How Selling My Business Almost K*lled Me

About this video

Martell describes how selling his first company, after four years of what he calls 100-hour weeks where the business was his entire identity, left him at 28 with a feeling of a rock on his chest, panic and anxiety attacks, and difficulty breathing despite having made millions of dollars on the sale. A psychiatrist told him this was common when self-worth is fused with a business, and suggested grounding tactics that Martell says helped — carrying a rock to squeeze during attacks and spending more time on the water after buying a boat. From that experience he draws three lessons he says let him go on to build and exit other companies including Flowtown and Clarity. First, disconnect personal value from business success or failure. Second, invest in yourself as the one constant across businesses, including health and daily gratitude, empathy, and mindfulness practices. Third, lock in the learnings from setbacks by asking how you contributed to an outcome, treating rock bottom as a foundation for a comeback. He closes with a quote he attributes to Osho that the only thing that matters is your opinion of yourself.

Key takeaways

• Separate your identity and self-worth from your business — its success or failure is not a reflection of your personal value
• An exit can trigger loss and anxiety when the business has been your identity, even when the outcome is financially positive
• Invest in yourself — health, rest, and new skills — because you are the constant across every future business
• Use daily gratitude, empathy, and mindfulness practices to stay grounded independent of external results
• After a setback, ask how you contributed to the outcome and extract the learning; treat rock bottom as a foundation for a comeback

Episode details: published October 3, 2022 · 10:38 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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