To become exceptional we have to pass the line of normal.

No 8 in my Book serialisation, shared to support anyone who feels alone in their emotions around - "am I the only one finding life tough?"

To quote....

"Is it time we were all a bit more open"? 

Writing a book about the emotional and mental journey of business ownership would be pointless if I avoided the reality of the hard aspects of it. I have become tired and demotivated by the images of our mega entrepreneurs, the ones displayed on TV who treat entrepreneurs like idiots just because they don’t know everything.

I feel it is time for us all to be more honest about the journey and the realities. If each of us knew that others found it hard, there would be more respect, more love, and far more collaboration and trust in the ecosystem of business. 

I have thought long and hard about this and decided now is the time to be real on paper and share my journey. At no time am I asking for pity – we all know that offers of sympathy are the most disempowering thing we can do for anyone. Acknowledgement of my strengths and weaknesses and my desire to fight back are the most I could ever seek. It was not easy to find my way back. As entrepreneurs, we hold ourselves up as resilient people but I lost my resilience. This book shows you the lessons I learned in my recovery and all the things I wish I had known about myself, and others, 20 years ago. 

I feel if I can achieve just this message through my words, then I will have made a difference to you... If you imagine a line, above it is exceptional, below it is a feeling of being ‘sub-standard’, or ‘below normal’. The line represents normal. To become exceptional we have to pass the line of normal. So many believe that they are lacking, that they are below normal. 

This makes it even harder to excel. I have spoken to so many thousands of people over my 20 years supporting business owners, and I know that emotions of fear, anxiety and low mood are normal, they are human. Challenges that hit us as business owners are also normal. We all learn and grow from them. I want you to know and feel that your emotions and your challenges are normal; once we all know this, then we can thrive, grow and become exceptional. 

I have been fortunate to find a number of people who were also willing to share openly their stories and what they have learned, but I spoke to so many more. Believe me, as they say in America, being broken in business is a rite of passage, and it’s time we all realised that those who have run a business, stumbled and got back up are amazing. If this is you, or if you are currently stumbling, I hope I can help you to stand tall again. 

Exert from Business is Personal, available on Amazon in audio, ebook, and print

#businessispersonal #pennyandthomas