Hearing so much about stress around here lately, I decided to address it head on and share a few of my own thoughts on the subject. It just might help.

As I see it, one of the most challenging things about starting an online business is the constant prolonged effort required, with little or no remuneration. Sometimes family members will provide moral support. Sometimes their fear prohibits them from bolstering you emotionally when you need it the most. Friends say stupid things. Family members put pressure on you to be profitable. So, you're called upon to be a Titan of courage and have enough chuptzah to pass around to everybody. (btw, I learned that word on Seventh Avenue. It means audacity).

I don't know how many of us anticipated the commitment required to launch and maintain such a business. I had no idea in the beginning what I was getting into. Sweat equity or cold cash or both, doesn't matter, it is an investment. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. How would you feel if this experience slipped past you? How would you feel never to have enjoyed an Internet Marketing education, never to have learned all that you've learned? It would be unfortunate, don't you agree? It's like learning a new language. Simply wonderful!

Before you get too depressed and frustrated, pat yourself on the back for giving yourself a great gift. Smart, smart, smart. You graduated from the small and limited earth bound sandbox, and are now playing in the vast sandbox called cyberspace. Naturally the learning curve has to be more intense than if you opened an offline business. IM is even new to the people who seem to know what they are doing. It keeps changing. Part of the pain is beating yourself up over absolutely nothing. So stop.

Let's start out by saying YOU DID SOMETHING RIGHT. You're doing something right.

What's at the basis of your angst? A couple things. The biggest one is F-E-A-R. Fear that it won't work. Fear that all of your work is in vain. Fear that you may have made a fool out of yourself in front of family and friends if it doesn't work. Fear of the agony of defeat. Focus on the joy of victory instead. The other thing is financial. You're having to underwrite this venture with your cash and your valuable time. Some folks may be out of work and looking to generate an income as fast as possible. That's a great deal of pressure. Too much pressure. I would look to generate income in a surer easier way, then let your online business mature naturally through your TLC and constant work. TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF OF YOURSELF. I'm speaking from my own experience. Heck, I intended to support a transition from applied to the fine arts with IM within 2 months. Funny, huh? What I found out is that there is an art to IM too. Both things (arts) have to be supported by me till they grow up.

This shouldn't be such a chore. Needs to be fun. Have fun writing articles, doing all the SEO stuff, building sites. It's like a game. If you take the obvious pressures off of yourself, I promise the angst will go bye bye.

Control what you can control, and forget about the rest.

The only reason I'm sharing is because I've experienced it too and this is what has helped me.  Hope I've helped.