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I was satisfied to see him acknowledge the same pressures in other high-stakes jobs. During the 3/4 year period when I was completely committed to my startup I

I was satisfied to see him acknowledge the same pressures in other high-stakes jobs. During the 3/4 year period when I was completely committed to my startup I felt the most kinship with actors, directors, athletes and not other engineers/makers. Likewise, the same bereavement affected me when I got off the merry-go-round a few years ago, maybe more than I realised at the time. It's very hard not to have that one mission as the answer to who you are. Can anyone share good resources for dealing with the emotional wind down that comes after a long period of single-minded dedication?

psychomugs 5y ago
I felt something similar after running my first marathon. I was always a sedentary kid who could barely finish a mile in grade school so this was a huge accomplishment for me, but the emotional roller coaster of training and racing and the post-marathon blues hit like a truck [1]. I also felt the same after living in Japan, which was the brass ring I'd been chasing for as long as I could remember. I had to confront the realization that what I thought would make me happy ultimately didn't (these experiences yielded both the happiest and saddest moments of my life) and could never have lived up to my perfect idealization [2]. What helps me is to think of myself as a verb instead of a noun [3]. This helps me avoid putting all eggs in one basket and realizing that my self-worth does not come from a single persona that I wear, but is a weighted combination of everything that makes me a human being. [1] https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a20804968/the-postrace-blues/ https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a20804968/the-p... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5R8gduPZw4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5R8gduPZw4 [3] “We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing - an actor, a writer - I am a person who does things - I write, I act - and I never know what I'm going to do next. I think you can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun.” - Stephen Fry

psychomugs 5y ago

I felt something similar after running my first marathon. I was always a sedentary kid who could barely finish a mile in grade school so this was a huge accomplishment for me, but the emotional roller coaster of training and racing and the post-marathon blues hit like a truck [1]. I also felt the same after living in Japan, which was the brass ring I'd been chasing for as long as I could remember. I had to confront the realization that what I thought would make me happy ultimately didn't (these experiences yielded both the happiest and saddest moments of my life) and could never have lived up to my perfect idealization [2]. What helps me is to think of myself as a verb instead of a noun [3]. This helps me avoid putting all eggs in one basket and realizing that my self-worth does not come from a single persona that I wear, but is a weighted combination of everything that makes me a human being. [1] https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a20804968/the-postrace-blues/ https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a20804968/the-p... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5R8gduPZw4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5R8gduPZw4 [3] “We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing - an actor, a writer - I am a person who does things - I write, I act - and I never know what I'm going to do next. I think you can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun.” - Stephen Fry