What are we casting our votes for?
📸 by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
A founder's guide to sustainable motivation
As socially responsible entrepreneurs and founders, we all face periods where our motivation feels stretched thin. Between building our purpose-driven ventures, managing personal wellbeing, and everything else life throws our way, how do we maintain the energy and focus to keep creating positive change?
The votes we cast each day
I was talking with a time-poor tech founder recently who shared a concept that really resonated with me: the idea of asking ourselves "what are we casting votes for?" with our time and energy.
This founder is in the early stages of product development, bootstrapping his venture while juggling part-time employment and all the usual life responsibilities – family, friends, wellbeing, and the day-to-day necessities most of us manage. Like many entrepreneurs, he found himself dropping a few balls, particularly around sleep and relationships.
He explained that he'd been viewing his daily choices as "votes" – recognising that we each have a finite number to cast each day, week, or month. The question becomes not just how many votes we have, but where we consciously choose to place them.
The sprint that became a marathon (or at least a 10K run)
In this founder's case, he and his co-founder had committed to an intense two-week development sprint where nearly all their "votes" went toward their shared vision. With his co-founder temporarily in the same city, they cleared their diaries to maximise this rare opportunity.
The strategy paid dividends – their product moved significantly closer to launch, which felt brilliant. But as our conversation unfolded, he acknowledged the unsustainability of this approach. After those two weeks, he noticed his energy depleting and his resourcefulness diminishing.
What struck me about his story was his self-awareness. Through checking-in with himself, he recognised the balance had tipped too far. Together we discussed what he needed now and he made conscious adjustments to redistribute his votes more sustainably.
Two types of motivation: towards vs away
What makes the "casting votes" analogy particularly useful is how it reveals our underlying motivations.
My client was primarily motivated by moving towards things aligned with his core values – creating impact through his product and working alongside his co-founder. These "votes" carried positive energy because they connected to what was genuinely important to him.
However, we often catch ourselves casting votes from fear-based, "away from" motivations:
Working late to avoid being judged as uncommitted
Taking on projects to avoid letting people down
Saying yes to avoid conflict
Pushing through exhaustion to avoid feeling like a failure
These fear-based votes might provide a short burst of energy, but they quickly become depleting and unsustainable. They're the votes that lead to burnout.
Finding sustainable motivation: a simple framework
"What am I casting my votes for today?"
Based on this founder's experience and my work with other socially responsible entrepreneurs, here's a simple framework for maintaining motivation:
Cast votes consciously: Regularly ask yourself, "What am I casting my votes for today?"
Align with values: Ensure your votes reflect what genuinely matters to you rather than fear-based reactions.
Balance is sustainability: Casting all your votes in one area may work as a short sprint, but sustainable impact requires balanced distribution.
Schedule regular check-ins: Build in time to notice if your vote distribution feels out of balance, then make adjustments.
Celebrate intentional choices: Recognise that sometimes consciously choosing to focus intensely on one area is powerful – as long as it's a deliberate, time-bound choice.
The bigger picture
Purpose-driven founders often hold themselves to impossibly high standards, feeling they must cast votes everywhere simultaneously. The reality is that conscious, values-aligned vote casting – even when imperfect – is what enables us to maintain both impact and wellbeing over the long term.
The tech founder I mentioned has now implemented a practice of daily mini check-ins to assess his "voting record", complemented by a more substantial weekly review. This simple routine has helped him maintain momentum with his product development while restoring the balance that keeps him resourceful. Most importantly, it's reconnected him with why he started this journey – to create meaningful change while enjoying the process.
When we cast our votes wisely, both impact and wellbeing become not just possible, but mutually reinforcing!