What Keeps You Going?

 How do you keep going when everything is falling apart?

An entrepreneur asked me this over the weekend. We were both in that headspace: excited about what we're building, terrified it won't work, exhausted from the constant push. Here's what I told them: "I keep pushing through. For entrepreneurs, it's complex. Financial challenges, dips in business, signals it's time to pivot, the nagging self-doubts, a long list of real and psychological artifacts that pose challenges. I find ways for new revenue or side gigs when times are lean. Not easy by any means, but being an entrepreneur pushes us past our limits. Challenges help us discover strengths we didn't know we had. We get tired of being worried, stressed, or uncomfortable, and that exhaustion motivates us to take action. I'm building a new project right now. Which creates a myriad of emotions. It's all in my head with no proof of concept. Just me, my vision, and tenacity to make it happen." But here's the part we don't talk about enough: the mental health toll of entrepreneurship. Gray skies and rain exacerbate Seasonal Affective Disorder by reducing sunlight, disrupting circadian rhythms, lowering serotonin, and increasing melatonin production. This triggers deep fatigue, low motivation, sadness, irritability, isolation. For entrepreneurs already dealing with financial stress, pivots, and self-doubt? It's another layer. I've been in conversations with multiple entrepreneurs this week and weekend, and we're all in the same headspace. Excited. Worried. Pushing through. But we rarely have the support structures to address what's happening in our heads while we're building. That's what I'm working to change. Entrepreneurship isn't just about strategy, funding, and execution. It's about navigating the psychological warfare that comes with creating something from nothing. It's about building systems that support not just our businesses, but our mental health. So when someone asks me how I keep going when everything is falling apart, my honest answer is: I acknowledge that it is falling apart. I sit with the discomfort. I find the people who understand. And I keep moving. Not because I have it all figured out, but because tenacity, vision, and a commitment to mental health will carry me further than pretending I'm fine ever could. To the entrepreneurs in the thick of it: You're not alone. The struggle is real. And there's a missing piece in our ecosystem that we need to build together. What keeps you going when it feels like everything is crumbling?

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/drkfreezeseedcollective0333k_how-do-you-keep-going-when-everything-is-activity-7426297673034657792-LpMr?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAABWQnvAB8ccKGaGWeqIHWRN18VxzjaMhqns

Ice Cream, Ice and other Freezing tales...

 FROM LINKEDIN-- 02/02/2026

I was thinking about it being Monday, back to the grind...When a memory flashed from my early entrepreneurial days.

So, here’s a moment from my entrepreneurial journey that still shapes how I build today. Acknowledging that entrepreneurship rarely changes in one big moment. More often, the shift happens quietly, right in the middle of the work.

When I was first starting out, I spent a lot of time on the road running delivery trucks. As the customer base grew, so did the distance we traveled. What that gave me was time to listen and time to think.

I kept hearing the same challenges from customers. It wasn’t about what they wanted to buy. It was about what they needed and couldn’t easily get. That’s when it clicked. Entrepreneurship isn’t about guessing at a need. It’s about listening closely and solving real problems.

So I made a completely random call to It’s-It Ice Cream in San Francisco. Founded in 1928 and still delicious. That call turned into becoming a distributor and eventually founded a small-scale manufacturing ice company. Same trucks. Same routes. Same labor and gas. Just added more products and increased revenue.

And yes, with the last name Freeze, ice cream and ice, well I know, little like fate.

Today, It’s-It is still my favorite, although it’s no longer breakfast like it was in the old days.

The lesson that stayed with me is simple. Look for opportunity inside what you’re already doing. Ask your customers what they need. Solve a real problem. And give yourself space to dream while you build. Einstein talked about the power of daydreaming, and I did plenty of that on those drives.
I’d love to hear yours.

What’s a moment from your entrepreneurial journey that shaped how you build today?