Why HALT

H.A.L.T is a concept which is often ignored in the world of startup communities. As a startup, you have to make sure that you are being careful and attentive about H.A.L.T. What does H.A.L.T. stand for?

Well, the H stands for hungry, the A stands for Anger, the L is for Loneliness & the T is for Tiredness. Now, what does these have to do with managing or starting a startup? These four are considered as fundamental emotions behind being successful as an entrepreneur with your startup.
Stands for hungry

  • Hunger

You have to have that hunger and thirst for success. There is no entrepreneur who has made it big without the hunger working as a powerful emotion. When you are working as an entrepreneur, you will see both high and low times. In the initial phase of your journey, the low times will take over the good times and it is your duty to keep yourself motivated. Nobody in this world is going to help you unless you help yourself and that is when the hunger comes into play.

This emotion will keep you on track and it will keep you focused. You have to be hungry enough to achieve your next milestone, to touch your next goal as a business and so on. There is a saying by Grant Cardone, the famous Sales Expert that you can either be hungry or starve as an entrepreneur. Make sure that you are not starving because that will be the death of your business.
Anger

  • Anger

The next emotion that you need to be careful about is the mighty anger. Now, there are two ways to look at it. There are entrepreneurs who reportedly have never become angry with their employees or with their process of running the business. On the other hand, there are great entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs who ran their business in a completely different way.

It has to be understood that your business needs the emotion of anger at times for the betterment of it. At times, that anger will give an extra push to your business which will take it to new heights. At the same time, you should also understand that if you are angry all the time about your business or if you are an angry person in general, then that might have a negative effect on your business and on the people that you are working with.

You have to find that right balance where the anger will work as a positive emotion for you and your business. Do not always be on the edge with your emotions. As an entrepreneur, you will have to know when to burst out and when to absorb every emotion that you have.

  • Loneliness

This might sound weird to some people but it is true that entrepreneurs are lonelier than most other people. Entrepreneurs and especially the startup owners get so involved into their ideas and inventions that it becomes tough for them to find time for family, friends and for the things that they love to do apart from running business.

Around 61% entrepreneurs believe that loneliness hampers their performance when they are working on ventures. This especially affects the first time CEOs as the rate is around 70% . The position of being a leader might seem amazing from outside but it gets tough when you are into it. There will be tough situations, there will be those distant moments with your team and there will be time when you will feel like leaving everything. You will have to handle these emotions and fight with your loneliness to stay active and cheered up all the time.

Most startup owners do not take a vacation for a long period of time. Where you love your work and it might feel that you are enjoying what you are doing, you still need time off from what you are doing for the betterment of not only you but for your company too. Often, you will not be in the position to realize that being too involved with your company, but it is true and you have to be sensible about it.

Loneliness is more powerful as an emotion than you think of it. It is a silent killer and that is why, you have to make sure that you are not falling into any trap. Your business needs you as an active person and loneliness can kill your creativity.
Loneliness

  • Tiredness

The last one of the H.A.L.T is tiredness. No matter how active you are as an entrepreneur, there will be times when you will feel tired and you will feel like not doing anything. Exhaustion can be one reason behind that but it is not the only reason. At times, you will feel tired because of monotonous work, at times you will feel tired because of nothing visible at all.

As an entrepreneur, you will have to fight your emotions in these situations. There are different ways to prevent exhaustion that you can apply to yourself. One very famous strategy used by most entrepreneurs is getting completely disconnected for a fixed period of time. It can be 15 days or a month given the situation of your business. Simply turn off your cellphone, give the responsibility to someone else and go away for a vacation. Do not take any message or offer any advice/decision in this period to your business. This is your time and you should enjoy it doing irrelevant things. One trip or vacation every year will help you fight the tiredness.

Often, tiredness comes from inside and these are tough to battle with. You can fight with your physical tiredness with a few cups of coffee but emotional tiredness needs more attention. You have to figure out the reasons and work accordingly. Spending time with friends and family always cure tiredness so if you have that option then do not hesitate to use that. Make it a habit of yourself to spend a few hours with your friends every week. That will keep your focus sharp and keep you free from tiredness.