I've always thought that the "trough of sorrow" should really be re-cast as the "personal trough[s] of sorrow," i.e. every day, every decision is confronted by doubt, and you have to continually overcome the fear of failure.

This is exacerbated by the fact that you're constantly confronted with stories about other people / teams / companies that are "crushing it."

The good news is that it really does get easier with practice and repetition. Kind of like jumping into a freezing cold pool for swim practice. After the first couple of times you realize, "hey, I didn't drown," which makes the next few times easier. It never gets easy, just easier than when you started.