How to Avoid Getting ‘Strung Out’ on Closing Deals

As a chronically ill entrepreneur running two businesses, I know we all need to check ourselves to find the balance, rest, and enjoyment in life we need…even when we’re caught up in the euphoria of success.

Are You Strung out on Making Deals?

There is such a thing as getting caught in the cycle of going after the highest-producing contracts, and this can be destructive. Entrepreneurship is like falling into the trap of any addiction, and many people have talked about this. Entrepreneurs like sales and marketing powerhouse Ryan Stewman note you can leverage your addictive personality to create tremendous productivity and results in your life. When you struggle with maintaining your priorities, he advises, “Money solves almost all problems, and if you focus on money, whatever problem you’re facing will eventually get solved. If you focus on the problem, you’ll only make the problem bigger.”

Money does make the world go round, and when you are not financially wigging out, life is far less stressful, meaning you can be present in the moment. So, go ahead and get that deal closed then head out for date night.

Last week, I felt like Jerry McGuire, closing deals left and right. I was exuberant. Hopeful. Incredibly empowered. The high from each deal bled over into the next opportunity, making the subsequent transaction even more spectacular than I had envisioned. 

Then I realized the euphoria of success has the same effect on the body as intense stress.

It was a pace I could not sustain. I needed to find the balance again so I could enjoy my life, give my clients the attention they deserve, and savor time with my family. I didn’t feel good. I was dizzy. Yet I wanted more and more and more opportunities.

We can get so magnetized by the drive, the win and constantly challenging ourselves to do better, to increase, to be faster, to be more mesmerized, to network harder and with greater reach and all of it can be a detriment to you.

For the better part of a week, every word that came out of my mouth was about business scaling, partnership, revenue creation and any other component of entrepreneurship. I was tired of hearing my own voice and became ashamed of my seemingly selfish behavior, although it was grounded in celebration.

You Didn’t Choose the Laptop Lifestyle to Enjoy Your Rewards Alone

I had to pause and remember that when we are chasing our dreams, when we are hot on the tail of our visions, all we have to do is slow down and drill into our self-awareness. We need to see our behaviors and decisions. Entrepreneurship is intoxicating. Most people do not understand the compulsion to create and prove ourselves to ourselves repeatedly. We have to understand the risk we take when we work for ourselves. It’s vitally important to deliberately choose our boundaries.

Super Bowl champion and Reverend of the Revolution Setema Gali offers this insight when you are riding too high on the wave of winning, “You don’t want to get to the top of the ladder to realize ‘this is not what I wanted.’ Working is a form of sedation, a form of hiding. It’s easier to figure deals than to play catch with your kids. I will not be the man who gains the world and loses his soul.”

When we are having the time of our lives in business, it is imperative to remain grounded to remember how fortunate we are and to fight the forces drawing us in, or we might find ourselves strung out on making deals—again.