Over the last year, I’ve had the immense privilege to work with many women who are presently in challenging circumstances. I’ve consulted them primarily in matters of self-esteem and their entrepreneurial path. These women come from various points of wealth, family life, nationalities, marital status and religions. Some have struggled with domestic violence from a spouse, parent, or even a child. Some have been overwhelmed battling destructive eating disorders or even fighting a terminal diagnosis’ which they’ve emerged from with a clean bill of health. Still some have struggled to raise their children single-handedly, manage intense depression, anxieties, or even struggling just to find their place in the professional world. While their backgrounds or present circumstances vary dramatically from each other, I’ve noticed a common theme among these modern day warriors. With little exception, they all have chosen to continue to press on. But after spending so much time with them, I still feel a sense of sadness for them as I realize they feel like their life is intended to merely survive, when I am absolutely certain that their lives are intended to be one of thriving. For some, they even have a hard time to acknowledge their problems to be what they actually are. Here’s an example: One woman whose son was physically abusing her, even threatening to kill her in her sleep, had the most difficult time even calling it what it really was. She just kept blaming herself for not raising him properly and trying to come up with the perfect parenting skill to make everything all better. It didn’t help that her husband refused to acknowledge that it was as serious issue as well. So here you have a wonderful woman who’s living a less than fulfilling life because her perspective of things is so skewed.
Now, to be clear, I’m certainly no therapist and I don’t have the proper education to clinically assist these women in any of the aforementioned matters. My exposure to them has come solely as a result of my business and marketing consulting. However, because of my belief that fixing the “head” is critical to one’s true success in the professional world, I attempt to address this aspect as well with all of my consulting clients. I believe that one of the keys to fixing your head is to remove yourself from the situation for a “moment in time” so that you can see your surrounding, your current circumstances with a fresh, more accurate pair of eyes. After all, it’s hard for us to really see things as they are when we’re so close to it and embroiled in the climax of the emotions. So, last fall I elected to take a few women to Walt Disney World. I did so in order that the women could experience a vastly different world from their own perceived reality, and thus, perhaps, view their situations in a different light. I’m happy to say that after 4 days with these wonderful travel companions, each of them expressed some alternative views of their situation, which I believe was much more accurate. Obviously, in order to overcome a challenge, we’ve got to know what the challenge is, right?
So my point in this message today is to encourage you to remove yourself in order to maintain better clarity. This is a wise practice implemented regularly by some of the most successful entrepreneurs.
Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.
Now, to be clear, I’m certainly no therapist and I don’t have the proper education to clinically assist these women in any of the aforementioned matters. My exposure to them has come solely as a result of my business and marketing consulting. However, because of my belief that fixing the “head” is critical to one’s true success in the professional world, I attempt to address this aspect as well with all of my consulting clients. I believe that one of the keys to fixing your head is to remove yourself from the situation for a “moment in time” so that you can see your surrounding, your current circumstances with a fresh, more accurate pair of eyes. After all, it’s hard for us to really see things as they are when we’re so close to it and embroiled in the climax of the emotions. So, last fall I elected to take a few women to Walt Disney World. I did so in order that the women could experience a vastly different world from their own perceived reality, and thus, perhaps, view their situations in a different light. I’m happy to say that after 4 days with these wonderful travel companions, each of them expressed some alternative views of their situation, which I believe was much more accurate. Obviously, in order to overcome a challenge, we’ve got to know what the challenge is, right?
Posts
