Roller Coaster

Do You Have a Metalic Taste at the Back Of Your Neck Right Now ?

April 7, 2015 by admin

I just got a note from a CEO 10 minutes ago – I replied immediately just now with these points off the top of my head…

CEOs NOTE TO ME: “Hi Cameron, That metallic feeling in the back of the neck you described during your talk – I can now understand. I took the stress scale test and was surprised to find out I scored 500, which appears to be very high risk. Would you recommend I drop everything and go away for a few days. Or wrap up the week, make sure there’s a contingency plan, and take a proper vacation? Sorry for the unsolicited inquest, any advice appreciated.”

MY REPLY TO THEM: “Here is what I’d do – for the next month:

Only work between the hours of 9am-5pm.
Take a 1 hour lunch, daily, with friends, or non-work people, and do NOT take your iPhone. And don’t talk biz.
Go for a walk – somewhere at 10:30am and 2:30pm for 15-20 min and no iPhone.
Try to feel the grass or sand under your feet daily – even 2 min
Work out, run, yoga, meditate etc. 3x a week – for even 20 min per session
Watch some fun comedians on NetFlix 1-2 times a week
Don’t bring your iPhone to bed
Don’t work at home in the evenings – ever
See if you can get a vacation booked
Do NOT work on Sat or Sun
Don’t read any biz books for a month – they just cause stress & add more to your list
Write your TOP 5 goals each morning – and do those…
Cut out any crap food – and see if you can get some fresh juices delivered to your house weekly.Hope that helps.”NOTE: From when I burned out 14 years ago, that metallic taste at the back of your neck is a chemical secretion caused by stress.

What To Do During A Crisis Of Meaning

February 5, 2012 by admin

This is a scary stage in your company that comes after Informed Pessimism, and can feel like you’re standing on the edge of a building needing to jump. It will feel like all the odds are stacked against you and that everything is going wrong. It will be hard to get out of bed in the morning. Sleeping at night will be close to impossible due to worries and fear. You’ll feel like you’re paralyzed and can do little more than perhaps clean your filing cabinet drawers successfully.

You definitely do NOT want to be talking to the media, potential employees or having team meetings when you’re feeling like this.

When you start feeling yourself sliding into this Crisis of Meaning stage, you really do have to reach out for help. Don’t wait until you’re out on a ledge to call from your cell phone and say, “Hi, I’m getting ready to jump. Can you help me?” They won’t get to you in time!

We all need to really understand the feelings that we’re having as we move down the roller coaster. For women entrepreneurs, this can be a little easier since they know how to tap into that emotional intelligence and intuition from years of practice, and frankly, it’s more socially acceptable for them to do this. They’re also more likely to talk to others about their feelings, whereas we guys tend to think through stuff silently from our little caves. The bottom line? We all need to listen to our bodies and brains more because they actually send out these chemical responses within our body for a reason.

That anxious feeling in your gut is a chemical reaction that your brain is triggering. Realize that your body is saying, “Slow down.” This is the time to call on your friends, business advisers, banker, accountant, and call on people you went to school with –anyone who can lend an ear—and ask them for guidance. Call on organizations likeEO or YPO, and say, “I’m feeling stressed, worried and nervous. I’m not sure what to do or where to turn next. Help!”

And don’t feel ashamed of it because every single business owner goes through this stuff.

When you’re at this stage you should do things like:

·Clean your filing cabinet drawers – seriously. Doing a few little things can often perk people up.

·Reach out to your support groups like friends, family, your church, groups like the Entrepreneurs’ Organization or similar ones and ask them for help, advice or to just lend an ear.

·Try to set your TOP 5 daily and only work on the most important items each day.

·Write lists – lists about your strengths, lists about what you love – make lists that when you re-read them will help re-build your confidence.

·Go to the movies. Just a complete distraction. Two hours of escapism.

·Read an inspirational (NOT an instructional) book.

You should avoid doing things like:

·Don’t talk to people that are depressed or negative.

·Don’t turn to vices: porn, liquor and drugs will destroy you.

·Don’t think that you can “handle it” on your own. You can’t.

Make sure you have the mental capacity, supportive people, time and resources to get you through rough patches.

And remember: THIS TOO SHALL PASS.

For more information on this topic, check out: The Emotional Roller Coaster of Entrepreneurs.

5 Stages of The Entrepreneur’s Transition Curve

October 11, 2010 by admin

Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and every entrepreneur I’ve ever met has ridden the roller coaster of running a business.

The key to riding it out is that you’ve really got two choices: You can hold on and scream, or you can wave your hands in the air and have fun. Either way, you’re going to ride it.

I didn’t come up with the idea of the Transition Curve but what I figured out what entrepreneurs should or shouldn’t do when they are at each stage. It’s one thing to identify the feelings at each stage, and another thing entirely to know what to do when you’re on the ride itself.

WARNING: DO NOT THINK THESE WON’T HAPPEN TO YOU. IF YOU’RE HUMAN THEY WILL!!

Stage 1: Uninformed Optimism

Uninformed Optimism is the stage on a real roller coaster just when you’re getting to the top. You have feelings of adrenaline pumping through your veins, excitement, nervous energy and many other feelings.

In the world of running your own business, when you get to this stage, you’re excited, filled with energy, passion and it’s fun. No coffee is needed – you’re ON FIRE. You don’t really know what’s coming next, but you’re excited about the future regardless.

However, the excitement is also built on the unknown. You just think you’re invincible at this stage.

This optimism should not be discouraged but entrepreneurs need to recognize that’s what they’re feeling, and should harness it and use it to be successful. If you’re being coached or mentored by someone at this stage, ensure they don’t contribute to your already unrealistic expectations. Don’t let them oversell or overexcite you. Just harness the energy you already have.

Also, recognize that this enthusiasm and optimism won’t last. In the near future, it will change and you will become increasingly disappointed, discouraged, and pessimistic. That’s normal, but also temporary.

Stage 2: Informed Pessimism
As you ride over the top of the roller coaster curve, you’ve now got a little bit more information and you have feelings of fear, nervousness, and frustration. You might even want to get off the ride. You’re thinking, “I’m not really sure what’s coming yet, but I’m getting a little nervous in my gut about it!”

You’ll begin to become a little bit more pessimistic on your whole business. You’ll focus a bit more on the shortcomings. Your glass starts looking half empty instead of the half full.

Stage 3: Crisis of Meaning

Then you hit a stage called ‘Crisis of Meaning.‘ This is when you’re really scared. You’re in despair. This is like you’re standing on the edge of a cliff ready to jump. Your thoughts might be something like, “Today the coaster’s going off the bottom of the track for the very first time. I’m going to die!” You feel helpless, terrified and frozen.

Stage 4: Crash & Burn (optional)

If you don’t pull through the bottom of the curve and round the corner, then you will Crash & Burn. Crash & Burn is basically when you go bankrupt, are forced to sell or whatever other horrible catastrophe befalls your business.

Sometimes it takes a massive amount of effort, tears and tenacity to pull through this stage. If you’re working closely with a good coach they should help you identify in advance all of the support groups or activities; which you can use to reduce stress and turn around these situations.

Often this is a stage where franchisees do much better than solo companies. Many franchisors are good at helping franchisees avoid problems at this stage because they have seen it so many times already with other franchisees. 85% of all solo businesses fail within the first year. And something like 85% of the surviving 15% fail in the next four years. The odds aren’t good that you’re going to get through this whole curve.

The people that do actually get through it are the ones that recognize they are starting to have those feelings and quickly turn for support from whomever can help. You just have to ride it out, and knowing that you’re going to get through the other side is important.

Stage 5: Hopeful Realism/Informed Optimism

At the stage called Informed Optimism, you’re calm and informed. You might even say you are cautiously optimistic.

For more information on this topic, check out: The Emotional Roller Coaster of Entrepreneurs.

American Express OPEN Forum Article #1…

May 21, 2010 by admin

This is the first article of mine to be published on the American Express Open Forum…

Hope you enjoy it…

I’d love your comments on their site – and suggestions for future articles you want from me there too.

May 18, 2010 –

I always suggest the CEO’s that I coach to read this article.

This article is about the emotional intricacies of being a CEO or entrepreneur and the emotional roller coaster you’ll ride, or are already riding. Marc Andreesen, co-founder of Netscape, once wrote:……

Feeling Kinda Crazy? You’re in Good Company.

February 27, 2010 by admin

Many extremely successful entrepreneurs are even clinically diagnosed Manic Depressive or Bi-Polar (Bi-Polar Disorder is nicknamed, “The CEO Disease”).

Francis Ford Coppola has it. So does Ted Turner. Jim Clark, cofounder of Netscape, was described in Business Week by Netscape’s other cofounder, Jim Barksdale, as someone “who has his mania only partly under control. He’s a perpetual motion machine with a short attention span, forever hurtling at unsafe speeds. When his forward motion is impeded, Clark becomes irritable and bored. In his search for the stimulation of the ‘new, new thing,’ he quickly loses interest in the companies and ideas he starts and tosses them into the laps of his bewildered employees.”

Bill Gross, CEO of Idealab, was written up by a Fortune editor who apologized and said, “I believed him because I was dazzled by him. He had an infectious boyish enthusiasm that was charming and irresistible. He spoke so rapidly—jumping from topic to topic as if he were hyper-linking. It was hard to keep up with him. He had so much energy he seemed constantly on the verge of jumping out of his skin. He bubbled over with optimism.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been described as “hypomanic” and “unable to think outside the box – because he doesn’t even see the box. He’s also been described as quick to fly off the handle emotionally.

Here’s a note from a CEO’s blog:

“Today is Wednesday, and I haven’t been able to accomplish anything so far this week. It’s not that I don’t have plenty to do – I just can’t shake this depression long enough to do it. Last week I was a whirlwind – this week I’m a slug. My insomnia has been bad the past week or so, and it’s only when my body can’t go on any longer that I sleep. This lack of sleep makes my mind sluggish too…and it takes a great deal of time and effort to accomplish even the simplest of tasks. Intellectually I know what needs to be done…but emotionally I just don’t have what it takes to get a move on….

I’m trying to take things one day at a time, but it’s so hard to keep from thinking of what the future holds in store for me. I’m sad that I didn’t do more to keep in touch with friends I have known for years. I guess I could attempt to re-connect with some of these folks, but the embarrassment of my current situationis just toomuch right now…. sigh.

Something needs tochange pretty soon or I’m afraid I won’tbe able to crawl out from undermy rock and I’ll end up in a home, or worse. This is not a good day at all. Perhaps tomorrow will be better.“

It’s not about what’s in your head, it’s about what’s in your gut.

How will you use what you’re feeling to help you become really successful??

I hope you are seeking the answer. This is one of the many areas I mentor the CEOs I do in our bi-weekly coaching sessions too.

For more information on this topic, check out: The Emotional Roller Coaster of Entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurial Rollercoaster

February 7, 2010 by admin

Entrepreneurship puts you on an emotional roller coaster unlike anything else on earth.

You will flip from being convinced you will own the world, to being overwhelmed by doom and ruin, and back again. Over and over. And over.

There is so much uncertainty and risk around everything you are doing. Will the product ship on time? Will anyone use it? Will your competitor beat you to market? Will anyone invest in the company? And on and on and on…

The level of stress you are under as an entrepreneur magnifies those data points into extreme highs and lows at whiplash speed and huge magnitude

Sound like fun?

I have known entrepreneurs that well since I’ve been in this field for years now. I started coaching and mentoring CEOs and I really got to know what an entrepreneur’s traits are.

Most entrepreneurs have at least five of these traits. Do you?

• Are you filled with energy?
• Does your mind get flooded with ideas?
• Are you driven, restless, and unable to keep still?
• Do you often work on little sleep?
• Can you be euphoric?
• Do you easily get irritated by minor obstacles?
• Can you burnout periodically?
• Do you act out sexually?
• Do you feel persecuted by those who do not accept your vision?

Don’t worry, but the reality is, this is what happens to stable entrepreneurs. This is one of the many areas I regularly coach & mentor entrepreneurs so they learn how to overcome and leverage each stage.

For more information on this topic, check out: The Emotional Roller Coaster of Entrepreneurs.

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