Читать книгу The Resilient Founder - Mahendra Ramsinghani - Страница 32

When things are working out well, our self-confidence starts to soar. We end up tasting the elusive yet delicious elixir of success – fame, fortune, and glory. Our sense of well-being flourishes. We become benevolent members of society, sharing our gifts, glowing in the attention. We feel good about ourselves and our achievements and perch atop the apex of the self-actualization pyramid, our joy flowing, serving the society for a greater good. Even if all this is for a fleeting moment, we sure aspire for, and relish this moment.

But more often things don't quite work out. Our ambitions are often greater. Reality bites. And if our plans do not come to fruition, we succumb to an angry, arrogant, disillusioned state. Our self-confidence shrivels up, and we can descend into fear, despair and depression.

From such a dark state, we can decide to move into a state of self-reflection and improvement, and develop a path toward adjusting our self-images and skills. See Figure 1.1.

But more often than not, it is easy to stay stuck in that lower left corner. Is there a way to move to another box, ideally the one in the top right corner? Entrepreneur Ben Huh, whose suicidal tendencies trapped him in a dark room for a whole week, finally walked out. He does not recall why he left the room, but wrote that the most meaningful act he performed was to leave that room. In doing so, he saw the positive in the very act of moving out of darkness. “Dealing with reality was the best antidote to a make-believe world. Instead of fantasizing about death, I decided to deal with the harshness of reality,” he writes.

Figure 1-1 Do our attitudes define our outcomes?

Ben blogged openly about his inner struggles. His expressions resonated with founders worldwide.

The first thing he changed was his behavior.

He left the room.

Maybe getting up and leaving the darkness, making the choice to deal with reality, is the first step toward recovery.

Developing the right attitude, strengthening it - it all takes time. We would not be here if we had those traits. But let us take the first step - like Ben, let us leave the dark room. And move one step closer to well-being.