Finding Balance as an Entrepreneur

One of the greatest challenges with starting and running your own business is finding balance. All my life I’ve had the same kind of best friend, and a best friend of mine during my high school years summed up our relationship well when he said, “if it weren’t for you, Rocky, I would spend my life in my basement never talking to anyone. And, if it weren’t for me you would explode.” That’s balance. It’s true that I am a visionary with a dozen ideas every hour, but that’s not the right way to start or run a business. In fact, there is no right way; that is, there is a little right in every way and the best thing you can do is find balance.So how can you find balance as you start or run your own company? Her a few ways that I have found balance in the last seven years of owning and operating 12 Stars Media.

I often say this is my best and worst piece of advice. Find a cofounder. It is so much easier said than done, and I’ve heard so many horror stories that make me cringe at the idea of even suggesting this. But, not all cooperatively run companies are doomed to violent splitting up of cofounders. My cofounder, Zach Downs, and I balance each other perfectly. He, like my high school friend, is steady and determined. He trusts slowly, while I trust everyone immediately. He helps us stay on track with practicality, when I would chase every new idea and never finish any of them. If you are lucky, blessed, or stupid enough (which ever it may be) to find a cofounder who balances you, this is my number one recommendation.

Mentors, which I’ll talk about next, and coaches are not the same. A mentor has been where you are and can tell you what she did when she was there. A coach, on the other hand, may or may not have been where you are; it doesn’t actually matter much. A coach isn’t there to tell you what she did, a coach is there to tell you what you need to do. My coach, Hazel Walker, is a no-BS, quit-your-whining, you-make-your own-success-through-hard-work, type of leader. Like Zach, she can cut through so much of my excessive thinking and get right to the point of action. I suggest finding someone in your life who can see things from a different perspective, and, maybe not so delicately, persuade you to stop thinking about it and get to work.

You can find no shortage of articles explaining the value and how to find a mentor, so I won’t harp on this much. I will just say, that from my experience, having mentors (and being one for that matter) is essential to walking the walk of entrepreneurship. If you can’t or won’t find a cofounder or a coach, you must at least find mentors. It’s the fresh perspective and detachment from your current position along the path. What you see as the end of the world, your mentor looks at as just another step along the path.

There are those who walk the same path you do, believe it or not. Unlike mentors, they haven’t been where you are before; they are where you are now. Because of that, your peers can often empathize with you more readily without judgement or advice. While it can feel nice to have someone say they understand your challenges and successes, you may not get much long term growth out of conversations with your peers. But, grab a beer and share your recent war stories now and again. Just don’t stay too long; your coach is expecting to see progress next time you meet.

That’s right, good old-fashioned books. Sure, you can find just about anything online in blog posts and top ten lists, but you have to dig through so much junk and distraction. A real book authored by an expert in your field, or a book by or about a great leader in general, is worth its weight in gold as you learn to strike balance while authoring the story of your own life.