Founders: your mental health is your operating system.

For a long time, I treated well-being like something I’d “earn” at some point.

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👉 Raise the round → breathe.

👉 Hit the goal → sleep.

👉 Get the win → finally feel okay.

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Except… the goals always move, and your nervous system doesn’t care about your cap table.

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The higher the goals.

The higher the stress.

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Later usually shows up as irritability, bad decisions, or snapping at the people closest to you.

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Recently, I read a great article from Antler where the founders of five mental health startups shared what actually helps (I’ll link it in the first comment). It clicked because it matched what I’ve learned the hard way:

👉 Nurture your relationships 
👉 Have a support community
👉 Connect with people behind the screen
👉 Have your own toolkit that helps you deal with everyday stress and anxiety

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Mental health isn’t something you focus on when there’s a problem. 

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Now, be honest with yourself for a second, which one do you neglect first?

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If you want the original insights, Antler discusses more in-depth about this with their portfolio companies in this article.