Driven to Business with Eddie Mayfield

The alarm goes off, and you get a sick feeling in your stomach.  You do NOT want to go to work.  There’s only one problem, it’s your company.

That happens more often that you might think.  Most entrepreneurial types face burnout.   I don’t mean the feeling of being overloaded or frustrated, I mean burnout.

Per consultant Erica Diamond,  burnout is powerful and all consuming.  It’s the inability to feel at ease, happy, or restful.  Your mind is no longer your own, and for most, you can’t sleep.

I ran into this about two years after founding my industrial services company, EMA Inc. It seemed that despite my best efforts, I could never see the light at the end of the tunnel. My dreams and enthusiasm for growing a company had faded.  Just keeping up with the details, personnel issues, financial problems, sales, customer demands, and vendor problems consumed all my energy.

I was exhausted; I wasn’t running a business, it was running me.

I found myself, for the first time in my life, in a state of depression.  Something had to give.  I talked with my wife Vicki, with one of my Pastors, and with several other businessmen.  I prayed and thought about it and reached a conclusion.

I made a conscious decision to pull back from the business.  If it failed, it would fail, I just wasn’t going to lay awake at night worrying about it.

Amazingly, to me at least, after I did this, EMA began to prosper, and so did I.

I am thoroughly convinced that one of the primary causes of small business failure is founder burnout.

Erica Diamond gives 5 steps to combat it.

1.  Get help:   Find an objective ear and shoulder to lean on.  This may mean learning a bit of humility,
2. Get some balance:  You don’t have to stop, but you do have to balance.
3. Create a “worry” list:  She suggests that when something pops into your mind after hours, write it down and forget it till the next day.  Give yourself some mental space.
4. Learn your limits, know your needs:  I have learned what will set me off, and especially at night, I just will not read an upsetting  report or email till the next day.  You can’t hide (nor should you) from your responsibilities, but you do them on your time schedule.
5. Sleep: Sounds so simple, but one of my biggest issues was lack of sleep.  Lay off the caffeine a bit, get some exercise, and set a cutoff time an hour or so before bedtime for business.

I’m all about business success, and have been blessed to experience quite a bit of it.  But, life has value and meaning because of relationships; primarily those with God, family, and friends.

The investment of yourself into those areas, must not be allowed to decline in order to keep a business running.

We are geared in our culture to arrive somewhere, including success.  It’s kind of like going on vacation; we’re in such a hurry to get to the beach.  But, the vacation doesn’t start when you get to the beach, it starts when you leave the driveway.  The trip is part of the vacation.

Many business owners will tell you the most enjoyable and memorable times of their business life was before their businesses had any great success.  The trip was fun.

None of this is to suggest that you not work hard.  In fact, if you don’t your business will likely fail.

But, while you’re working..   “it’s only life, enjoy the ride.”  (Ricky Skaggs song)

Eddie

Many of us grew up with the assumption that if you went to college, you could land a job with a corporation and  live well until retirement.   That was etched into the American landscape after WWII, when so many young men went to college on the GI Bill, and made America great.

The question is: does that paradigm still work?  My suggestion is, in many cases, “no.”

In 2011, a number of underemployed lawyers filed class action lawsuits against several law schools, alleging the schools had misrepresented employment and salary prospects.  The graduates charged the schools had knowingly painted a more rosy picture of how much money they would make than was in fact the case.

Some of those cases are still going on, although in general, the lower courts have taken a dim view of their claims.  Similar charges could be made against almost all colleges and Universities that lead students to believe a particular degree will result in a good salary.

All of us know college grads that are either unemployed, or working in fields that do not require a college degree.  Per the Huffington Post, college costs have increased 12 fold over the past 30 years, far outpacing the rest of the economy.  This is, in my opinion,  inexcusable. It has been driven by a number of factors, among them a lack of accountability, and easy access to federally backed student loans.  Loans for studies that are very unlikely to result in a successful career. It is to the shame of political leaders and educators this hasn’t been aggressively addressed.

Students that acquire loans to finance college owe an average of $27,000 upon graduation. That’s an average, many owe much more.  One in 10 will default on the loan.  That’s a huge debt load for a young person starting life, especially if they can’t find suitable employment.

Mike Rowe, the host of Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” says that “in reality, a four year degree won’t make you successful any more than a gym membership will make you healthy.”

Rowe says that less than 12 percent of all jobs require a four year degree.  He thinks the country needs to stop selling the notion that “higher” education is superior to alternates, such as Trade Schools.

And, there is a big demand for skilled trades, and that demand is only going to increase as older tradesmen retire.   And per the research, job satisfaction among trade workers, is every bit as high, and often higher, than white collar jobs.

The economics used to strongly favor white collar jobs, but no more.  Experienced tradesmen can make six figure incomes, and they rarely graduate trade school owing any money.

As an entrepreneur, I take this a step further.  An experienced tradesman, that learns the business of his trade, as well as the skills, can open his own business and enjoy an income level comparable to a successful attorney.

This isn’t to denigrate a college education.  In fact, education is in my mind, a value unto itself, completely aside from career earnings.

I do think however, that parents and students should consider Trade Schools along with college.  And who is to say, that you can’t learn a trade skill, begin earning a good living, and THEN pursue a standard four year degree.?

In fact, that’s exactly what I did.  Wise people consider the times, and consider the options.  Be wise.

Eddie

George Wendt is the founder and President of Outdoor Adventure River Specialists (OARS –www.oars.com)

I love talking to business people of all types, but I especially enjoying talking to people whose passions have become their business.    OARS specializes in adventure river trips all over the western United States, and even does some international trips.  I’ve had the chance to travel with OARS on three different occasions, and it’s a blast.  I wrote a blog about a Grand Canyon rafting trip with them, and you can see that HERE.

George is an interesting guest, and he’s managed to build a highly rated and exciting  business.  He’s done this by having a sterling reputation, providing an excellent service, a great team, and smart business practices. George and I talked about the importance of a company’s reputation, about surrounding yourself with top notch people, and about treating customers well.

Business people of all stripes will enjoy and benefit from hearing George share his business philosophies and success methods.  George is also a person unashamed of his Christian faith, which  plays a big role in his life and business.

I told George that I’m not only a returning customer of OARS; I’m a fan of the company.  Visit their website, and listen in to the  Broadcast  of Driven to Business with Eddie Mayfield at 11 AM.  The program will be streamed live on biz1190.com and podcast on eddiemayfield.com . Don’t miss this broadcast.

Eddie Mayfield

Driven to Business with Eddie Mayfield airs at 11 AM every Saturday on Atlanta’s Business Radio, WAFS, biz 1190 AM.  Simply the best business radio in Atlanta..  tune in.

In Philadelphia, in 1776, the Continental Congress of the 13 Colonies argued fiercely about how to deal with an increasingly hostile British monarchy. Many, if not most, of the new world’s inhabitants considered themselves British subjects, and the idea of rebelling was unthinkable.

But continued provocations from the crown, including onerous taxes began to take their toll, and the unthinkable became the inevitable. They appointed a 5 man committee to write a declaration of their intent. One of the obvious appointments was Dr. Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was one of the most well known men in the world, and highly revered as both a philosopher and scientist. They also appointed a fiery outspoken attorney, John Adams. Additionally they appointed Roger Sherman from Connecticut, and Robert Livingston from New York. Perhaps their most unusual appointment was the youngest member of the congress, a shy Virginian, who rarely spoke publicly, named Thomas Jefferson.

When the five men met, they asked Jefferson if he would draft the document. Jefferson felt that it would be better if one of the older and more experienced men wrote it, but Adams insisted. Jefferson asked him why?

Adams replied, “Reason first: you are a Virginian and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second: I am obnoxious, suspected and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third: You can write ten times better than I can.”

Jefferson then agreed, and sequestered himself to write. Jefferson penned the phrases that came to represent the cause of not only a new country, but a new way of looking at the relationship between government and the governed.

He wrote that governments governed only by the consent of the governed, and that human rights came not by government grant, but from God.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

It would be difficult to overstate the impact of what this brilliant young man wrote. It gave a moral compass to the fledgling nation’s struggle for independence, and has for centuries been an inspiration and encouragement for people all over the globe.

On July 4th, 1776, the congress unanimously approved and signed the Declaration of Independence. They signed it knowing that it meant a hangman’s noose if they were captured by the British.

As Americans, every July 4th, we celebrate the genius of Thomas Jefferson, the bravery of the patriots that signed it, and give thanks for our nation. A nation that God has blessed far beyond what the signers envisioned. Whenever we begin to lose our moral compass, the Declaration of Independence calls us again to the revelation that we answer to God, and governments answer to us.

We are citizens, not subjects. Happy 4th of July, and God bless America.

Eddie Mayfield