WHAT YOU FEEL: that the world is on your shoulders and it seems like too much

PERSPECTIVE:  Every entrepreneur faces an overwhelming set of tasks to be accomplished. The list is endless. Strategy. Technology. Team. Business models. Plans. Tactics. Functional areas. Branding. Staff. Money management. Offices. Fundraising. For every ten hours of time, there are one hundred hours of work.

Put aside the passion, energy, emotion and pressure and think of all the things that need to get done.

It’s like standing in front of a dam holding back a river of water. Your first issue of the day arises, and pokes a hole in the dam and you plug it with one finger. Then the next and another finger. After a few hours, you’ve encountered ten issues and you’ve used your ten fingers. Problem solved. Then another leak springs and then another. No problem, you have ten toes. Soon it’s only lunchtime and you have used all ten fingers and all ten toes. Then one more comes and you figure out a way to use your tongue. Welcome to every day of the week for the entrepreneur.

It’s not only the number of holes to fill but the nature of the holes. Some of the holes are little holes. Tasks – many of them – that need to be done. Some are larger and more complex holes. Things like business strategy, business models, technology, vendor selection and fundraising that require deliberation, multiple perspectives and time to vet and implement the right solution.

I remember a quote from astronaut John Young, after being asked if he was nervous about making the first Space Shuttle flight in 1981:

“Anyone who sits on top of the largest hydrogen-oxygen fueled system in the world, knowing they’re going to light the bottom, and doesn’t get a little worried, does not fully understand the situation.”

In the movie Bachelor Party, Tom Hanks and Tawny Kitaen are sitting in bed the week of their wedding. Tom feels his fiancé’s neck and notices how tense she is. He asks “what’s bothering you?” She responds, “The wedding. My parents. Your parents. Our friends. My job. The future. Our relationship. The caterers. My gown. Your tuxedo. The honeymoon. Our apartment. My shower. Your bachelor party. He responds “How about the Middle East? You all right with that?”

Welcome to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the entrepreneur. This is the life of the entrepreneur. They say that life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Overwhelming is an understatement.

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