The 87% Mental Wealth Crisis

In partnership with

Hey, Coach Will here...

While you're grinding through another 16-hour day, telling yourself "just one more quarter until things calm down," 87.7% of entrepreneurs are quietly battling at least one mental health issue.

And before you think "not me, I'm fine" – that's precisely what the other 87% said too.

Here's where it gets interesting...

💥 What's Inside This Week

• The Hustle Culture Lie - Why "sleep when you're dead" is killing your business

• Your Lazy Guide to Mental Wealth - How burnout is making you dumber (and poorer)

• The Anti-Wellness Wellness Plan - Why this beats another productivity hack

• StartSmart™ AI Power Prompt - reformed workaholic turnaround

• Your "I Don't Have Time" Quick Fix - 20 minutes and you're done

• Tools That Work - Why lazy entrepreneurs make more money

• That’s a Wrap! - Key Takeaways

Let's talk about the elephant in every Zoom room: entrepreneurs are falling apart faster than a dropshipping business in 2024.

The data is bonkers….

87.7% of entrepreneurs report mental health struggles.

That's higher than literally any other profession, including emergency room doctors and divorce lawyers.

We're out here making trauma surgeons look emotionally stable.

But here's what's happening in the trenches:

➡️ The "I'm Fine" Epidemic: Every entrepreneur I meet is cosplaying as a successful person while secretly googling "normal amount of anxiety" at 3 AM.

We're all walking around like productivity zombies, powered by caffeine and spite, pretending that working weekends is a flex and not a cry for help.

➡️ The Toxic Positivity Plague: "Good vibes only!" screams the entrepreneur who hasn't seen their kids awake in three weeks.

We've created a culture where admitting you're struggling is treated like admitting you put pineapple on pizza – socially unacceptable and vaguely shameful.

➡️ The Bootstrap Paradox: Here's the joke: We pride ourselves on bootstrapping everything except our mental health.

We'll spend $2,000 on a course about Facebook ads, but won't spend $200 on therapy because "that's for weak people."

Meanwhile, we're losing $47.6 billion annually to mental health issues.

Let's try to clarify this so it makes more sense.

The Comparison Game From Hell: Thanks to LinkedIn, we're all comparing our behind-the-scenes to everyone else's highlight reel.

That 22-year-old posting about their "7-figure exit"?

They're probably crying into their ramen, too.

But we don't see that part because vulnerability doesn't get engagement.

The vibe shift we need? Admitting that success without sanity is just expensive failure.

🔥 The Hustle Culture Is Lying!

There, I said it.

This whole "hustle 24/7 or you're a loser" mentality? Bullshit!

It's not just harmful – it doesn't make any sense mathematically.

Depression alone causes a 35% productivity drop.

So, congrats, you're working 16-hour days at 65% capacity.

That's like driving cross-country in second gear because you're too busy to shift.

The "Busy Flex" That's Embarrassing:

• "I haven't taken a day off in 2 years!" (Translation: I have no boundaries or business systems)

• "I survive on 4 hours of sleep!" (Translation: I make terrible decisions and blame the market)

• "I'm always grinding!" (Translation: I'm too scared to stop and think about why I'm unhappy)

Here's what nobody tells you: The most successful entrepreneurs I know work LESS than you.

They don't post about their afternoon naps on Instagram because that doesn't align with what they sell.

💥 The Real Math Nobody Wants to Admit:

• Working 80 hours at 50% capacity = 40 effective hours

• Working 40 hours at 100% capacity = 40 effective hours

• Guess which one doesn't require therapy and Red Bull IVs?

But wait, it gets crazier….

⚡ The Anti-Wellness Wellness Plan

Look, I get it. I’ve been there more times and I want to admit!

When someone tells you to "practice self-care," you want to throw your laptop at them.

Bubble baths aren't fixing your cash flow problems.

Meditation apps feel like procrastination with extra steps.

So let's talk about mental health for people who think crystals are BS and yoga is just expensive stretching.

The ROI Reality Check: Every $1 spent on mental health returns $4.30. That's a 430% return.

Please show me a reliable crypto investment. I'll wait.

Companies that prioritize mental health outperform their competitors by 23%.

Not because they're singing Kumbaya in the break room, but because their people can think straight.

The "I Don't Do Woo-Woo" Wellness Stack:

1. Therapy (aka someone qualified to help) = Business Consulting for Your Brain

   • It's just debugging your mental software

   • Costs less than your monthly software subscriptions

   • Fixes the bugs instead of adding features

2. Boundaries = Profit Margins for Your Time

   • "No" is a complete sentence and a business strategy

   • Every "yes" to busy work is a "no" to something profitable

3. Rest = Compound Interest for Productivity

   • Your brain grows new cells during sleep

   • That's free R&D happening while you drool on your pillow

The entrepreneurs crushing it aren't meditating for hours. They're just not actively sabotaging their brain's ability to function.

🎯 Your “Lazy Guide” to Mental Wealth

Here's the contrarian truth that'll make hustle bros hate me: The laziest entrepreneurs often make the most money.

Not lazy as in "sitting on the couch eating Cheetos" (though that's a valid business strategy if you're in the snack review industry).

Lazy as in "refusing to do things the hard way because you value your sanity."

The Strategic (yes, planned) Laziness Framework™:

✅ Week 1: The Great Unfollowing

• Unfollow every account that makes you feel inadequate

• Delete one unnecessary meeting (you know which one)

• Say NO to one thing that sounds important but isn't

✅ Week 2: The Automation Revelation

• Identify your dumbest repetitive task

• Spend more time automating it than it would take to do it

• Feel smart about being lazy (this is key)

✅ Week 3: The Boundary Brigade

• Set one ridiculous boundary (no calls before 10 AM)

• Watch people respect you more, not less

• Question everything you thought about "availability."

✅ Week 4: The Profit Pivot

• Track your energy, not just your time

• Do high-value work when you're fresh

• Do busy work never (delegate or delete)

The "But What If..." Objections:

• "But what if clients need me?" They'll figure it out or pay rush fees

• "But what if I miss opportunities?" You're already missing them by being burnt out

• "But what if people think I'm lazy?" They're too busy having their breakdowns to notice

Success isn't about working harder than everyone else; it's about working smarter while everyone else burns out.

🤖 StartSmart™ AI Power Prompt

Copy this prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, or your favorite AI tool for immediate results:

“You are a reformed workaholic turned strategic entrepreneur. I need help creating boundaries that actually stick and make me more money, not less.

My situation: I'm a [type of entrepreneur] who currently works [X hours] and feels guilty when I [rest/say no/take breaks]. My biggest fear about setting boundaries is [specific fear]. My revenue is [current amount] and I think I need to work more to grow.

Please provide:

Three boundaries that sound scary but will actually increase my revenue

Exact scripts for setting these boundaries without sounding like a jerk

A "boundary experiment" I can try for one week

What to do when I feel guilty about not working

Format as irreverent but actionable advice. Include one "productivity hack" that's actually just permission to be human.”

Pro tip: The AI will likely provide you with generic wellness advice. Keep regenerating until it gives you something that makes you laugh AND think.

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⚡ Your "I Don't Have Time" Quick Fix

➡️ Smart Action: The "Expensive Nap" Technique

• Difficulty Level: Beginner (unless you have Protestant work ethic damage)

• Tools Needed: A couch and the audacity

• Expected Outcome: 23% better decision-making, minimum

• Time Investment: 20 minutes (15 to nap, 5 to stop feeling guilty)

Here's why this works: Your brain consolidates information during rest.

So that nap isn't lazy – it's profitable R&D.

Jeff Bezos takes them. You think you're busier than the guy running Amazon?

✅ The Process:

1. Set timer for 20 minutes (not 19, not 21)

2. Lie down (revolutionary, I know)

3. Close your eyes (this is the hard part)

4. Tell the guilt voices that this is a "strategic energy optimization session."

5. Wake up and make better decisions than your competitors

✅ Implementation Support:

• Troubleshooting: Can't sleep? Just lying down with eyes closed works too

• Next Level: Schedule this like a client meeting

• Accountability: Calculate the hourly value of better decisions vs. tired mistakes

Please bookmark this section now, so you'll be ready at 2 PM tomorrow when your brain might need a little boost.

🛠️ Tools That Work

Quick note: Some links below may earn us a small commission if you decide to try them out. We only recommend tools we use and love.

This week's game-changer: BetterHelp (aka Business Coaching for Your Feelings)

✅ What it does: Connects you with actual therapists who understand that "just relax" isn't helpful advice.

✅ Why Coach Will recommends it: Look, I've tried self-therapy with productivity hacks and motivational podcasts myself.

It turns out that talking to someone with an actual degree works better than listening to a 23-year-old life coach who has just discovered cold showers.

✅ Best for: Entrepreneurs who need someone to call them on their BS professionally

✅ Getting started: Take the quiz, get matched, have your first "wait, that's why I do that" moment.

✅ Pricing reality: $65-90/week (less than you spend on "networking" drinks you hate)

✅ Easy Integration: Video, phone, or text (for when you're having a crisis in line at Whole Foods)

✅Learning curve: One session to realize you needed this years ago

Real-World Application: My coach helped me realize I was sabotaging deals because I thought suffering = success.

Fixed that trauma response, closed 40% more deals. Correlation? Causation? Who cares, I’m slightly less crazy.

Alternative Options:

• Budget option: Crisis text line (text HOME to 741741 - free and life-saving)

• Fancy option: Executive coaching that includes therapy ($500+/session, but they call it "performance optimization")

📊 The Pulse

🗳️ Pick one that hits you hard!

Next week, I'll roast your choice and provide actual solutions (with love, tough love).

💬 Join the Conversation

🔥 Hot Question: What's the dumbest thing you've done in the name of "hustle" that you now realize was just self-sabotage with extra steps?

Join the StartSmart Exchange Community, where solopreneurs admit their disasters and laugh about them instead of posting fake wins on LinkedIn. Join Here!

I read every response, and the best disasters might become cautionary tales in future newsletters (anonymously, unless you want the clout).

🎯 That's a Wrap!

💥 Big takeaway: Working yourself to death isn't a business strategy, it's a slow-motion exit plan.

✅ Your next move: Cancel one thing on your calendar this week—just one. Watch the world not end.

✅ Worth remembering:

• The 87% Club: You're not special for struggling, you're just honest about it

• Hustle Math: 80 tired hours < 40 focused hours (this is 3rd grade math, people)

• Therapy ROI: 430% return on investment (better than your crypto portfolio)

• Strategic Laziness: Working smarter looks lazy to people working dumber

• Action Step: Book something for your mental health this week or admit you enjoy suffering

🚀 Remember, you're in charge! Think Big, Play Smart, Win More!

-Coach Will

P.S. Still think mental health is for weak people? That’s cool. Enjoy being outperformed by "lazy" entrepreneurs who can think straight. The rest of us will be over here making better decisions, closing bigger deals, and enjoying our success. Your burnout isn't a badge of honor; it's a business liability. Choose wisely.

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