Hey folks – so i'm in my 30s, built and sold a very successful company 5 years ago. Always been self employed, never had a job – had self sustaining revenue and lived well since college.
After exiting my last company- i spent a few years pursuing the arts – music, comedy and a social media career. I partied a lot spent money and dealt with some mental issues and that didnt really go anywhere due to issues in my personal life (wife)
Now i have been working on a new business – that is somewhat similar to my old business, with learnings.
I got into this mostly cause money running out – neccesity. vs my first company, which was very much my entire identity and a life long mission.
It seems ive lost the spark- have had a bunch of ups and downs with the new company (maybe economy? Or competition). But it feels like because i already got wealthy i have just lost that Killer instinct.
My rational mind says figure it out. Build and sell new business and focus, then make a run on the creative endeavors again.
Has anyone else "peaked" and gotten the spark back?
Anybody here already "peaked"?
byu/OneChrisHanson inEntrepreneur
Posted by OneChrisHanson
10 Comments
The great thing is you’ll never know when you peaked. So live and stop worrying about bullshit.
I was in a somewhat similar situation, I didn’t sell my company but I had some savings and wanted to rest for a few weeks and it turned out into 5 years of doing nothing. And I felt the same way about my “killer instinct” but i just lost my work capacity and discipline. Almost 1.5 years later I’m in a much better place with my work capacity and discipline but still nowhere close to where I was 6 years ago. So you can get it back, but it is going to be painful and difficult to do
This is good. Maybe dont expect to get exactly the same spark because now you see the world differently, and with these new perceptives, you can develop a different spark, not exactly as before. Maybe that’s the direction you could also think of.
Perhaps set different goals. Your peak 5 years ago was within the framework of capitalism. Try a different framework to peak in.
I’ve seen this a lot, it’s relatively common. Most people do that first company with a chip on their shoulder, they have something to prove, people doubt them, they doubt themselves. That’s where a lot of the killer instinct comes from in a lot of people. But some people are just in it for the game, the end goal isn’t to win and make money, it’s to watch that line go up, to see how far they can really take it.
My solution to this problem was to plan it out long term. I don’t wanna build to sell, I want to build to retire. Your problem now was that you went back out of necessity. And it just became another job. A possible solution is don’t sell, don’t leave, keep it for as long as you can. Find a way to distance yourself from the day to day and let it run itself. Then use the funds to allow yourself to do something that actually makes you happy.
Hey, there’s always opportunity to reignite that spark! I find a few tools helpful in this journey including the North Star framework, Sarasvathy’s framework of effectuation, and taking some time for some deep reflection. Rest. Reflect. Renew and reignite. A great way to start adding some fresh coals to the fire is to get out there and just find someone to help in the most unnoticeable way possible.
Humble brag
Reputation aside, Michael Saylor peaked 20 years ago and now he’s back even higher. Never give up. Cheers.
Felt like a long time that I peaked at like 20-22. Have been depressed a long time. Working on getting back on the horse, but fuck is it hard when you get off it.
Maybe once you’ve built something can it be made to run itself without involving you as much? You do the fhigh fly over but somebody else does the day to day?