The reality is great highs, terrible lows and unrelenting stress. Don’t think people want to hear about the last two,” billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk once said. Even though he was at the peak of his professional life, Musk came forward in 2018 talking about his struggles with mental health in a series of tweets and admitted to suffering from bipolar disorder.
It becomes extremely difficult to wrap our heads around the fact that someone so successful on the outside can be a complete wreck on the inside. But that’s the bitter truth of life. These days with people chasing success and growth desperately like we’ve never seen before, we tend to somehow glorify the idea of being overworked even at the cost of our own well-being.
As entrepreneurs thrive on success, it has become the norm for them to project themselves as strong and confident at all times. Often it is clear that there is a lack of room for sensitivity and feelings in the arena of business and in being successful, which puts pressure on businesspersons to act a certain way. All of this takes a toll on a person’s mental health and issues like depression and bipolar disorders start to grow like a parasite affecting the person.
Today with growing competition and constantly changing demands, the urge successful and to grow is inevitable. But you can’t be running successful businesses by merely being physically fit. Emotional fitness is an equally essential part of the package. As responsible entrepreneurs, you need to understand the value of your mental health and that of your employees for your business to be a smooth sailing ship. The practice of associating your self-worth with the performance of your business is a blunder that most entrepreneurs make.
As a society, it is time for us to step up and de-stigmatise the idea of entrepreneurs being sensitive and emotional and acting like any other person would. We need to stop creating ideologies that laud achieving professional success at the expense of inner peace. There needs to be a conscious effort to create a safe environment that allows entrepreneurs to function efficiently to grow and succeed while ensuring consideration for their physical and mental wellness.
