Do You Have "Entrepreneur Envy"?

Just like #socialenvy we can have "Entrepreneur Envy". Now this type of envy does not mean we are completely jealous people. With social media these days, it's hard not to "want" the freedom we see that comes with being a BOSS. The beaches, the best restaurants, glamorous photo shoots and flawless social media posts. You know exactly what I am talking about! Those posts we see that we can't help but think "I wish I could have a life like that" or "I wish I was that kind of entrepreneur".

I did fall into this trap when I first started my business.  In hopes to gain inspiration, I followed a bunch of entrepreneurs and entrepreneur motivation pages on Instagram. Some were really helpful, some were just full of quotes with luxury cars and expensive watches behind them. I would think to myself, I didn't start this business to buy expensive things or go on luxury vacations. That was far out of reach from where I was in life.

Now you may be thinking, what's wrong with this? There are a few things WHY this kind of social exposure can have negative impacts on our self esteem and mindset as entrepreneurs.

1. We become Envious - we become jealous of what other people have, what their life looks like and feel a sense of lack in our own life.

2. We compare ourselves - we start comparing ourselves and businesses to people we don' even know. We know nothing about them except what we are exposed to on social media. We compare their multi million dollar company to our start up and we start to feel like we are not enough or will never have enough.

3. We miss out on celebrating small wins - when we are stuck in a comparison cycle, we don't appreciate our own success as much, whether it be big or small.

4. We forget what is important to us - we are too busy watching what everyone else is doing, buying or where they are traveling that we start thinking we should be doing all of these things. This can distract us from being grateful for our own blessings and milestones we have reached.

WHAT DO WE DO?

I am not suggesting you don't follow people whom you admire or that inspire you, I think the best thing we can do is to follow more entrepreneurs that we can relate to on multiple levels.  Once we can find more common ground, we can see and appreciate their challenges as well as success. We can see the lofty dreams and luxury cars and know some day we might get there, but focus on the journey rather than the destination. Follow inspirational or spiritual pages or people who share their values, vision or purpose rather than the grandeur of living a "freedom" life. We also have to be constantly remembering that social media is only part of the story! I stress on this point often, but it is important to remember people only share snippets of their lives. We all like to share the "best" parts of our lives and all because we post daily, doesn't mean those pictures represent daily life.

As entrepreneurs we have to be very protective and aware of our mindsets Feeding ourselves with the right kind of inspiration to foster our growth is so important and if we feel like we are living with abundance, we will only attract more!

I hope you enjoyed today's topic, I would love to stay connected with you and your journey!

Kelsey

Instagram @kbiddi
Facebook @iddybiddyentrepreneur