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Ask HN: What are you biggest mental / relational challenges?

13 points by ada1981 ↗ HN
Research shows the biggest reason projects fail is the mental and relational health of the founders. Curious what challenges folks are facing as well as resources people are using or general comments on this subject.

15 comments

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ferguess_k
Not a founder, but I'm impacted by a couple of mental issues:

- Getting frustrated really easily sometimes

- Getting burned out from side projects really easily

ada1981
How does that impact your life day to day?
ranger_danger
motivation / realistic purpose / coming up with ideas
BaudouinVH
Being on the spectrum and ADHD.
ada1981
How does that impact you day to day?
autotune
Bipolar disorder. Feels like I have manic episodes every few days now. Combined with a 2 year gap in employment history, SSDI benefits might be my best move forward in life.
ada1981
What feels like the biggest obstacles with those things?
moi2388
I get really into new projects. I spend way too much time researching and building, and forget to take enough rest.
ada1981
Totally can relate to that.
jf22
I get anxiety from understanding all the work I have to do.
ada1981
Does that lead to motivation? Procrastination? Something else?
theyknowitsxmas
You people sit in front of a computer all day and sometimes make good money out of it. Bullied as kids and fell in love with being in control of something... at least you have something to do! Consider it a blessing over being a roughneck on the oil patch.
ada1981
Have you read The Comfort Crisis? You might enjoy it. Essentially says our ancestors were all pro athlete level fitness, moving 25-50 miles a day, essentially fasting all the time. And that is what our mind is optimized for.

Personally, I put myself into the wilderness every quarter for 3+ days of no phone, fasting and sleeping on a tarp to reset dopamine. Everything is better whenI return.

DougN7
Slightly off topic but related: one of the biggest epiphanies of my life was when I (20-something techie) realized tech is useless if it’s not used. In other words, tech only exists to help people. People, and their problems, are what matter, not the technology. That changed a lot about how I looked at software development.
ada1981
Can you give an example?