Navigating Personal Hardships While Running A Business
Episode 35
Surviving Tough Times In Entrepreneurship And Life
Life has a way of throwing curveballs at us when we least expect it. As online entrepreneurs, we strive for success, pouring our hearts and souls into our businesses. But what happens when life takes an unexpected turn? How do we navigate the rollercoaster of running a business when personal challenges threaten to derail us?
Today we’re taking a dive deep into a topic that often gets overlooked – the intersection of personal life challenges and running a successful business. I’m revealing the experience from my own life when I was thrust into the role of full-time caregiver, first for my Husband, then for my Father. I’ll share what I did to get through those challenges without losing the business I worked to build, and how I was able to find balance amidst the chaos.
How do we navigate the rollercoaster of running a business when personal challenges threaten to derail us?
The Rollercoaster of Being An Entrepreneur
Life is unpredictable, and as Entrepreneurs, we are not immune to its challenges. Whether it's a family crisis, health issues, or the loss of a loved one, these personal struggles can have a profound impact on our businesses. It's crucial to accept that
our personal and entrepreneurial lives are interconnected and that what happens in one arena will affect the other.
What do we do when our personal life is really tough and the last thing we want to do is think about being a leader, setting a vision, chasing a goal, or even just showing up every single day?
Our personal and entrepreneurial lives are interconnected and that what happens in one arena will affect the other.
It's important that we are able, in those tough times, to release the expectations that we must have it all together. Even when things are hard, releasing the expectation and giving ourselves permission to be human, can really go a long way to keeping us from falling apart. This doesn't mean we won't fall apart, and it doesn't mean you won't have hard times and moments of pure sorrow, but rather that by easing our standards and expectations, we can find a way to get through the difficult time without letting go of the business we’ve worked so hard to build.
Maybe this means releasing control and hiring someone to step in and take over some of our work load. Or this could be temporarily shelving some time-consuming offers. Perhaps it means adjusting the social media strategy.
Whatever adjustments need to happen, it's essential to embrace our humanity and acknowledge that we are not superheroes. We must grant ourselves permission to be both the boss and the human being behind the business.
By releasing the expectation of maintaining “business as usual” during tough times, we can protect our sanity and prevent ourselves, and our businesses, from falling apart completely.
Success Is Born From Emotional Resilience
Running a business is challenging, even when things are going well. When you're also dealing with personal hardships, it can be even more difficult. My life, and business, took an unexpected turn when I faced two major life challenges back-to-back: first by caring for my seriously ill Husband, then becoming a full-time caregiver with a Terminally Ill Father.
My husband’s illness caught us by surprise. He went from perfectly healthy and functioning to struggling to do everyday basic tasks. I never really knew when I woke up in the morning if I would be a caregiver or if I would have the day to myself. On the heels of my husband’s illness, my Dad’s health took a turn for the worse. We moved him into our home so I could make sure he received the care and attention he needed. Along with caring for my young children and running a business, I was emotionally, physically, and mentally stretched thin.
It was a really tough time for me and our family. I credit my ability to get through it with developing some emotional skills that allowed me to continue every day without letting my business obligations completely unravel. It was at this time that I learned, and understood the importance of emotional resilience.
Emotional Resilience is the ability to feel difficult emotions without being overrun by them.
Emotions are not an all-or-nothing experience
Many of us treat emotions as if they are an all-or-nothing experience; we either compartmentalize what we’re feeling or let our feelings completely take over.
Compartments are for storage, not for emotions. This approach is not only unhealthy but also counterproductive. Our emotions cannot be neatly tucked away. Instead, we must embrace and process them in a healthy way, allowing ourselves the space and time to heal.
It’s important to remember that emotions come to us in waves. When they come in big and strong, it’s easy to feel overrun by their all-consuming current. If we try to be a dam against the waves, the waves are going to keep crashing against us; the emotions will reverberate when they come back. Resistance doesn't mean we always push them away, although sometimes it can. It can be simply just distracting ourselves from our emotions and pretending they’re not there.
However, if we allow ourselves to just experience the emotions, to experience the emotional wave, we can be in the flow state where we feel things that feel awful, but they don't hang around and keep crashing. Emotions come to us to be experienced and the saying “what we resist persists” is completely true.
Resilience is about letting those difficult emotions — the fear, worry, and grief — come to us and move through us. It’s when we resist those challenging emotions that we increase our suffering. Emotional resilience means surrendering to what we’re feeling and allowing the emotions to flow without resistance.
As Entrepreneurs, it’s crucial to develop our emotional resilience if we want to sustain and maintain our business during difficult times. Whether it's finding solace in our responsibilities as Entrepreneurs or allowing ourselves moments of vulnerability and self-care, emotional resilience is our compass in navigating the storm.
Emotional Surrender Is Key To Get Through Tough Times
Running a business while navigating personal hardships isn’t about “managing” our emotions in the traditional sense. When we “manage” something, it means we have a system and a structure and some amount of control. When it comes to getting through hard times we often get this wrong. Instead of trying to keep it all together, we have to learn to surrender. Surrendering is the healthy way to “manage” those challenging emotions. This doesn't mean we give up completely, let our emotions roll over us, and thereby destroy the business we've created and the things we love in our life. Surrendering is simply allowing. That we allow our emotions to show up and to move through us without trying to control them, prevent them, or lessen them. Surrendering is the quickest way for you to get back to an emotional place that feels okay. We just have to aim for okay.
Instead, if we allow all emotions, the good ones and the bad ones, to move through us, those emotions do not hang around at the same level of intensity and at the same duration as if we tried to compartmentalize them, push them away or succumb to them. Allowing means being brave enough to feel even the worst emotions for as long as it takes for it to move through us.
If we learn to allow all emotions and give ourselves the space to feel them, the process of getting back to okay will be quicker and easier. That doesn't mean it will be quick, that doesn't mean it will be easy. It means it will be quicker and it will be easier. When we get good at allowing, we come out on the other side stronger.
Strength comes from knowing we can face the things that we want to resist. Many times we are scared to feel a challenging emotion, it's one of the hardest things we have to do as humans. When we manage our emotions in a healthy way, which means to surrender and allow them to move through us, then we can develop the character and strength we need to be able to continue on this beautiful journey so we can create a business and life that we love.
Strength comes from knowing we can face the things that we want to resist.
A final note…
Running a business when life feels hard is not an easy task, but it is possible. By embracing our humanity and developing emotional resilience, we can find the delicate balance of navigating personal challenges while achieving entrepreneurial success.
Remember, you are not alone on this journey. If you’re struggling to achieve emotional balance in your business, I can help. Reach out and let’s talk about what’s going on. Together, we can overcome adversity and create the business and life success you crave.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING...
Danielle's message is spot on with achieving goals. Not only does she practice what she preaches, but she's your guide to help YOU achieve the best version of yourself! A must listen!
KRYSTAL PROFFIT
Grow a biz & feel good! Danielle is really skilled at bringing both the actionable steps plus the mindset work so we can feel good as we grow our businesses while being present for our families. I look forward to listening every week!
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