I've read this blog post at least once a year since 2009.

It is a guest post on the Tim Ferriss blog written by Cameron Herold, former COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK and high performance COO coach.

Being an entrepreneur is like being on a roller coaster of emotions.

In the article, Herold describes the four stages of the cycle that every entrepreneur goes through:

• Uninformed Optimism
• Informed Pessimism
• Crisis of Meaning (where a big choice happens)
• Informed Optimism

Throughout my entrepreneurial journey, I have realized that this cycle doesn't just happen once. Sometimes it feels like it can happen every month.

You can freak out on the roller coaster or you can learn to enjoy the ride.

By knowing what to expect and learning how to behave within each phase of the roller coaster we can become more effective entrepreneurs.

Herold describes the emotions you feel in each of the phases and, most importantly, he provides a list of the Do's and Dont's for each. For instance, in the Uninformed Optimism phase you probably shouldn't be working on your budget but you should be networking for new clients.

Don't make big decisions in the ups or downs.

My biggest takeaway from this article is the importance of not making big decisions at the high points or the low points of my business.

When everything is going great and you're patting yourself on the back for being a great business owner it's probably not the best time to make a big decision about expanding. Conversely, when you're at your lowest and questioning why you've dragged yourself and your family into this business it's probably not the right time to call it quits.

By being aware of the emotional ups and downs in entrepreneurship we can make better decisions. The highs and lows will always be there, the key is finding the place in between where we can make well informed decisions.