Entrepreneurial Wellness: Managing Our Most Important Asset
In my function as a Chinese medicine physician I get to meet a lot of people. Many of them are entrepreneurs, and I’ve noticed that their complaints are often very similar, complaints I also faced. I feel that entrepreneurs are unique. We’re people with strong vision, driven, and not risk averse. But this predisposes us to certain hazards. Many of the entrepreneurs I treat suffer from depression, overwork, gastric issues, fatigue, insomnia and anxiety. All symptoms frequently experienced with burnout.
And that makes sense. The prevailing business philosophy in the US today is that the sole aim of business is to generate profits and maximize value. Business owners, as an extension of this philosophy, are human capital whose value must be maximally utilized by the business to generate profit. The consequence of this dehumanized thinking is that the entrepreneur must function at full capacity forever, or the business they’ve committed themselves to will suffer.
In treating the entrepreneur population my focus is just as much in treating the symptoms as it is on restructuring how they think. I do this by leaning on two very old philosophical texts; the Art of War, and the Dao De Jing.
You’re likely familiar with the Art of War; written by Sun Zi, it’s the earliest military text in human history. It’s still taught in military and business schools. You’re probably less familiar with Lao Zi’s Dao De Jing even though it’s one of the most widely translated Chinese texts. It is an instruction manual for leaders about virtuous leadership in times of struggle.
These two books have very different purposes – one being warfare and the other the pursuit of virtue. However, despite this they share a lot of common themes which are just as applicable to running a business as they are to running a country. Talks like these always seem to come with three bullet points so I’ll go over three themes, why I feel they’re important, and how to apply them in order to reduce stress, improve productivity, and maintain wellbeing.
1. Effortless Action: “Go with the flow” is an old phrase that’s much maligned because people misconstrue it to mean ‘be passive.’ Instead as business owners we’re beat over the head with ideas like “when you stop growing you start dying.” Thus we’re always on alert for threats to stay ahead of, or opportunities to seize, and lose sight of our own feet. The old philosophers have more faith. They ask “Do you have the patience to wait until the mud settles and waters clear? Can you remain unmoving until the right action reveals itself?”
They contend that ‘right action’ doesn’t come from obsessing over what’s to come, but being very clear about what is. Without wasting energy preparing for every eventuality, you instead move seamlessly with the circumstances exerting just as much effort as is required. In this way we can let go of the stress of having to be omniscient while preserving our wellbeing.
This concept, called Wu Wei in Chinese, takes a lifetime to master. It’s trained by being present in the moment, and being very clear on the virtues you and your business want to engender. Start by clarifying what your business stands for and use that to keep us grounded regardless of what we experience.
2. Attend to the Five Dangerous Faults: Sun Zi’s five dangerous faults are recklessness, cowardice, a hasty temper, delicacy of honor, and over-solicitude. In short, practice temperance – we can’t be too wrapped up in the ebbs and flows of circumstance, nor can we be too hands-off. Lao Zi teaches “When a superior leader’s work is done, the people cheer and say ‘we have done it ourselves.’” He is saying ‘do the work, then disown it.’ So much of the pain of running a business is ego. Humility, then, is the counterbalance. Accept that many things are outside of our control and become comfortable with letting go – both for wins and for losses.
I don’t know that there’s any way to recognize and correct these pitfalls outside of deep self-reflection. Whether that’s meditation, therapy, or a good group of people ready to call you on your nonsense. Only once you’ve identified any faults can you avoid them.
3. Take the Long View: As an entrepreneur, like a general or ruler, you are the greatest asset. How you operate is how the business operates. If you’re overtired and anxious, it will be reflected. Sun Zi writes “There is no instance of a country having benefitted from prolonged warfare.” Treat yourself, your health, and your mental wellbeing as you would your business bank account. If you overdraw you’re in deep trouble.
I’ve found that many of the patients who come to me are there because they’re far past they’re limit. To them, even coming for treatment feels counter-productive. They say ‘fix me up so I can get back to work.’ What they’re saying is, make the discomfort stop so I can go back to doing exactly what got me here in the first place! No one can function like this without consequence, and ultimately if you try it is you AND your business that suffers. Self-care – real, restorative self-care not productivity disguised as self-care – is the best thing you can do for you and for the long-term health of your business. Baking it into how you run your company will make you more efficient and able to work longer without the risk of burnout.
These are some of the foundational concepts of how the old masters were successful in leadership. The crux of these themes can be distilled into what Daoists call the Three Treasures (ah, snuck another three in there): These are Frugality, Humility, and Compassion.
Frugality and moderation stave off greed, protects resources, and ensures we have enough for ourselves and to share. There’s a Zen story about a monk name Ryokan who lived alone in simple hut. One night a thief broke in to see what there was to steal but found only the monk, looking at the moon. Ryokan offered the clothes on his back and when the thief slunk off, he remarked “poor fellow, I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon.”
Ryokan’s idea of worth was clear, so when the misfortune of a robbery occurred he didn’t become upset. He rolled with it, keeping his eyes on what was important.
Humility includes modesty, judgement and integrity. Being immodest invites others to covetousness and jealousy, takes away from the strength of your message, and clouds judgement. But humility is also strength – an ego can be bruised or broken, whereas a modest person won’t be as affected. In martial arts you’re taught to make your center of gravity low to prevent yourself from being thrown off balance. Ego is the same.
Compassion means benevolence, tenderness and humanity and is considered the first of the three treasures. Compassion makes us courageous because we feel for others and their wellbeing. With benevolence we don’t take things personally and readily forgive mistakes. But as much as we extend this outside, we should be compassionate to ourselves as well. Be forgiving of our own shortcomings and tender in self-reflection.
Sun Zi and Lao Zi lived during a time of turmoil where they gained insight on what being human means. These lessons are enduring because they speak to the core of our experience. What I hope we take away from these old books is not just that we should pursue personal improvement, but that in building our ventures on foundations of self-care, compassion, humility and temperance – rather than solely on measures of profit and growth - we make them resilient and long-lasting.
