When you hit the wall…
Three miles from my house I hit the wall. I pushed as hard as I could, but my noodle legs had no effect on my forward momentum. I tightly gripped the handle bars to maintain a straight course, but my trembling and sobbing hands uncontrollably caused the wheels to shake back and forth. My visioned blurred and every gasp for air was accompanied by dry saliva.
Never had I felt so tired. I screamed at the top of my lungs - a feeble attempt at a kiai - but no matter how much my mind wanted to keep pushing, my body gave up.
Slowly I pulled over to the side of the curb, and on a nearby patch of grass, I laid down, demoralized and defeated.
When I began my bike ride, the thought of failure did not cross my mind
When I began my first startup, the thought of failure did not cross my mind.
As I laid there on the grass listening to my heart pump blood through my veins, my pain did not come from physical exhaustion; rather, my pain was caused from embarrassment. I was embarrassed because people driving by laughed at the loser who was too tired to ride his bike; I was embarrassed because my younger brother easily made the ride back home without me.
Shame made me never want to ride my bike again.
Similarly, my first startup FD Career hit a wall during the Fall of 2007. There came a point when I wanted to stick my head underground like an ostrich, embarrassed to be at the brink of failure. What would my family and friends think of me if they found out that I failed? How will I ever be able to hang out with my successful UCLA peers when I have no money, no resume-experience, and no where to go with my life?
Shame and the fear of embarrassment made we want to pull the plug on all of our work because it ultimately amounted to nothing tangible in terms of revenue.
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It’s never as bad as it seems
Be patience and react with a cool heart
All it took was 10 minutes. In 10 minutes, I caught my breath, regained motor skills, and slowly rode my bike home to eat Salmon and watch the NFL Footbal game.
As I chewed over my food, I realized the parrallel between my bike ride and what all entrepreneurs face when they fail.
When I was at the brink of death from exhaustion, I was ready to hang up my bike helmet forever; when FD Career fell apart, I was ready to forsake the startup life and run back to the corporate world. But this response is just an emotional reaction to hitting The Wall.
You don’t need any exceptional skills or ability to overcome The Wall. The Wall is not permanent nor is it necessarily an obstacle. The Wall is a test of your endurance, emotional stability, and perseverance.
It’s ok to take a time out.
It’s ok if you don’t check your emails tonight.
It’s ok if you spend another 6 months at your corporate job instead of jumping the gun to build your own startup.
Be patient, and you can overcome The Wall. Take your time and don’t make decisions when you’re emotionally distraught. You have all the time in the world to achieve your goals.
Thanks for this post. I recently made the jump to full-time freelance writer, and it’s been a true test of my emotional strength. On days when you can’t get rid of doubtful thoughts, it’s incredibly important to remind yourself that you won’t always feel this way. In fact, you’ll probably wake up tomorrow morning with a 180 degree shift in attitude and motivation. This post was a good reminder that these are normal feelings, but never to give up based on fleeting moments of uncertainty. I look forward to reading more - thanks!
Jun,
Great post, and just what I needed. I hit a bit of a wall recently with my blog, and it’s only now that I’ve been able to dig myself out of the hole I found myself in. Sometimes it’s best to just accept what is, take a step back, and come back to The Wall of Doom later… It’s less intimidating that way.
Excellent advice. There’s a great book which is relevant to your article - The Dip by Seth Godin, basically he talks about when to stick with something and when to quit - a must read for would be entrepreneurs. I also believe that entrepreneurs should have someone to shepherd them through the change - especially if transitioning from a corporate career. Of course this should be someone who has gone down the entrepreneurial path themselves. Concerning your UCLA peers - the fun part will be when their working for you
@John
Wow, that was my EXACT thought after I read this blog post! Jun, your “wall” is a simplified metaphor of Godin’s “Dip.” I’m not sure if you’ve read the book or not and wanted to imitate the post after it, but definitely check it out if you haven’t.
Overcoming the “Dip” separates those that become very successful to those who do not, generally speaking.
Thanks Jamie - I’m glad to hear I’m not alone in my thoughts on this! I’ve always heard from other entrepreneurs that it all boils down to one question - “How bad do you want it?” That will determine whether you stick or quit.
This is one of the best blog posts i’ve read in a while. great metaphor for startup life; completely on the money…i can attest to that when building out vokle.com
the post also reminded me of some of my favorite quotes regarding perseverance.
hope this inspires some of you:
- Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before. ~Jacob A. Riis
- With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable. ~Thomas Foxwell Buxton
- If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. ~Buddhist Saying
and one of my absolute favorites…
- Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go. ~William Feather