VC Minute – quick advice to help startup founders fundraise better.
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Thanks for sticking with me all the way to this final episode on founder self-care. All of these tips come from a very personal place, and I hope they’ve been valuable for you. If they have, I have one ask. Share the VC Minute with someone. Thank you.
I saved the best for last and it’s possibly the hardest. The number one thing you can do for yourself is practice self-compassion.
In our high achieving culture, there is a myth that success requires self-criticism. The myth that you can only improve if you’re hard on yourself. I used to believe this. I used to practice self-awareness through criticism. The myth is if I accept who I am, haven’t I given up on growing into a better person? How else could I improve if I didn’t know what I needed to improve on?
The paradox is that we can only grow through acceptance and self-compassion. There are a lot of great people who cover this, Kristin Neff among my favorites. Link in the show notes to some great YouTube videos from her. Without self-compassion accepting mistakes becomes personal blame, bad self-talk and ultimately damages you. But you’re the one causing the damage. To yourself. My therapist called it, “tying myself to the whipping post.” The true path to a growth mindset is through self-compassion.
Part of self-compassion is forgiving yourself. When you’ve forgiven yourself, you’re able to accept your mistakes without that psychological damage. And when you do that you can actually see yourself clearly. With that clarity, then you can grow. When you show yourself the compassion that you deserve, you free yourself to achieve your highest potential. I want you to do that.
I appreciate you sticking with me on this journey. It was something that I needed and maybe you did too. Let me know what you thought about these past two weeks on founder self-care. What else have you found that’s been helpful for you? Share it with the community, share it on LinkedIn, share it on Twitter. I’d love to hear from you there.
Next week, yeah, we’ll get back to fundraising. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend.
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