Cameron HeroldFounder of the COO Alliance & Invest In Your Leaders Training

The Hidden Addiction Trap Sabotaging Entrepreneurs | Joe Polish

17 Mar 2026 · 0 min

Watch on YouTube

0:10

In this interview excerpt, Cameron Herold asks the host why he introduced the topic of addiction to an entrepreneur group. The host explains that addiction—defined as behaviors people can’t stop—often keeps entrepreneurs from reaching their opportunities. By surfacing these hidden habits, the conversation forces participants to confront what they do and don’t want to do, revealing problems, challenges, and missed opportunities. The openness also creates vulnerability, building deeper trust among members, which in turn strengthens peer support for their businesses. The dialogue highlights how addressing personal struggles can become a strategic lever for entrepreneurial success.

You were the first group, entrepreneur group, that I'd ever gone to that really exposed the issue of addiction. What was the purpose for bringing that in?
In the beginning, it was very difficult to articulate why I was doing it to everyone. Like, some people really appreciated it and others were like, why are you bringing this up? And so the reason I bring up addiction is oftentimes when someone's life is out of control, it's because they can't stop. That's what addiction is. We want to bring up discussions where, what are you doing that you want to do? What are you doing that you don't want to do? What are your problems? What are your challenges? And what are your opportunities? And often what gets a lot of entrepreneurs from reaching their opportunities are there's things in their life they cannot stop doing that are preventing them to getting them to where they want to go. And oftentimes those are addictions.
The conversation that you opened with so many entrepreneurs about this allowed them to be vulnerable about a topic they don't often get vulnerable with, which then built the connection and the trust to then help each other with our companies as well. Like, it was almost the spinoff benefit that we got of, of really getting deep and vulnerable.