Founding isn’t hard because the work is hard. It’s hard because the pressure never lets up. The inbox doesn’t stop. The cash burn doesn’t slow. And there’s always one more hire, one more fire, one more investor call.
Most mental health advice feels built for people with free time. Founders don’t have that luxury. So here’s the reality-tested version: stress protocols that actually scale.
Start with the basics. Sleep isn’t optional. You can cheat for a week. Maybe two. But bad sleep compounds like bad debt. Same with food. Under-eating or fuelling with crap kills your clarity. You’re not hustling. You’re throttling.
Then there’s context-switching. Every Slack ping, every calendar alert, every “quick question” adds up. You need one hour a day — uninterrupted — to think. Not reply. Not manage. Think. Defend that block like it’s your runway.
Now to the internal chatter. Impostor syndrome? That voice is never going away. But you can give it less airtime. Write it down. Literally. When the spiral starts — “we’re behind”, “this won’t work” — put it on paper. Say it back. Nine times out of ten, it sounds ridiculous out loud.
You also need a burn off valve. Not meditation apps. Physical stress needs physical release. Run. Box. Swim. Lift. Doesn’t matter what. Just make your body tired once a day. Your brain will follow.
But here’s the protocol that scales best: talk to other founders. Not advisors. Not team members. People doing the same thing you are. No one else gets it. Swap war stories. Say the quiet parts out loud. You’ll feel less crazy — and probably come away with a shortcut or two.
Finally, remember that mental fitness isn’t a mood. It’s a system. Just like your ops stack. If it’s not repeatable, it’s not working.
You don’t need peace. You need protocols.
Build them now, while you’re upright. You’ll need them when you’re not.
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