UdyamGita

Running a business is not easy at all. There are many ups and downs. If a business owner becomes too comfortable with a certain lifestyle when the business is doing well, it becomes very difficult to maintain that lifestyle when the business goes down. Due to this change in lifestyle, the owner may become distressed, demotivated, and may even plan to quit.

When things are going well, the owner may get attached to fancy things, start enjoying a lavish lifestyle, and focus mostly on leisure activities and vacations. In the process, the vision of the organization gets neglected and the business may slowly move towards destruction. Therefore, as a business owner, one should be prepared for the best of the best and the worst of the worst situations without losing mental balance and sanity.

When you are mature enough to handle extreme ups and downs of business with a smile on your face, strength in your hands, and warmth in your heart, you can achieve success faster. This is because you understand that these phases are momentary, like seasons that come and go, and are a natural part of any business.

But if you allow the entire organization and everyone in it to swing with your highs and lows, it kills the motivation of people. They become confused and are unable to align with one another. As a result, the rhythm of the organization gets disturbed, making growth difficult. Every low phase then forces you to start from scratch, creating a repetitive cycle that does not allow the organization to scale, grow, and win.

Krishna now addresses something every human—and every entrepreneur—experiences daily: emotional fluctuation.

He explains that pleasure and pain arise from the interaction between senses and situations. They are temporary, seasonal, and inevitable—like summer and winter. The instruction is not to escape them, but to endure them without losing balance.

Krishna then elevates the message: the one who remains steady in joy and sorrow becomes fit for liberation. In practical terms, steadiness is the gateway to mastery.

Business Insight

Running a business is a continuous exposure to extremes.

When business is booming:

• Lifestyle upgrades creep in
• Comfort becomes addictive
• Focus shifts from vision to indulgence

When business slows down:

• The same lifestyle becomes a burden
• Stress multiplies
• Motivation collapses
• Quitting starts looking attractive

This swing is not caused by business conditions—it is caused by attachment to temporary highs.

Successful founders prepare themselves mentally for the best of the best and the worst of the worst. They don’t redesign their identity, lifestyle, or decision-making with every quarterly result. They know: this too shall pass.

When leaders internalize this, execution becomes stable and growth accelerates.

Leadership Lesson

An organization mirrors the emotional rhythm of its leader.

If a founder oscillates wildly between excitement and despair:

• Teams get confused
• Motivation erodes
• Alignment breaks
• Culture becomes fragile

People stop knowing whether to celebrate, panic, or wait. Every downturn forces the organization to start from scratch, killing momentum and scalability.

A steady leader, on the other hand:

• Absorbs shocks personally
• Shields the organization emotionally
• Maintains direction irrespective of cycles

When leaders stay calm, organizations stay functional—even under stress.

Key Takeaways

• Business cycles are seasonal, not personal
• Attachment to highs makes lows unbearable
• Steady leaders scale faster
• Emotional swings in founders disrupt organizational rhythm
• Protect culture from market volatility
• Endurance, not excitement, builds greatness