You Are Not Your Business
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A conversation I have frequently with peers and clients centers around this conundrum of how to navigate the emotional & mental turmoil of being an entrepreneur. More specifically, as I typically work with fellow service-based entrepreneurs, is this idea that what we are selling are our ideas, which then isn’t too big of a leap to then say we’re selling our creativity, which then can get awfully close to feeling like we are selling ourselves.
The line between who you are and what you sell is massively blurred.
This then shows itself in a number of ways. I’ve seen it with clients where we work for months on creating and launching their business or even the next offering, and then all movement comes to a screeching halt. It seems as though the fear of being seen or perhaps it’s the fear of failing becomes too great. I also believe in divine timing, so sometimes it really is a matter of riding the emotional roller coaster until you get that intuitive hit that now is the time.
But the mental gymnastics that we all do to assess the when/where/what/how is exhausting.
So then the next logical thought that pops up for me is — ”Hey, Maggie, just do the work to create a clearer boundary between your Self and your business.”
But it’s not quite that simple.
How do we do that when we also want to do work that matters? Work that is values-aligned, heart-centered, soul-led?
How do we infuse our work with meaning without losing ourselves in the process?
How do we Start With Why without co-opting our deepest values to only further the capitalist machine?
And I realize this is very much the pot calling the kettle black. I think I’m so drawn to these inquiries as they feel so deeply personal. But when we use words like “values-aligned” (#guilty 🙋🏻♀️) to speak about our work, we are inherently infusing parts of our Self into our business.
So where is the line? Where does my Self end and my business begin?
Instead of dealing with this in a linear way, I think we need to shift to consider circles. A Venn diagram perhaps, where one circle is our Self and the other is our business.
The extent to which you allow the overlap is completely your choice.
There are some folx who make a living off of sharing their most intimate details. And there are others who decide to keep as much of the personal out of the professional sphere as possible.
I don’t think any configuration is the right one — except the one that feels right for you.
It helps me to think of the two circles so that from the start I’m creating some natural separation between my Self and my business. And also, I’m allowing certain parts of me to inform my business decisions, but I am not getting too deep into the crossover that the business circle starts to touch upon my core identity and self-worth.
When I feel the two circles overlapping too much, I take this as a sign that I need to call upon my resources and find that natural separation again.
This typically comes up for me during the natural ebb seasons when time is aplenty and clients are scarce. That’s when fear starts to creep in and I start to question my worth. When the two circles are starting to look more like one, I know it’s time for me to broaden my perspective. I do this through cultivating more internal space (meditation, yoga, time in nature, time away from screens) and having conversations with trusted confidants who can help remind me of the things that I easily lose sight of in a contracted period.
As I write this, I’m laughing a little because while I know this to be true, and I know it to be helpful, it is still so. damn. hard. in the moment.
I’ve recently kickstarted my own mindfulness ritual again after taking an unintended months-long break from anything consistent. And after only a few days, I’m starting to feel my circles separate again, I can carry a greater perspective for how things are all working together and flowing as they should, and I am reminded that while my business is infused with my ideas and my values — it is not me.
I am a component of my business, just as “entrepreneur” is one of many identities I hold.
My business serves a purpose of providing for me financially, and how it operates can also be one way I actualize my values with an honest desire to think about my larger impact.
So yet again I’m left with the realization that my Self and my business aren’t mutually exclusive, neither are they wholly intertwined.
If you are to think about the current state of your Self and your business, how is your Venn diagram configured in this moment?
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Photo credit: Creating Light Studio