Dad, I recently started my own company and it’s stressful. How do I deal with the stress?
It’s a construction company. Started a year ago, finally starting to get into the black. But I’m working 7 days a week now and constantly am thinking about it or on the phone or at work and my wife is starting to get irritated with me for it.
This was me 25 years ago, and it took a good long while after I was in the black before I could get to a point where I could stop thinking about work when I wasn’t working. I think this is the key: you MUST make time to not think about work (and from the sound of it, to think about your wife). I found it easiest to literally put it in my calendar. I set aside time for when I wanted to work out, play with the baby, hang out with the wife, etc. It was very granular in the beginning because otherwise I’d just blow it off, but when I penciled in 45 min for lunch with wife or 15 minutes to read a book, I’d actually do it. Eventually being able to unplug became easier and I could stop, but scheduling was a crutch I leaned on for years. It’s fantastic that you can see a path to success already, but remember that work and the grind aren’t the only important things.
That’s the thing, at my stage it’s very easy for this to be a path to failure still. But it is going well and the way I want it too. But yes, these things will take time to be able to manage time wise and mentally and I was prepared for that sacrifice when I started this shit. THANKS DAD!