How to Avoid Entrepreneur Burnout

TDM - How to Avoid Entrepreneur Burnout George Wright III: [00:00:00] Are you intentionally trying to create a good life? Because success is not about [00:00:05] how much you fit in your schedule, how much you can prove you do It's about making room for [00:00:10] what matters most. And once you do that, you've got to make recovery part of your [00:00:15] success strategy. ​ [00:00:20] Hey, guys. Welcome back to the [00:00:25] podcast. I wanna talk to you today about a leadership and lifestyle topic, and it's [00:00:30] one that a lot of people are dealing with. I've had many guests on this. It's how to avoid entrepreneur [00:00:35] burnout. Because here's the thing: I really do think one of the biggest threats to your business [00:00:40] is not your competition or your economy or anything that you're doing when it comes [00:00:45] to lack of leads or opportunity. The fact is, if you're running yourself into the ground [00:00:50] trying to accomplish everything, that is your biggest, um, threat to your business. Think about that for a minute. [00:00:55] As entrepreneurs and business owners, we're constantly pushing. We're building business, [00:01:00] we're hustling, grinding, solving problems, chasing opportunities, and somewhere along the way, [00:01:05] being busy becomes like some sort of badge of honor. You know, it's something that's [00:01:10] expected, the hustle, the grind. You gotta do it. We start measuring our success by how much we're doing and [00:01:15] how long our hours are instead of actually what we're getting done. So that's what I wanna talk to you about today. [00:01:20] For those of you first joining, my name's George Wright III. I'm your host. I wanna try to always give you [00:01:25] inspiration, motivation, and education, but on Mondays, I'll usually talk about mindset, the, the [00:01:30] inner game, the mindset behind the founder. Wednesdays we talk business. Tuesdays and Thursdays we've [00:01:35] got interviews. But on Fridays, I wanna talk to you about lifestyle because that's [00:01:40] the whole reason we're doing this, right? I, as many of you know, I co-host the Franklin Planner Podcast, [00:01:45] and I do this because I believe that leading your life what matters most, first things [00:01:50] first, are the most important things in your life, period. And when it [00:01:55] comes to your business, I wanna talk to you about what you're paying attention to, and that [00:02:00] is how you are building your business. So how do you avoid [00:02:05] entrepreneur burnout? Because there's something I've learned in the last 30 years. Your greatest asset is not [00:02:10] your company, your product, or your strategy. It's you. It's you. And if you're not [00:02:15] taking care of you, eventually everything else suffers. I've had it happen so many times. [00:02:20] Your relationships, your marriage, your business, your opportunities, your friendships.[00:02:25] You know, so I wanna share some ideas with you on how you can protect your energy, maintain your [00:02:30] focus, and create success that lasts. And I wanna share those with you. [00:02:35] Um, usually try to share at least three ideas, but here's the thing. It's gonna start with [00:02:40] noticing and recognizing the warning signs, right? Here's the challenge with burnout. It doesn't [00:02:45] happen overnight. It happens gradually. And then by the time you're burned out, you [00:02:50] know, you start feeling tired more often, you lose some of the excitement that you have for your business, you become [00:02:55] more impatient, distracted. You-- maybe you'll recognize these things. Sometimes you don't even recognize what's [00:03:00] happening because you're so focused on getting things done. I think one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is [00:03:05] assuming that because they're still productive, everything must be fine. [00:03:10] But you can... You, you know, you could be getting things done while you're slowly just freaking exhausting yourself.[00:03:15] And there's a difference between working hard, you know, towards something that's actually [00:03:20] meaningful and constantly being in survival mode, you know? So ask yourself this [00:03:25] question, would you? Am I building the business and life that I want, or am I just [00:03:30] trying to keep up with everything I've created? Sometimes do you feel like you're just [00:03:35] doing things because you have to, 'cause you've always been doing them? Because just because you've been pushing [00:03:40] doesn't always mean you should That's the thing. You've got to recognize the [00:03:45] warning signs of what you're feeling. Then you've got to create some boundaries that [00:03:50] protect your energy. This is a really tough one. One of the hardest things about being an entrepreneur is that there's [00:03:55] always something pulling at you, an email, a meeting, an opportunity, a problem, [00:04:00] and if you're not careful, the business will consume every minute that you give it. It's the Pareto principle. You will [00:04:05] expand your attention to the time you give it. I've experienced this many times. You know, and when [00:04:10] you're running multiple businesses and managing different products and tons of opportunities constantly coming at you, [00:04:15] it's easy to convince yourself that everything's important. But here's what I've learned. [00:04:20] Not everything that's demanding your attention deserves your attention.[00:04:25] You've got to get intentional about your priorities. What matters the most to [00:04:30] you? Write it down. I, I mean, I'm talking a pen. You guys know what that is, right? A [00:04:35] pen and paper. You've got to learn to write down and identify your priorities, and then you have [00:04:40] to learn to delegate. And, you know, you gotta be comfortable saying no, and sometimes you gotta recognize that an [00:04:45] opportunity isn't necessarily the right one for you right now. It might be a great opportunity, [00:04:50] but not right now. I've recently turned down some opportunities to do some things that were [00:04:55] phenomenal opportunities, but not right now. Because every time you say yes to [00:05:00] something, you're saying no to yourself, not just something else, yourself. [00:05:05] Maybe it's time with your family, your health, you know. Maybe it's time that you need just to think and [00:05:10] create. But the goal is not to eliminate the hard work. I want to be really clear about this. [00:05:15] I believe in hard work. Nobody works harder than me, I don't think. I believe in [00:05:20] discipline. Uh, uh, I may be the, the most disciplined lazy person, but, like, I am disciplined, [00:05:25] and I believe in pursuing big goals. But I also believe you've got to build boundaries around things that matter [00:05:30] the most to you. And if you don't start and you don't know what that is, if your intention isn't there... I just [00:05:35] interviewed Larry Wydel the other day. He's a top one-percenter. This guy's got about [00:05:40] 11 and a half billion under assets under management. And, you know, when I said, "Talk to me about [00:05:45] mindset, talk to me about being a one-percenter consistently," he said, "It always starts with intent." [00:05:50] And I thought, that's a great perspective. Are you intentionally trying [00:05:55] to create a good life? Because success is not about how much you fit in your schedule, how much you can [00:06:00] prove you do It's about making room for what matters most. And once you do that, [00:06:05] you've got to make recovery part of your success strategy. Now, this is one that [00:06:10] we will really struggle with because this is something I think high achievers, you know, will [00:06:15] struggle with, uh, because they're just not used to it. We treat recovery like a reward. [00:06:20] You've got to treat it like something that's more important than a reward. You've [00:06:25] got to treat it like something that's necessary. Get sleep, get exercise, pay attention [00:06:30] to your nutrition. You know, I wrote a paper a while back called "The Corporate Athlete," and the [00:06:35] reason I wrote this paper is because... paper, it was probably a blog, uh, you know, I've, I've gone-- [00:06:40] I've done speaking on it before as well. But, you know, professional athletes will, [00:06:45] will just perform at the highest level and, you know, they will... but they will, they [00:06:50] will rest as well. They recover. They do rehab, you know, ice baths, [00:06:55] massage, doc- you know, personal train- pr- you know, therapists, all this kind of stuff. And [00:07:00] here we are as corporate founder entrepreneurs, and we grind, grind, grind, grind, grind. No [00:07:05] recovery. You've got to remember, it's not the stress of your... Uh, let's just [00:07:10] take working out in the gym. It's not the stress of your muscle, the breaking down of your muscle that grows it. [00:07:15] It's the recovery that grows it. So if you just constantly stress your muscles when you're lifting in the [00:07:20] gym, you'll never-- y- y- you're not gonna repair them. It's the same with [00:07:25] entrepreneurship. The goal isn't to work less just for the sake of working less. It's to [00:07:30] have energy, clarity, and focus, and so recovery is a huge part of that. And I want you to [00:07:35] also think long term. Are you building a business and lifestyle that you can maintain for 10 or 20 [00:07:40] years? Because this whole adage that I grew up around, which is, "Work today like most won't, so that you [00:07:45] can have tomorrow what most can't," is all BS. You need [00:07:50] something that's sustainable long term, and you gotta ask yourself, are you creating something that eventually is just gonna wear you down? [00:07:55] Because I don't think the ultimate goal of entrepreneurship is just to, you know, build a company [00:08:00] and then burn out. I think it's to create a freedom and lifestyle that you can continue to enjoy. [00:08:05] So let me leave you with a challenge this Friday And going into the weekend. As [00:08:10] you head into the weekend, take a few minutes and ask yourself a couple of questions. I [00:08:15] love questions because they really get you thinking. First, what is it that's draining your [00:08:20] energy consistently that you could eliminate or reduce? Might be a [00:08:25] person, might be an activity, might be proximity. A lot of times I won't work in the office because I need [00:08:30] that extra time to get things done and recoup. What's draining your energy that you can eliminate [00:08:35] and reduce? Second, where do I need to establish better boundaries? Where [00:08:40] could you put some boundaries in place that will protect your time, focus, and energy? [00:08:45] And third, what's one habit, just one habit, that you can start practicing that would help you [00:08:50] recharge or perform better? Meditation, journaling, uh, a [00:08:55] day off, like whatever it is. Remember, even a day off is, is productive [00:09:00] if you're using it to recover. Don't try to change everything at once. Just pick one thing, because [00:09:05] small changes add up. You know, practice them consistently, and they add up over time. And [00:09:10] remember this, don't spend your entire life building a business only to discover that you sacrificed [00:09:15] the very thing that you were working hard to create. Because success should give you more life, [00:09:20] not take life away. I appreciate you being here with me today. I hope these are things that [00:09:25] inspire you. I think Fridays are a good time to reflect, to keep growing, to keep [00:09:30] building. Um, you're not doing it on your own. I know sometimes entrepreneurship seems like a lonely road.[00:09:35] It is a lonely road, but not when you-- You know, that's why we have the Dealer Mastermind, so you can [00:09:40] mastermind with, uh, myself, guests, and things we bring in. So I hope this is helping you. [00:09:45] And please do me a favor. Go over to dailymastermind.com or go to my email address. I always put [00:09:50] it in these episodes. People don't, um, think I respond, but I read all these emails. Uh, you can even go to [00:09:55] george@g3worldwide.com. That's my personal email address. Uh, I'd love to hear what you're working [00:10:00] on. Let me know what you've got going on. You have greatness inside of you. Now it's time to [00:10:05] unleash it. That's my message for today. Have an amazing weekend. Share the show. I'll talk with you soon. ​ [00:10:10] [00:10:15]