Entrepreneur and Health

https://hbr.org/2026/03/overcoming-self-doubt-when-launching-your-own-business

[Summary] Overcoming Self-Doubt When Launching Your Own Business
 Building a business is deeply personal, with nearly 88% of entrepreneurs reporting mental health challenges, often driven by intense, unspoken self-doubt. The article argues that self-doubt is not a weakness but a normal byproduct of innovation that can be managed by transforming it into useful information rather than suppressing it. To build resilience, founders must implement four key strategies: naming the specific triggers of doubt, borrowing perspective from trusted peers to break isolation, shifting the focus from personal heroic efforts to the company's mission, and decoupling self-worth from business outcomes. By adopting these approaches, entrepreneurs can navigate high-stakes volatility with greater stability and clarity, managing their inner world to secure their company's future.

 The author is an authority recognized by Thinkers50, an international initiative that identifies and ranks the world’s most influential management thinkers every two years.
 As someone providing executive coaching, there is a slight sense of "position talk" (self-promotion) here. However, since it is common practice for top-tier business professionals in the United States to hire coaches, it is certainly effective for entrepreneurs facing anxiety to consult one.
 I also hired a coach in Japan for a period of time. While I received effective advice at times, I ended the contract when I realized that, despite my own wishes, it was difficult to pursue a major pivot. This is not to dismiss coaching; rather, I believe that if you have sufficient funds, you should find a coach with whom you are compatible.
 What I felt then was that while coaching may be effective for small course corrections or incremental improvements, it is difficult to make decisions regarding major shifts or transformations involving significant risk through coaching alone. It is important to recognize this limitation.
 Even if you aren't an entrepreneur, there is a cycle where doing well at work makes you feel good, and feeling good makes you do well at work. This HBR article serves as one prescription for how to think and cope when business, work, or personal life is not going well.
 Entrepreneurs—who are constantly expected to deliver upward-trending results and must handle that pressure—truly have my respect for their hard work. Ultimately, everyone wants to manage their mental state well and lead a healthy life both physically and mentally. I believe that by doing so, positive results will naturally follow.

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