Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. Fascinating story about an incredible entrepreneur.

What you get depends a lot on where you're looking - it's true that there's a lot of this clickbaity entrepreneur writing that's light on details on heavy on storytelling, but there's also a lot of great content about entrepreneurs out there.

My advice is to stop reading blog posts and articles, and start getting into content that goes deeper. Listen to the podcast How I Built This - it does a better job of going deep and addressing both failures and successes. Read books - stories of businesses like Shoe Dog by Phil Knight are great, and even if they're autobiographical and thus destined to be slanted to the positive side of things, they still have a lot of real info to dig into.

Shoe Dog: about Nike

I feel you and others in this thread.

I don't know if I really know how to deal with failure but I am slowly learning to prioritize other thing like my kids above business success. It is very conflicting process, I mean if I am giving up on my dreams, then how can I tell them to chase their dreams. What is more important, to spend time with them or to be role model?

One book that really helped me is "Shoe Dog." It is story Phil Knight and how he created Nike. Unlike some other biographies, Phil Knight described really how stressful it is to run a business. But related to parenting, it seems like he was not very close to his kids. And then unfortunate death of his elder son. Those things make me want to spend more time with my kids.

However, I still have this feeling that I am a failure, haven't really done anything worthwhile with my life.

At one point, I decided to get professional help but the cost was too much. Then I have tried using CBT to help myself establish realistic business and career goals but it doesn't work that well. It has helped me realize that I do have conflicting narcissistic grand goals. My financial goals had been:

1. Be the richest person on the earth ever\
2. Okay maybe just make one billion dollars\
3. Fine let's do just $10,000,000 - My current goal\

But then I have conflicting but a bit more realistic goals like:

1. Build passive-income business\
2. Build socially good startup\
3. Be a writer that brings social change\
4. Build a mental health non-profit\
5. Build outdoors and fitness business but I spend time outside not like CrossFit or 5k races founders who sit inside the offices\
6. Don't want to deal with office politics, so no chance I will make C-level salary\
7. Never work for more than 40 hours for someone else's business\

--

I have started journaling, doesn't help when typing but I find it very useful when using pen and paper or iPad and Apple Pencil.

I think I really want to be a good father, but I don't know how to be one. Someone once posted here that the best way to show kids that it is okay to pursue their dreams is by pursuing our dreams.