How to Love Your Business

Book excerpt: What does it mean to have a business that you love and that loves you back?As a business therapist, Nicole sees business owners and entrepreneurs every day who are stressed out by their businesses feel alone, unsupported and overwhelmed by their schedules. No one drops their personal baggage at the door when they start a business. In fact, starting a business means entering into a relationship, just like a friendship or romance. And just like in human-to-human relationships, if we don't set clear boundaries, and work to practice them mindfully, we're bound to default into toxic behaviors from our past. In other words, we bring our emotional challenges into our businesses with us, and when we ignore this, we get in trouble. In this book, Nicole shares her story of how she almost gave up on her business and dreams when she realized that she had created a business that was demanding and demeaning instead of loving and supportive. If you had trauma in your childhood it will impact all your relationships-and that includes the relationship that you're building with your business. We recreate patterns that we grow up with because they feel familiar and because we've been taught to compartmentalize our lives and drop our "baggage" at the door when we go to the office or start a business. There's no room for emotions, vulnerability, or mental health problems when it comes to workplaces. But the truth is, you will get more out of your business if you integrate all parts of yourself.Based on her experience of over 18-plus years as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and therapist, as well as her completion of Brené Brown's The Daring Way(TM) and Dare To Lead(TM) methodologies, Nicole outlines a process to redefine the relationship you have with your business. She'll walk you through how to identify your values so you know when you're in and out of integrity; craft an authentic mission and vision statement; make space for your business; create the boundaries needed for you and your business to thrive; love your inner critic; examine your relationship with money and create an Emotional Sustainability Plan that will act as a compass to help you make aligned daily decisions about your business. All of this so you can make more money, feel more connected to your business and clients as well as have a business that is emotionally sustainable.