Tell the truth. How does it feel to be an entrepreneur?

Getting a new business off the ground isn’t easy.

Keeping a business up and running isn’t either.

Especially if we are a one person show.

But I swear, there is just something about the self-employed personality type that hooked me early on.

Even as a kid, I sat at the end of our long driveway and sold painted rocks to the neighbors. I made one of a ladybug and that fucker was a true piece of art. I hope I got full price for it. Wish I remember.

Being an entrepreneur is a lifestyle in some regards. Nature or nurture, you choose. We are destined to be innovators.

We are independent, self-disciplined and self-motivated.

Add to that self-sufficient.

We enjoy learning and researching all the things that help us build our business.

We get off on the process of creating something from nothing.

And watching it grow.

Inherent in that is – our big picture, visionary, creative minds.

That sounds almost…fun, doesn’t it?

Or…intimidating AF.

Let me state right here and now that I am not here to poo-poo your dreams or talk you out of a trajectory you’re already on with your business.

I just wanna be real.

Before I put my little fingers to the keyboard about this topic, I had to sit and took several long deep breaths. Got myself centered and talked down my swirling mind.

Entrepreneurship is a forest for the trees experience.

I had to take that minute and pan back. Really think about it, the reality of this whole entrepreneurial gig because it’s simultaneously discouraging and invigorating.

It’s like someone said,

“Well, this car has wheels and a radio and will get you where you want to go, IF you aren’t concerned with how long it will take and IF you are okay with pushing it sometimes and IF you don’t mind being lost half the time.”

So, the lost part isn’t about the car, but more about how I feel most days as an entrepreneur.

Also, the car is a metaphor for being a solo business owner if you didn’t follow – and really metaphors should be obvious so if you truly didn’t know I was using the car as a business example then I have failed you – let me see if I can get this article out of the ditch and back on topic.

Owning your own business is work dude, real hard work.

Allow me to offer a remedy.

There is a something missing in the business ownership experience – a focus on the business OWNER.

Are we considering how this person thinks and feels and personally experiences the life of a solopreneur, service-preneur, one person business?

See, all those personality traits are baked in. Nature or nurture kinda thing. It’s in our blood.

Entrepreneurs are already good at learning stuff, distilling the info and then sharing it in explainable ways to other humans or bringing the product to life.

All with the intention to better someone else’s life.

We just do it naturally. It’s how we are wired.

And yet, it takes a toll on us mentally, emotionally and physically.

Why does something so rich with creativity and connection often drive us into the ground?

Remember I just mentioned wiring?

If we skip over how we are wired, like our literal nervous system, then we are skipping over the key element of the business – the OWNER.

The remedy is learning to work with yourself aka your thoughts, feelings and sensations. Your inner experience of business ownership.

What parts of your personality are suiting up for work each day?

Mine?

Perfectionist.

People pleaser.

Cautious risk taker.

Skeptic.

Critic.

Graphic artist.

Wordsmith.

Ass kicker. (rarely shows, but still part of the crew)

All these parts of me come together inside like an inner Advisory Council or Board of Directors.

They confer and bicker and volley for the leader position at every inner meeting, and at literally every turn I take in my business.

If I am not aware of how my inner world works, then building and running a business feels chaotic inside. My emotional and mental state is affected by the cacophony of inner voices.

*If you saw the Pixar movies Inside Out 1 and 2, you have a visual of this inner council*.

One of the best ways I have learned to approach my business is through getting to know myself and how I automatically react to business-y things like networking events, coffee chats, social media posting, self-imposed timelines, making offers, launching products.

When my perfectionist drives, I notice days going by without posting or finishing an article or reaching out to someone to connect.

I now understand that some kind of fear is revving this part of me up and if I can work in a meditation or a walk outside or talk with a fellow businesswoman friend, the deep breaths come, and I get some distance from the 14 things on my plate.

The calm and clarity help that perfectionist part slowly exhale and release the wheel.

Without knowing I have parts of me, I would have blended with this perfectionist and believed the inner critic’s shaming narrative about not being good enough.

And my productive tanks, my self-esteem is based on likes and shares and my products become watered-down emulations of what I other people are doing.

I feel lost.

But with this awareness, I can recalibrate the perfectionist to being more of a detail-oriented consultant council member.

Things tend to be much better when it sits in that role.

If you’re curious about your parts, check out this YouTube video.

I’ll be talking more about our parts if you stick around. It was a real game changer for me in more than just my life as a business owner.

Peace out (and in!)