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Hey Reader,

I've said this quote by Flannery O'Connor, American Novelist and Short Story writer, more than a dozen times this new year.

And yet.

Denial is still a river in Egypt.

So I thought today I'd share a handful of uncomfortable truths I've come to accept as a 10+ year entrepreneur––the stuff people don't like to admit. The stuff that makes you queasy and clench. But the stuff that, if you know ahead of time, makes a world of difference.

7 Uncomfortable Truths Every Entrepreneur Knows

1. The loneliness is real––and not just a feeling. Most people will not understand what you're doing or why. They will be especially critical if you've had some success, and will nudge you on what you should be doing from the context of a relatively comfortable yet always-on-edge 9-5 job.

2. Deciding you have something to say is always terrifying. It doesn't matter if you're a seasoned executive or an ultra-successful author, the feeling underneath is always something akin to terror. Our brains and bodies are not keen on sticking our necks out––especially from an evolutionary perspective. Using your real name, sharing your real thoughts, publishing your own ideas does not get easier. You just get more resilient with practice.

3. Roughly 80% of opportunities will come from people you kinda know. They're not your best friends and they're not complete strangers. They're the people who know you enough to recommend you as an option. Give people a way to remember you.

4. You will completely bomb like 3-5% of the time. During a talk or interview, with a client or contractor, with a project or post. When (not if) this happens, consider it a rite of passage. Take a breath. It's done and out of the way. The job is not to lay there and wallow; the job is to pick up and carry on.

5. Your ego is the enemy. The part of you that wants to self-aggrandize, insists nobody can help, or that other peoples problems are not equally important? Yeah that part will kill you if you don't kill it first.

6. Progress is the only metric that matters. This includes tracking failures––don't believe me? I did a presentation on this for the City of Phoenix. Here's a copy of that slide deck (made up mostly of genius artwork).

7. People lie. This one hurts the most. There are entrepreneurs who will crush it with one $30K month and then release a piece that says "I'LL SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE 30K/Month!" People fall for this all the time. I used to, too.

When we dismiss our critical thinking skills in favor of the comfort we so desperately seek, we just end up lying to ourselves.

We need the truth––and not the comfortable kind; the hard kind. The kind that really allows us to be seen. The kind that makes it possible for others to show up and help. The kind that says: this won't be easy, but trying may be worth it.

What's a truth that took you too long to figure out?

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BEHIND THE BUSINESS

The (Comfortable) Chaos of Entrepreneurship

Here's a bonus truth:

8. You avoid famine by pacing your feasts.

Here’s a screenshot of my Freshbooks account​ taken sometime in the last 5 years. What do you see?

One month is $665; another is $31,000. That's heck of a difference.

Most Americans would take their highest month and use that as a baseline––great for motivation but detrimental to the life of your business.

My payroll covers a little more than my monthly rent. And in the same vein, I took 6 weeks off last year without skipping a beat.

Maybe I can show you how to live more comfortably and freely––without hype and with some hard truths.

COFFEE THOUGHT Kant was right. Lying unravels society.

DAILY QUOTE "Insecurity is such a waste of time" –– Catherine O'Hara

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Have a wonderful week,

tanya moushi ("moo-shee") Sign up at moushi.co​

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