GUEST POST from Arlen Meyers
There are a lot of things that motivate (bio)entrepreneurs. Some come from inside (intrinsic) and others come from outside (extrinsic). Most think that it’s a good idea to have passion for your cause, product, technology or objective. Others think that that “passion” can cloud your judgement, further obscure your blind spots, and lead you to be pig headed or obstinate in the face of truth.
The problem is that passion can cause burnout.
Truth be TOLD, most entrepreneurs can attribute their success to talent, seeing opportunities, luck and determination or grit. The source of that grit comes from satisfying some subconscious or apparent psychic need. Best case, the results are positive. Worst case, it results in entrepreneurial psychopathologies.
Anger or revenge are other entrepreneurial hot buttons. You’ve heard it before. “Don’t tell me I can’t do something”. “Success is the best revenge”. “I’ll show you”. There are many examples of people who, frustrated at work, decide to buck the system, instead of fleeing or sabatoging it, with impressive results.
Some have ruminated on the differences. Here’s my take:
1. Entrepreneurial motivation resides in three places: the head (cognitive), the heart (emotional responses) and the soul ( where passion resides). In the Happiness Equation, author Neil Pasricha proposes that it comes from sales, society and self. Self-satisfaction is a much stronger motivator than sales (commercial) or social (peer acceptance and validation). Self satisfaction derives from self confidence.
2. There is an anatomy and physiology for each, driven by the fight or flight stress response and hormones, mostly in your brain and your adrenal glands.
3. Your biggest strength in any of these areas can be your biggest weakness and you need to control and balance when exercising one makes sense and is in your best interest.
4. Thoughts drive emotions and emotions drive behaviors. Toxic behaviors derive from toxic thoughts.
5. In most instances, how you think and how you respond to stress are learned behaviors that can be modified
6. When someone gives a pitch and the response is “I can hear the passion in your voice”, don’t confuse that with anger, lack of emotional intelligence, or worse, a personality disorder or entrepreneurial psychopathology.
7. There is a season for everything, including rational analysis, anger and passion.
8. Behaviors and passion are contagious so be sure you quarantine them if you don’t want injurious ones to spread.
9. Trying to extinguish someone’s passion is a fool’s errand and potentially dangerous.
10. If you get angry a lot, create a space between the stimulus and the response and be mindful of the triggers.
Now, it turns out, in a movement that some experts are calling “the second wave of positive psychology,” many psychologists are recognizing that negative feelings that make us uncomfortable or unhappy may sometimes be good for us. If we pay attention to them, they can help us identify what is wrong in our life and motivate us to seek change. Research even shows that people who have negative thoughts along with positive ones are healthier.
Adopting an entrepreneurial mindset, as the name implies, resides in the head, not the soul. Many times, though, the heart and the soul can determine, rightly or wrongly, technology adoption.
Anger is not the only one of the seven deadly sins that motivate entrepreneurs. There is more than enough greed and envy.
There’s nothing wrong with being angry about how things are and wanting to change them. In fact, recent research indicates that anger can be constructive in business and negotiations.For the most part, that is the history of the world. But, the key to building something new is more about using the right tool than being a carpenter who uses a hammer for every job. Doing something that you love can have many sources.
and Co-edotor of Digital Health Entrepreneurship
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