Founders, you think working hard is hard? Try resting and recovering. Way harder. I’ve had no fewer than five conversations about this exact topic with very successful entrepreneurs who are on the brink of exhaustion this week. And I’m there myself right now, recovering from something viral I caught traveling last week. The entrepreneurial mind gets wired for productivity and the gratification that comes from progress. That’s why we build so many things. Then, when we pause to restore our mental and physical resources, we feel ineffective and unsatisfied. It mentally hurts. It’s really hard. Resist the urge to move when you need to rest. Remind yourself that rest and stillness are the most effective things you can do now to be productive later.

Try this: Assume that as a founder you are recreating your family of origin in your company. How are you playing out or reacting against the role you had in your family when you were a kid? #mindfulleadership #leadership #CEO #startups

Be the parent that has the slowest heartbeat, the most relaxed body, the emptiest mind. Be this so you can coregulate your children. Our eldest son had a very complex day at school yesterday. Let’s leave it at that. Big feelings, big lessons learned, big conversations. He was completely overwhelmed when we picked him up. Tears and all. But because we have redesigned our life for the last 8 years around present parenting, flexible remote work schedules, and intentional slowness, we were able to take him for a walk in the forest, listen to everything that happened in the day, and connect in the way he needed us to be there for him. Yesterday was a massive moment for the growth and development of his character and it was essential that we were there as his parents, in a nonstressed state. I haven’t been able to stop thinking “what would happen if @franziskagonder and I both worked corporate jobs and could never be there when our kids need us for this?” And then I remember that this is a big part of why so many adults turn out the way they do.

8 Questions Early Stage Founders Ask Themselves To Build An Effective Cofounding Partnership And Eliminate Potential Conflicts blog.startupstash.com/8-ques… by @dr_matthewjones for Startup Stash #earlystage #founders #cofounding

2/2: You will never have enough info to feel comf about your decisions - cognition has a ceiling. Emotion can supplement, enrich, and clarify the other data you use to evaluate the right next step. Don’t be afraid of how you feel - feelings are functional. Use them to build.