In this #Entspresso episode, Evan Carmichael opens by acknowledging that many entrepreneurs feel their self‑worth tied to the performance of their startup. He introduces a clip from Tim Ferriss, who argues that cultivating a diversified identity—pursuing skills and activities outside the business—prevents confidence from collapsing when the venture stalls. Evan then shares his own story of burnout: when his first company failed to deliver results, his confidence plummeted because his identity was fully invested in the business. He explains how he now balances his work with a range of hobbies—salsa dancing, DJing, snowboarding, camping, and playing League of Legends—using the progress and learning in these areas to replenish his energy and optimism for his company. The video concludes with a call for viewers to comment on their own passions, emphasizing that these side pursuits can serve as a source of motivation when business challenges arise.
Good morning, belief nation. If your business isn't taking off yet and it's starting to have an impact on your confidence as a human being and it's impacting your self-worth, then I'm gonna share with you an inspiring clip from Tim Ferriss that I think will help.
A diversified identity in some fashion. I think this is important so that your self-worth isn't only associated with your startup. That's probably a controversial recommendation. What that means is you should actually spend time involved with other skills. So in San Francisco, for instance, many startup founders I know who are very efficient and effective have their startup, rock climbing, they get outside, they do a few things so that if one goes well, they can remain optimistic each week. It's just very difficult if you're only directed at your startup.
So I can totally relate to this. I remember in my first business, My business was everything. I put everything I had into it. And when I wasn't getting results, it took a major toll on myself, on my self-worth, on my confidence. And I remember prior to that, anything I had applied myself to, if I knew, if I put work into it, effort, I would see results. And here I was putting everything I had into this business and I wasn't seeing results. And I started to feel worthless and useless. And then it was hard to get up I can put energy into my business. And so now while I spend a lot of time on my business, I also have other interests. I'll go salsa dancing and DJing, I'll go snowboarding, I'll go camping, I'll play League of Legends. And what I've come to understand is even if I've had a terrible week for whatever reason, terrible day, terrible month in my business, I can turn it around by seeing growth and learning in those other areas of my life. So if I'm going salsa dancing, I might learn a new move. I might put on a new song. If I'm playing League of Legends, I might be trying out new champions, new strategies. If I'm going hangin', I might be trying out how to improve my upside-down fire. If I'm going snowboarding, I might figure out how to learn new tricks and jumps. There's always something that I can learn and improve on, and when I make those goals, when I see learning and progress, that gives me fuel and energy that I can take back to my business because I may not have seen growth I want to do that. So for those of you watching, I'd love to know what your passions, interests, and hobbies you have, and when things aren't going really that well in your business, you're able to do those things, and that gives you the energy and life force back that you can go and pour that back into your company. So leave a comment below, let me know what those activities are. I'm really curious to hear from you. Thank you for watching. Continue to believe. Have an amazing day, and I'll see you tomorrow morning for another shot of espresso.
