In many ways it is an extension of ourselves. Whether a business lives or dies is based off of our ability to manipulate it. Neglect it completely and it will fail. Don't start it and it will never exist.

But if you do think this way, it's first most important to take care of yourself. Picking up smoking again reeks of stress left unchecked. No sense of satisfaction from generally satisfying activities does too.

I know nothing about the Micah's business and what got him there, but from his post it feels a lot like what I've seen and what I've been through. A lot of "personal sacrifice" for the business, a lot of feelings of pressure, a need to perform. Essentially like an addiction to realizing goals; the fitbit example for instance - compelled to meet an arbitrary metric to the point that it causes him stress.

I think the best way to do anything, running a business or otherwise, is to first be cooperative and aware of yourself. If you are judging your business as an extension of yourself, it's destructive to sacrifice yourself for the business. If it's necessary, then do it with awareness; be cognizant of your actions and evaluate them to make sure they're still necessary. Stress can be a great way to motivate yourself for short bursts, but in the end it's a negative influence, it will ruin your life and it will ruin your business.

When you live off stress, that's when you can "hit rock bottom" - that's when you realize that relying on all the stress in the world to motivate you still isn't enough. If the stress doesn't help, why bother with it? That release gives you a boost - stress impairs your ability to function as much as it compels you. But I think it's important to take a lesson away from that - mitigate stress, monitor stress, and only use it occasionally. Let stress be the thing that happens when the shit hits the fan, and forces you to knuckle down and get through it. Be careful to never let it be the baseline again.

What a super difficult topic to discuss - props to @micah for his honesty.