Being in business is challenging.
When you’re your own boss, as well as the leader of your company, it requires a unique blend of mental, emotional, and physical resilience. (It’s simply different than working for someone else.)
As you do the courageous, creative work of growing and leading your company, you’re going to experience the whole range of human emotions.
(This doesn’t mean you’re “not cut out to be a business owner”, by the way. How you show up as a business owner is directly tied to how you live as a person. You’re going to feel the whole range of emotions just because you’re alive.)
As soon as you declare yourself an entrepreneur and take the actions to back it up, you are guaranteed to feel a wide range of uncomfortable and painful feelings.
You’ll be disappointed. Scared. Self-critical. Guilt-ridden. Anxious. Overwhelmed.
All of which are totally normal.
It may not be FUN to feel these feelings, but you can decide to acknowledge and work with them in a way that actually strengthens you as a leader and business owner–while building your self-trust and general awesomeness.
Making the choice to feel your uncomfortable feelings (as opposed to shoving them down, repressing them, or pretending to “grin and bear it”) is a healthy choice that contributes to the long-term sustainability of your business by making you a stronger and more grounded leader.
Feeling your feelings gives you a chance to process the pain that would otherwise gnaw away at your confidence, slow you down with guilt or shame, and ultimately lead to burnout and you wanting to quit.
You become a better business owner and leader when you stop bypassing how you feel and pretend like everything’s fine when it’s not.
By facing your feelings head-on, and comforting yourself through them, you create healing, catharsis, and open yourself up to newfound levels of strength, self-awareness, and personal power.
So how do you handle big feelings at work, if you’re not trying to stuff them down or “put on a brave face” despite panic or tears?
The short answer: You embrace them, learn from them, and ultimately love yourself in your messy, human realness.
You take care of yourself in whatever ways you truly need to (even if you only have time for a few deep breaths to steady your heart rate).
You give yourself grace and respect and do what it takes (off hours, if necessary) to restore your inner peace and return to the seat of your power.
You nurture your heart and your body, integrate lessons learned, and release all that you no longer need.
You become a wholly integrated, well-rounded badass who is more resilient, more honest, and more magnetic than you’ve ever been before.
Big feelings are your power portal to becoming the leader you truly long to be.
in this video, I give you my step-by-step POWER process for moving through big feelings as you are having them at work. I’ll show you how to use your emotions to become a more powerful leader (while tending to your pain in the process.)
Click here or click the image below to watch it on YouTube.
The next time you have a fight with yourself, get overwhelmed and derailed by anxiety, or just can’t stop spinning inside your head over your doubts of the future or guilt from the past, give this process a try.
Important note: If you think you may be suffering from clinical depression or anxiety, please get in touch with a therapist. Therapy is a tremendously powerful tool for healing and building emotional resilience, and the tools and guidance a therapist or LCSW can offer are different than coaching.
Want to find out more about working with me 1:1 and what my private coaching process looks like?
Click here to explore my signature program for helping you create a more sustainable, joyful business and life.
