> Only recently, have a select few started to promote less destructive lifestyles for founders:
I think at the bottom of this is the futility in trying to emulate others. You are unique and the only one who can be responsible for your lifestyle choices is - you. Figure out what works for you in terms of workstyle, lifestyle and work-life balance, rather than using role models as a blueprint.
I know a few people who have been living on <5h of sleep for decades and it's actually right for them. Telling those individuals that they need 8h is not improving anything. That doesn't mean it can work for most people.
> Telling those individuals that they need 8h is not improving anything.
Of course not, but telling these individuals that they are outliers and shouldn't give this as advice on "how to be successful" will improve things. They desperately need some of that humbling self critique that we ordinary, impostor syndrome suffering people do all the time and we can help them!
> What I'm trying to say is, stop letting others telling you how you should live your life and figure out what works for you.
I'm no entrepreneur but I think the article is saying that this is easier said then done when you want to do something you are passionate about, eg. changing the world with some new software thing, and everyone who have done something similar is acting like the examples in the article. Like that farmgirl article doesn't once ask if her "seemingly superhuman work ethic" is an example to others or rather should be presented as how an extreme sports practitioner often is: "you are clearly an adrenaline junkie! laughs but really, how do you cope with the stress of endangering your health just to free climb that large rock wall".
I think at the bottom of this is the futility in trying to emulate others. You are unique and the only one who can be responsible for your lifestyle choices is - you. Figure out what works for you in terms of workstyle, lifestyle and work-life balance, rather than using role models as a blueprint.
I know a few people who have been living on <5h of sleep for decades and it's actually right for them. Telling those individuals that they need 8h is not improving anything. That doesn't mean it can work for most people.