When I graduated from Wharton, we were in the early innings of COVID.
As a first-time startup founder, I experienced the highs and lows of entrepreneurship amid the dark backdrop of a dysfunctional government, a global pandemic, and tremendous economic uncertainty.
This combination took a pretty big toll on my mental health.
I attributed the mental health challenges I experienced to the entrepreneurial journey - 72% of founders report mental health struggles in getting a business off the ground.
Speaking to dozens of my Wharton classmates who had pursued a variety of post-MBA careers, I found that I was not alone.
This post is about mental health for
Founders
Post-MBA Veterans
Millennials in General
The Post-MBA Dip
The 2 years I spent at Wharton were a ton of fun.
Business school is a remarkable and unique opportunity - it feels like we’re making progress in our careers, but we have none of the actual responsibilities of a job.
Moreover, the optimism about the future, our careers, and the possibilities of post-MBA success was intoxicating.
In every class, professors reinforced the value of our MBA - it would open new doors and opportunities.
Our case studies were about successful alumni who had started impactful businesses.
Classmates landed dream offers with compensation figures that didn’t seem real.
It was magical.
When the Rubber Hits the Road
Post-MBA, most of my classmates went into soul-crushing careers.
In school, many of us bought into the idea that we’d set ourselves up for our careers by pursuing professional services immediately post-MBA.
Every alumnus I talked to who worked at an investment bank or consulting shop told me how miserable it was, so it wasn’t shocking to hear my classmates’ enthusiasm for their work die off around the 6-month mark.
2 years post-MBA, as the world recovered from COVID, it seemed like many of my classmates already had golden handcuffs - they were too highly compensated to leave, but deeply professionally unfulfilled.
In the ensuing 2 years, it has become clear that post-MBAs are not special (in any sense of the word) - most Millenials seem to be struggling.
The Millennial Malaise
The Millennial generation grew up with the internet at our fingertips.
For the first time in human history, every piece of information in the world was readily accessible.
With the rise of the smartphone, we never have to be bored or lonely again.
Social media gave us a new avenue to connect with friends and family and to share updates about our lives.
Unfortunately, this massive change had negative repercussions that we couldn’t have anticipated.
When compared to previous generations, Millennials are -
More likely to be anxious and depressed
Less optimistic about the future
More prone to burnout
There are many reasons why this is the case - we’re always ‘on’, social media puts other people’s life accomplishments front and center, and the news is a constant stream of bad news that’s impossible to ignore.
These problems are not going away, so today’s post is tactical advice for breaking out of the Millennial Malaise.
Strategies for Resilience
Resilience is among my favorite words.
Being able to not only survive the daily monotony but thrive in adversity has so many positive effects for life and business.
Building resilience is critical.
Here are the most impactful strategies/activities I’ve found for building resilience -
1. Physical Activity
Movement is medicine.
I’ve found it particularly difficult to get workouts in over the last few years, but if I get up an hour early in the morning, I rarely miss a workout.
The simple act of committing to doing something hard and then having the tenacity to do so when we’d prefer to be comfortable has dramatic effects.
I try to do two types of exercise -
A) Workouts I hate - I do these to haze myself and prove to myself that I can suffer and endure. This is typically running for me.
B) Restorative workouts - if I just can’t summon the energy to do something, I’ll put on my shoes and go for a walk.
One final note - Yoga is an unbelievable life hack. I hate Yoga because my balance and flexibility are terrible, but linking our breathing to movement is a massive unlock for mental health and wellness.
I’ve never met a miserable yogi, and the author of the book, “The Body Keeps the Score” writes about how Yoga was the most effective therapeutic technique they used to combat PTSD among veterans.
2. A Good Morning Routine
My days are infinitely worse when I scroll on my phone or check email when I wake up.
I used to sleep with my phone in the other room at night to avoid this, and I’ve recently returned to this practice.
Here are the surefire ways to have a better day by starting on the right foot -
No phone first thing in the AM
Write a few pages with a pen and paper over coffee
Get outside for some sort of movement - a walk, run, anything
Manufacture an easy win - I like putting the dishes away to create some momentum
3. Limit Social Media
Social media is the antichrist.
Scrolling through other people’s content is not useful, productive, or good for us.
I recently deleted Instagram and have never enjoyed a decision more. Sure - I miss seeing what my friends are up to.
I don’t miss it nearly enough to go back.
4. Force Change in the Routine
Routines are incredibly helpful for building consistency, but doing the same thing every day/week gets remarkably boring.
I’m really bad at this one - I default to ‘no’ when asked if I want to try something new.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve tried to break that habit and say yes to more new things. Last weekend, that resulted in a hike through nature and this past weekend, it resulted in agreeing to volunteer at an animal shelter.
These were incredibly easy ways to change up my weekend routine, but incredibly fun.
Even with these coping mechanisms, life and business are always hard.
Our generation will face significant external hurdles and negative stimuli over the coming decades.
Almost none of that is in our control.
What is in our control is our ability to maintain our optimism and take action to become better versions of ourselves.
I’m wishing each of you a fantastic week and hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Retained Learnings!
Best,
Brendan