I burned out.

I had a brush with burnout earlier this year. Physical health issues brought on by stress.

We (entrepreneurs) have an unusual relationship to stress.

We plow through the mental, emotional, and physical stress that comes with starting a business and chasing that next level of success. We think it comes with the territory.

We build a tolerance for stress. But not in a way that makes us stronger or more resilient.

If I learned one thing from my brush with burnout, it’s this: By taking on more stress, we take on more risk.

Our job is to minimize risk, not increase it. That starts with your first asset. You.

These things are helping me reset back to a calmer, lower-pressure form of entrepreneurship:

Remove urgency

For me, that means returning to the bootstrapper’s mindset. Profit first.

Accepting slow, steady growth as the norm. Diversifying my income to sustain things long-term. No “grow or die” deadlines on the horizon.

Tune out

I’ve lost interest in filling my feeds with all business, all the time. I’m more selective than ever about what I actually find constructive and interesting.

I replaced much of that “startup noise” with my other interests: Sports, music, comedy, tech news, world news, health and fitness.

Keep investing

As long as I’m investing in assets, I’m in the game.

Forget swinging for the fences. Just show up every (work) day, do the reps, get the at-bats, and let the score take care of itself.

Whatever you do, do you.