Entrepreneurs are so passionate about what they are creating — and often, so fearful of letting their team and investors down — that they will do almost anything to realize their startup’s potential. Stories of sacrifice abound in founder blogs and startup post-mortems, with entrepreneurs forgoing sleep, friendships, family relationships, exercise, and good nutrition for their startups. This startup-above-all-else approach can lead to chronic stress, which wreaks havoc on entrepreneurs’ physical and mental health. A UCSF study found that entrepreneurs may already be prone to mental health conditions more than the general population, and in our personal experience, anxiety, self-doubt, depression, and loneliness are rampant among entrepreneurs.
Passion for Your Startup Doesn’t Have to Mean Constant Stress
At MIT Sloan School of Management’s delta v accelerator 84 entrepreneurs participated in a first-of-its-kind, exploratory self-awareness program. By the end of the program, 88% of the participants (up from 21%) had independently established their own regular, weekly meditation or mindfulness practice; 53% of participants were more frequently utilizing a deliberate tool or technique to work through stress; and 40% were more aware of their emotions. While in previous years, accelerator participants valued their startups above all else, in this cohort, they not only valued their own well-being, but they more often offered and accepted help. They demonstrated that they didn’t have to be harried and constantly stressed to show their passion for their startups.
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