How Your Coping Skills Hold You Back as an Entrepreneur

When I left my 9-5 corporate career to start my own business, I thought I would be finally stepping into a new, hand-crafted world where I would have everything that was missing (balance, more confidence, a thriving life, swagger).

Instead, I was wracked by guilt. I felt like I wasn't working hard enough, sitting in front of a computer long enough, producing enough content, onboarding enough clients, creating enough systems, etc. (the list was exhausting).

What I've found is that the coping mechanisms that had contributed to my (relative) success in the Corporate World were the very things that were undercutting my success as an entrepreneur.

Untethered hustling. Being motivated by others’ approval.
Trying to fit into a one-size-fits-all box of “professionalism”.

And it felt incredibly disconnected not just to who I was, but who I was intentionally trying to become.

What I've learned since then is that self-acceptance is one of the cornerstones of successful entrepreneurs.

Which means we bring the rejection we felt when we were five years old. We bring the first time our heart was broken. We bring the unspoken rules we were taught by our family. Oh, and the traumas. We bring those, too. It's all there, influencing how we show up in our businesses.

So just for today, put down the belief that to be an entrepreneur is to be someone that you're not. Allow space for it all to show up. Because it will anyway.

Build self-acceptance one glorious, messy day at a time.