Loneliness

I am giving a speech tonight at Fairfield University in Connecticut.

The host asked me to speak about the life of an entrepreneur.

Of course, I could tell the audience all the good stuff. But that would be disingenuous.

I prefer to share the downsides, too - one of which is loneliness.

When you have a vision, when you see something so clearly yet no one else can, it is incredibly lonely. You can't help but start to doubt yourself.

Even those who truly care about you begin to wonder if you know what you're doing.

Those who prevail through the loneliness are often the most successful entrepreneurs.

And why am I talking about this to a group of college students who may someday want to be entrepreneurs? Simple.

By preparing these young adults for the trials of entrepreneurship, I toughen their skin. If they know what to expect from the life of an entrepreneur, they will be that much more likely to stay the course.

The lonely battle. Entrepreneurship is as much about overcoming setbacks, doubt and loneliness as anything else. How do you find the resolve to keep going?

Comments

[Bill Fuchs - Total Team Construction LLC]

Amen!
I would also add that as soon as they develop a business plan and decide to take the plunge, start assembling a board of directors, a business coach, and join a confidential CEO sounding group. Include the exit strategy as an add-on to the business plan.

This will help maintain sanity and improve profitability.

I wish that I learned this lesson much earlier in life. The cost of self-educating is much greater than the costs of the board, coach and group.

[Jeffrey Woods]

Entrepreneurship is very professionally lonely. I often go to a coffee shop to do work so that I can see other faces and hear other voices. When attending real estate industry events, I will share that I am a sole practitioner (lawyer) and independent real estate broker. This is not perceived to be "sexy" or "entreprenurial." It is often perceived by others as being--for lack of better terms--dumb or insane. Thus, as you indicated, you must have thick skin, be confident, have goals, have targets, have reasons for being an entrepreneur. In order to stay on track, I remind myself of these goals and that the potential rewards for success on this platform would far exceed any rewards from a more traditional, secure, employee-based platform.

[Brad Fallon]

Yes I agree with you that it can be lonely if no one share with you the same vision. It would make you doubtful if what you envision will be successful or not. But there are also lots of good stuff that can be share. This will inspire them and accept the fact that there are ups and downs in business.

[Mahesh CR]

Jim

So glad you emphasized this aspect. Even building out a product proposition within the framework of a larger company as I have can be incredibly lonely. Every interaction would be about selling the vision and 4 times out of 5 people would not get it.

I feel strongly enough about the loneliness aspect that I have written a post[1] about it. Note that I ruminate on this state rather than give out solutions to the problem.

[1]http://maheshcr.com/blog/2011/01/a-vision-is-a-lonely-place/

[Shane Adams]

People who become successful entrepreneurs started small. They worked hard and took risk, they were never afraid of failure. Sure, they also had bad days. But instead of getting them down, these times just made them want to try more. Look at Steven Jobs. He started in a small garage and now is the head of the largest technological company in the world. We can't call him lonely now. Just look at him introducing the new Apple products.

[Classic Timberland Boots]

Good stuff as per usual, thanks. I do hope this kind of thing gets more exposure.