No one starts a business to fail. The idea is to be successful in all of your endeavors. However, the reality is, that more than 50% of all businesses fail within their first five years of establishment. Should you find yourself in this position, you may feel ashamed, guilty, sad, and even frustrated by the failure.
Though there are plenty of strategies for getting back on the horse when it comes to developing a new strategy to launch again (or a new idea), none really go into great lengths about how to deal with the psychological impact of it all.
What Happens When You Don’t Handle Your Emotions
Dusting yourself off and trying again is a positive attitude to have and something that many of the most prolific entrepreneurs have gone through. However, your next venture will not be a success if you haven’t handled your emotions. Here’s a look at what happens when you’re overcome with shame, guilt, sadness, or frustration.
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Isolation – one of the first things that happen when you hold in your emotions is that you start to isolate yourself physically and emotionally from those around you. You’re ashamed of the failure and essentially don’t want to be viewed in a negative light by anyone, so you stay to yourself. This isn’t healthy as it can quickly lead to depression.
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Substance abuse – Some people become so consumed with their business failure that they begin relying on drugs and alcohol to mask their pain. This, in turn, leads to addiction which is most effectively treated with detox and therapy.
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Declining Personal Life – It is often those closest to you that get the brunt of your frustration from your failure. You begin isolating yourself from them or lashing out for no reason at all which can cause friction in the household.
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People Pleasing – You become so consumed with shame and guilt that you never want to experience it again. So, you begin trying to please everyone in your life so that they have no reason to view you in a negative light.
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Fear of Taking Risks – Again, feeling so much emotional overwhelm over your business falling apart, you try your hardest to never feel that way again. So, you become afraid to pursue anything that might require you to take a risk.
Dealing With Overwhelming Emotions
After already suffering the business mishap, you don’t want to add the above-mentioned circumstances to your life. If you’re going to succeed in life, you have to take care of your mental well-being before trying again. Below are some suggestions on how to deal with overwhelming feelings resulting from business failure:
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Feel the Pain – Remember, you don’t want to skip over your emotions, so, allow yourself to feel the pain. Experiencing these emotions isn’t fun, but acknowledging them and giving yourself some time to feel it can actually give you the inspiration to get back up and try again.
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Get Help – If you’re having trouble dealing with the pain of sorting through your emotions there are a lot of sources you can turn to for help. A highly-recommended suggestion would be to see a therapist. A therapist will use cognitive behavioral therapy techniques to help you learn how to replace those negative thoughts with positive ones. You can look up CBT therapy to learn more about its benefits.
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Surround Yourself with Support – After giving yourself some time to sort through your emotions it can be ideal to be around people that care about you. When you’re in a judgment-free zone, you can find the confidence and courage you need to move past your mistake.
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Learn From Your Mistake – Though it may seem like reopening a wound, revisiting the structure of your business and the mistakes that led to it failing can be very instrumental in helping you heal. As you review the mistakes, you start to learn valuable lessons and create more effective strategies that can increase your chances of succeeding in the future.
It can be especially trying to deal with a failed business. You’ve invested so much of your money, time, and energy into it with the hopes that it would succeed. Now, you’re back at ground zero and unsure of how or if you’ll recover. Before you begin creating a plan to try again, remember to get your emotions in check first. By using the above-mentioned advice, you heal emotionally which prepares you to go through the process of starting a business all over again.
