In a recent comment on Bootstrapping Blog, Daniel mentions that it’s hard to distinguish emotional, hard-headed reactions to the naysayers and well thought out replies to them. I believe that may entrepreneur’s and bootstrappers have the same issues and I wanted to touch on some reasonings behind why acting on emotion can be harmful for business.
It’s like the saying goes: “Think before you talk”. This quote is true to business as well and I know from personal experience that opening your mouth and acting on impulse is something that causes more harm then good. Sure, it might feel good to just jump up and say exactly what is on your mind, or yell at the business you’re trying to trade with because they’re trying to give you the shaft, but holding your tongue and thinking things through yields a much better result.
Hard-headed decision making will cause failure
We’ve all been there, our friends or family members looking at us right in the face and saying that they think we’re crazy, or whatever plan we’ve come up with will fail. The immediate reaction of most humans is the hard-headed one. Immediately, we jump to the defensive and give the “I’ll prove them wrong” attitude the drivers seat in all of our decision making. By doing this, we’re losing track of our solid business sense, and in the process will end up making bad business decisions because we’re so angry that we’re not thinking straight.
Acting on emotions will cloud your judgment
If you’re sad about a recent comment a friend or family member gave you, or maybe you’re just a bit shaken up by the rude comments someone you recently talked to gave you about your recent business plan ideas, odds are you’ll be acting on emotion. Whether it’s sadness, hurt feelings or anger, acting on emotions will cloud your judgment and will result in your business being in a position you don’t really want, or need it to be.
For instance, if you’ve got tears in your eyes, how hard is it to see clearly across the room? Pretty hard I presume. Now, if you’re consumed with anger over a certain subject, how hard is it to come up with a complete sentence that makes sense? Also pretty hard. The same goes for business decision making.
Stubborn attitudes are roadblocks to success
When you come across a stubborn person, you either think one of two things; this person is really goal oriented and focused, or they are plain old rude and close minded. Most of the time people will perceive you as the latter and with good reason. When you’re possessing a stubborn attitude and you’re engaging in conversations with potential clients or other business owners, they will see these characteristics as selfish and will deem you an uncompromisable person. Being flexible is one of the best assets a bootstrapper has, and when the stubborn attitude comes into play, you lose all hope of bending at all, and your potential client will notice it and possibly move on to someone else who can better conform to their needs.
The follow up
In our next article, I’m going to cover the complete opposite of this article and give you some great reasons why acting on emotion can be GOOD for business. Until then, make sure you subscribe to our feed and stay up to date with what we’re doing here at Bootstrapping Blog. 
Leave comments if you have anything to add to this article as far as reasons why acting on emotions can be harmful for business.
Will be looking forward to the “Emotion can be good for business”
Hopefully I exercise some of the good ones, cause I know I have exercised all the bad emotions.
Hi Daniel,
I am going to write up a follow-up article tonight for this, so you can expect it in the morning to go live on the site.
Mike
Gosh do I have some experience in this. It is so hard some times to not let emotions get the best of you when dealing with the hard-asses of the business world.
Emotions can be harmful for your business because you are not thinking clearly. You are making decisions with your personal feelings and that clouds your judgement.
Thanks for the replies warren and quintin.
@ Warren: Yes, I have these problems as well. especially when you’re dealing with people who are hard-asses.
@ Quintin: Yeah. When you’re acting on emotion, 9 times out of 10, it’s a judgment that you wouldn’t normally make. For instance, if you’re angry, you’ll act out irrationally without thinking it fully through.
Any man who can make me lose my temper can make me lose everything else, too.
BillinDetroit, 2008
If you want to mess with my head, you have to stay in my face … nobody gets free rent in my mind. — BillinDetroit, 2008
I’ve used these ideas for the past 20 years or so. I’ve stayed calm while others went nut-so … and I’ve prevailed every time. If I’m still torn up 20 minutes after some nutjob has gotten in my face and walked away, he’s won. Odds are he’s already forgotten about me and is on his way to his next victim. But if I can regain my composure so fast that he never sees the riled reaction, I win. Now I’m in HIS head for free.
Awesome quotes Bill. I’m marking those down and will read them again and again