Uncertainty comes with running a company. Revenue is unpredictable, hires fall through, and the decision you need to make has no clean answer. These seven practices are for steadying yourself while you carry it. They will not make the uncertainty go away, and they do not replace advice from advisers, a board or professionals. They are small ways to keep your own footing.
1. Check in with yourself before the dashboard
Before you open the metrics, take two minutes to check in with yourself. How did you sleep, how fast are you moving, how does your body feel, or is there nothing in particular? A quick body scan can give you a baseline. The point is to notice how you are starting the day, and not to read meaning into any sensation.
2. Pause before you react to a number
When a metric, email or investor reply gives you a jolt, up or down, take a breath before acting. One slow long exhale is optional and uncounted, and a pause is not hesitation. Skip the breath if it makes you more anxious, and stop if you feel dizzy. For non-urgent decisions, consider a pause to check the facts or ask for advice. Do not postpone urgent safety, legal, payroll or other time-critical responsibilities to complete a practice.
3. Come back to what is certain right now
When everything feels unresolved, it can help to bring attention to what is known: feet on the floor, eyes on the actual room, hands on the actual desk. Grounding gives you something small and true to return to: this room, this hour’s task. Then write the next concrete step on a sticky note and do only that.
4. Give the week some shape
Founder weeks stack up: the pitch, the churn, the hire who fell through. A regular activity that is not about work, such as a run, a swim, a class or a walk, gives the week a rhythm. Choose a level that suits your health, and stop if anything hurts. It does not have to be intense or even athletic.
5. Use your body’s reaction as a prompt, not a verdict
When you are weighing a big decision, you may notice a reaction as you consider each option, or none at all. Treat it as a question to ask yourself, not an answer: “What am I worried about here?” Then check it against facts, numbers and the views of people you trust. A feeling of ease or unease is not evidence that an option is good or bad.
6. Keep one part of life boring
The same breakfast, the same walk, the same bedtime: a simple routine can be a steady point when everything else moves. You do not have to optimise it.
7. Talk to someone who has nothing riding on the story
Choose a peer or friend with no stake in the company, not a mentor, an investor or a team member. Say the uncertain thing out loud, without sharing confidential information you are not permitted to disclose, and notice how you feel as you say it. Co-regulation is another word for settling alongside someone, and it helps to have a person outside the company to do that with.
When you cannot tell the team how uncertain you feel
Founders often hold back worry from their team, partly because they do not want to alarm anyone. A useful sorting is to separate known facts, material uncertainties and next steps. Share what people need in order to do their work and make informed decisions, and keep your private emotional processing for an appropriate confidential setting such as a coach, a peer group or a therapist. Follow any confidentiality and professional obligations you have.
A short weekly review
Some founders find it useful to set aside twenty minutes each week to write answers to four questions:
- What is the biggest unknown right now?
- What is one thing I can do about it this week?
- What am I deciding that I could delay?
- Who have I talked to who is not part of the company?
Keep the answers short. The aim is to make the unknown a bit more concrete.
If the uncertainty becomes constant dread
If you wake dreading the laptop for weeks, or anxiety is making your decisions for you, that is worth real support from a therapist or doctor. If you feel hopeless or have thoughts of harming yourself, contact a crisis line or your local emergency number.
