What are the key takeaways from this The Startup Chat episode?

Key insights include: **Luck versus gratitude practice:** Reframe daily reflection from gratitude to luck by asking "why am I lucky" instead of "what am I grateful for" to acknowledge circumstances beyond your control and reduce stress during uncertain times.; **Social media adrenaline management:** Protest videos and charged content trigger fight-or-flight adrenaline responses rather than dopamine hits, causing exhaustion and rage. Limit exposure by following select accounts directly rather than algorithmic feeds to maintain productivity and mental health.; **Selective action focus:** Apply the Buddhist principle that if you can change something, act on it without worry; if you cannot change it, worrying serves no purpose. Identify what you can control daily and ignore unpredictable external factors.

What did Steli Efti and Heaton Shah discuss on The Startup Chat?

Steli Efti and Heton Shaw discuss maintaining mental health and operational sanity as founders during the dual crises of COVID-19 and global protests in 2020, sharing practical coping strategies. Key topics include: **Luck versus gratitude practice:** Reframe daily reflection from gratitude to luck by asking "why am I lucky" instead of "what am I grateful for" to acknowledge circumstances beyond your control and reduce stress during uncertain times.; **Social media adrenaline management:** Protest videos and charged content trigger fight-or-flight adrenaline responses rather than dopamine hits, causing exhaustion and rage. Limit exposure by following select accounts directly rather than algorithmic feeds to maintain productivity and mental health..

The Startup Chat

514: How to Keep Your Sanity in 2020

June 9, 2020·

Steli Efti,Heaton Shah

Read time

2 min

Topics

Productivity, Health & Wellness, Startups

AI-Generated Summary

Published Dec 24, 2025

Key Takeaways

✓Luck versus gratitude practice: Reframe daily reflection from gratitude to luck by asking "why am I lucky" instead of "what am I grateful for" to acknowledge circumstances beyond your control and reduce stress during uncertain times.
✓Social media adrenaline management: Protest videos and charged content trigger fight-or-flight adrenaline responses rather than dopamine hits, causing exhaustion and rage. Limit exposure by following select accounts directly rather than algorithmic feeds to maintain productivity and mental health.
✓Selective action focus: Apply the Buddhist principle that if you can change something, act on it without worry; if you cannot change it, worrying serves no purpose. Identify what you can control daily and ignore unpredictable external factors.
✓Business communication timing: During periods of intense social unrest, pause outbound sales and marketing activities for one to two weeks rather than risk tone-deaf messaging. Wait for normalized conditions before resuming standard business development efforts.

What It Covers

Steli Efti and Heton Shaw discuss maintaining mental health and operational sanity as founders during the dual crises of COVID-19 and global protests in 2020, sharing practical coping strategies.

Key Questions Answered

•Luck versus gratitude practice: Reframe daily reflection from gratitude to luck by asking "why am I lucky" instead of "what am I grateful for" to acknowledge circumstances beyond your control and reduce stress during uncertain times.
•Social media adrenaline management: Protest videos and charged content trigger fight-or-flight adrenaline responses rather than dopamine hits, causing exhaustion and rage. Limit exposure by following select accounts directly rather than algorithmic feeds to maintain productivity and mental health.
•Selective action focus: Apply the Buddhist principle that if you can change something, act on it without worry; if you cannot change it, worrying serves no purpose. Identify what you can control daily and ignore unpredictable external factors.
•Business communication timing: During periods of intense social unrest, pause outbound sales and marketing activities for one to two weeks rather than risk tone-deaf messaging. Wait for normalized conditions before resuming standard business development efforts.

Notable Moment

Shaw explains how a single incident in one American city sparked worldwide protests, creating unprecedented global unrest where people across continents experienced fight-or-flight responses from consuming social media content remotely.

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Episode Transcript

Hey, everybody. This is Steli Efti. And this is Heaton Shaw. And today on the Startup Chat, we're gonna talk about how to keep your sanity in 2020, how to be a founder during these times, how do we be a human during these times. I think we like talking about more than just sales and marketing. We just wanna bullshit and chat about business and life, and hopefully, while we're doing that, provide a lot of value to people. The world's best business podcast. Oh. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. We did that. For people trying to get shit done. Yeah. We don't wanna give you feedback. That's bullshit. We want you to do your best. Man, this year is is something else. And I'm sure we're not the only I mean, lots of people are going through a lot of things right now. And I felt like, you know, typically, we're known for super short, super sharp, very tactical and tactical episodes, but these are unusual times. So maybe they call for an unusual startup chat episode. I felt like it might make sense for us to just chat. How do we deal with this? How do we think about all the all the insanity that's going on in the world? Maybe we do have a few things to share with our listeners that are gonna be helpful. Or if not, maybe that in and of itself gives some comfort that not even Yeah. The two of us know know how to deal with this. That's right. So let me ask you. I mean, we're currently going through, so the the the first big wave was obviously the global pandemic and COVID. Now we're going through this, you know, this wave of worldwide demonstrations and rights, peaceful protests, kicked off by police brutality, but it's sort of maybe even bigger than just that. There's a lot of different things that are in the mix that are going on right now. How have the last, you know, two, three weeks been for you and kind of for your team and your company? Has it been different than the first COVID wave of craziness? How do you cope? How do you keep your sanity during all of this right now? Yeah. So for me, I just feel really lucky. And and I think I have a at this point, an unlimited number of reasons why. Mhmm. And so I couldn't even cover them, you know. And I think that's how I deal with this. I I just realize where I'm lucky and make sure that, like, I don't lose sight of that regardless of what else is going on for other people, because that that's really helpful. I I mean, there I think we might have talked about this a little bit, but I've been really wrapping my head around for myself, the difference between luck and gratitude. Yeah. And I think we talked about that a little bit a couple …

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