If you’re a founder, worry is a familiar companion. Given that we’re birthing the future from a source called our imagination, a big piece of that equation is the unknown.
The unknown is the playground of worry — a veritable jungle gym of potential disaster.
And while that is the default setting for most humans, why not use these imaginative tools we have to bring wisdom to the creative process? We know that worry and stress are part of what we sign up for on this entrepreneurship roller coaster, so wouldn’t it be smart to manage the inevitable thoughts that will pop up, rather than avoiding them or wishing them away?
We’re huge fans of Anne-Laure Le Cunff and her work at Ness Labs, and her article on worrying well enables you to bring wisdom to something normally filled with stress:
Worry is traditionally seen as a negative emotion. But is it possible worry has a positive function, and that we just don’t tend to use it well? Physician and researcher Martin L. Rossman argues that worry is actually an adaptive function to better solve problems and imagine creative solutions. And worrying well is a skill anyone can learn.
Worry is a product of imagination, one of the key mental faculties that separate humans from other living beings. Both worry and imagination are based on remembering things from the past and projecting ourselves into the future. If we didn’t have an imagination, we wouldn’t worry. They’re two sides of the same coin.
Wisdom is the badge you earn from being on this road in the first place, so let it guide you.
So often we question our intuition, when in reality there’s a little bit of wisdom making its way to the forefront to say “be careful, we’ve seen this before,” or “that’s a yellow flag — proceed with caution.”
We believe in using every possible tool to help make the path of entrepreneurship easier, so don’t be afraid to call on your reserves!
•••
Self-Care Sunday is devoted to you, with advice, insights, and tools to create true self-care, which goes beyond a home spa day. Not that there’s anything wrong with a home spa day. We’re in the bubble bath typing this right now.