ultimately I would love to wake up at 6AM and sleep by 11PM. Follow the sun. Stay away from ALL screens one hour before you try to sleep, I know this sounds crazy in this day and age, but read a book before you sleep. Turn off the goddamn electronics. Take a hot shower one hour before your target bedtime, turn off all the lights, computers, phones, grab your book, snuggle into your bed and read. Make love to your girl. If you are single DON'T jerk off. Keep it in. Be horny, use that energy to work. Trust me on this one. When the clock strikes your bedtime turn off the lights and close your eyes. It will be hard to adjust at first but DO IT! Keep your eyes closed and just lay there until you gotta wake up. In about a week or two you will adjust. Since we work for ourselves (or I imagine so) it is hard to be disciplined. You must discipline yourself. Sleep at night, wake up early morning. This will do you wonders.
4. So you woke up early in the morning because your alarm clock rang. Get up! While trying to adjust my sleep schedule in the beginning I would literally just roll myself out of bed. I would let myself fall to the floor, I would crawl to turn off the alarm, FORCE myself to wash my face. Make yourself a breakfast, eat it. DON'T turn on any screens yet. Enjoy the quiet morning. Read a book/magazine/newspaper.
5. Go exercise, take a walk, go to the gym. Just go OUTSIDE. Go outside in the morning. Pretend your going to work like most people do (I work at home so this is vital so I don't feel like such a slob). If you went to the gym (which I started doing 3 times a week every morning, and just wow... amazing feelings all around) when you get back take a shower, COLD shower. Wake your ass up. Rinse yourself off and meditate. You might be thinking fuck that. This is a mistake. Meditation is incredible. Here are a few amazing meditation resources:
Listen to this guy: Here
Buy this book: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Conquest-Mind-Thoughts-Meditation-Essential/dp/1586380478/"]Here[/ame]
Buy these beads: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Tibetan-Buddhist-Sandalwood-Necklace-Meditation/dp/B003MRMLKK"]Here[/ame]
Just twenty minutes. Once you get into it you will look forward to meditating every morning. Think of your positive affirmations. Listen to your breath, count the beads. Pray to god. Yes pray! After your 10 to 20 minute meditation. Pray to god. I know how this sounds. If you don't want to pray to god pray to the sun. Pray to something. Express genuine gratitude for your life. Touch your head to the floor.
6. Don't try to work for 10 hours right away. Start off by working just 3 to 5 hours each day. You can do this for sure. But the key words here are: EVERY WEEK DAY. Take off Saturday and Sunday like most people do. Once you get more disciplined increase that time to 6 hours, 8 hours, then work Saturdays, etc. Start off slowly. Keep an exact schedule of the times. When does work start? When does work end? When is lunchtime? When work ends, STOP. When it's lunchtime, STOP, eat your lunch,, don't think about work. Go take another walk and eat lunch outside even. Give yourself an hour for lunch, just how everyone else does it. Then drink a coffee (lunch will make you sleepy and lazy and horny), ignore those feelings YOU ARE IN CHARGE. Drink your coffee and back to work. When work ends turn off all the work screens and now...
7. Eat your dinner, master your hobby (mine is music production/djing), watch tv, go meet some friends at a bar, hangout with your girl, take another walk! Walking is so fucking healthy for you.
The key is to compartmentalize. So when you are working that is all you are thinking about it. You are not going over to reddit/wickedfire/facebook/steam/porn, unless it is part of work. When you are relaxing, you are 100% relaxing guilt free. The only way you can relax guilt free is if you did some work first.
Work first. Relax second. Be FULLY in the moment. If you are working do not think about your girlfriend, if you are with your girlfriend do not think about work. Etc.
I can keep writing about this forever. I have tried to train myself like a dog. I have tried to disrupt my habits. I have tried to rewrite my subconscious code.
I used to work 6 hours in one day. Then do nothing for DAYS. Then do it over and over again. That is why many businesses of mine were half assed and eventually completely blown out by harder working and smarter competitors. I used to go to sleep at 7AM and wake up at 4PM. It took me years, I am serious years, to be able to change this about myself. The laziness and lack of motivation, its like a fucking disease. There is nothing more important than consistency.
Now I go to sleep at 2AM and wake up at 10AM. Gym, long walk & meditation every morning. I work about 5 hours everyday. I mean 5 hours of pure work with no distractions. Some of you may laugh at this, but this is a huge accomplishment for me. Once my 5 hours of work is done I completely zone work out and am able to hang out with my girl/play video games/get a little high/meet friends/do other chores/etc. with absolutely no guilt. I get to enjoy these things as opposed to having the constant cloud of anxiety that I carried with me for years.
I am not perfect and it is such a struggle but I refuse to live the way I've lived the majority of my life. Yes I've made money but never consistently. It comes and goes. That's because I am not consistent. Consistency + execution of plans = long term cash flow. And cash flow is what's up. Grow your cash flow, save it, invest in some real estate or invest back into your business. Build that passive income so that one day when you really don't have to work for your money anymore, you can stop working forever. In my opinion real estate is the ultimate passive income. So until you own enough real estate where you don't ever have to work again you must discipline yourself.
It is either get disciplined and build up that cash flow. Or be a lazy slob and live in a constant state of anxiety and work for the rest of your life. Take control of yourself! Even just for a year. Just say this year I will be like this. BE A ROBOT. JUST ONE YEAR.
I know there are others just like me out there. Having no boss hanging over your head turns you into a motherfucking slob, it is the nature of our internet marketing business.
Hope this helps someone. I can write much much more, but I have to say, at 27 years old I am finally doing okay. My business is moving forward in a clear direction with increasing cash flows and I am immensely enjoying my free time as well. Fuck that guilt. Do your work, then go play.
Also I just want to say why the fuck does galacon shit on everyone everywhere? Do I get banned for pointing this out? Yo Galacon STFU! Your a fucking dumbass and your negativity makes me sick.
I love this forum, and I love this thread. Burnout and lack motivation are my two greatest vices. But I have to conquer them if I want to be rich. And I am finally on the path, just wanted to share some of my thoughts on how I started to get there.
your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.”
-Charles Bukowski
Yeah definitely married with a kid on the way (find out the sex tomorrow).
I'm actually starting to suspect that sleep and exercise might be the issue here. I would generally average around 6-7hrs a night and its not super deep sleep. My mind continues to tick over for hours after laying down and this makes it hard for me to get into deep REM sleep. I've also been seriously lacking any sort of decent exercise.
Yesterday, I went and lifted some heavy weights and just bombed my quads/chest and back enough that I could feel the soreness exhaustion kicking in. Subsequently, I slept really well last night for like 11hrs straight and woke up today feeling a bit better.
I'm starting to suspect that gruelling consulting schedules and stress and lack of exercise/sleep and good eating has taken its toll on me. Looking back, even though the hours have been long I suspect my overall productivity has been slipping due to me not being 100% sharp.
So i'll continue this regime whilst on holidays for the next week or so and then will fit it in to a normal workday and cut back a bit on available hours. Ill try and monitor it and keep the thread updated to see what happens in the medium term.
I have a strong suspicion that long term peak mental performance relies largely on physical exercise, diet, and sleep.
You need some motivation? Go buy a new car, or a boat. Fuck it go buy a house. Take on some debt. You will be amazed what these new financial obligations can do for your burnout.
PS. If you are shitty at handling money and you're already up to your eyeballs in debt, this advice does not pertain to you.
PS. If you are shitty at handling money and you're already up to your eyeballs in debt, this advice does not pertain to you.
Try an antihistamine (like benadryl) to curb your adrenaline production before you go to bed. Your mind will be less likely to race. Also, meditation can help shut it down at night too.
Long term peak mental performance does indeed depend on physical exercise, diet and sleep but don't forget mental exercise as well. Push your brain to maintain/improve your processing speed.
I bookmarked this thread this afternoon based solely on this comment while I was busy with something else figuring I would check it out this evening.
Wife is out with the kids so I ordered a pizza and have been staying busy. Pizza got here and as I'm walking with it to the kitchen I think hey I'll have some pizza and check out that motivational link.
So here I am with my pizza and well... I wasn't disappointed. Very motivating. Haven't been motivated like this in a long long time.
The lazy times are the times I miss adderall very much. I think exercise is a good start. It is a discipline and will help getting your endorphins flowing. Whenever I feel I have gotten very lazy, exercise is the first thing I will do as I look at is as a step to getting motivated. It will also reduce anxiety and help with sleep which is a plus for me at least. Start there for sure.