I will be eternally grateful for your great gift of taking in to the fullest extent what it is that I
have to offer, living it, and then reflecting it back in terms of the potential experience of others.
You have given words to a process that defies words. And you’re constantly in a position to help
me continue to hone that, deeper and deeper and more and more resonantly, who I am and what I offer,
which is truly invaluable. — Jon Hansen, 
What you’ve sent me is so darn perfect it hurts! It’s a sheer pleasure to work with someone
who writes as beautifully as you do — and in “my” voice. — Ariane Goodwin, Ed.D,
You have a real gift for words. You’re really, really good at it. — Sherry Essig,
It’s an inside job
If I’d known how much personal work I was going to have to do to be successful in my business, I’d've run screaming for the nearest employment agency.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m grateful. I wouldn’t have it any other way. And I like where I’ve grown to. But it sure wasn’t what I thought I was signing up for.
Along the way, there was frustration and struggle and a fair amount of whining. Why, I whined – repeatedly, I’m sorry to say - did I have to go through all this self-work? How come I had to get so honest and vulnerable, when there were all those so-obviously phony people out there making money hand over fist?
Because – as I knew even in mid-whine – I can’t make a real difference for people until I’ve come clean with myself.
I can’t help people make the deep change they want to make unless I’ve faced transformation myself. I can’t know what it means to meet people where they are until I meet myself - and move through it, past it, to the other side.
In the end, there’s no way for me to know whether those other people – the ones who were apparently making money hand over fist – really were phony or not. Maybe they’d done their work and maybe they hadn’t, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is where I am with myself, how I show up for myself, and how I show up for my clients.
And I think that’s what matters for any small businessperson who’s doing heartfelt, deep work with their customers.
My self-employed clients almost always struggle with what they label - with painful self-recrimination – procrastination or even laziness. They come to me asking for help setting goals, meeting deadlines, and holding them accountable.
But more discipline is not the answer. Greater accountability, more rigid goals, demanding deadlines - not the answer. In fact, that way lies only more pain and frustration.
Because it’s an inside job. And the inside work is about looking behind the walls and masks, opening up the compartments, and letting in the sunshine and air.
It’s about getting in touch with who you really are, which allows you to connect with what you’re really offering to the world. And that means it’s about the startling power and strength of vulnerability.
All in all, it’s an amazing path to walk. And if I’ve learned one thing, it’s that there’s no “done” – it just keeps evolving, unfolding, and growing.
The good news is, it gets a lot easier and more fun! When you stop putting all your energy into those walls, masks, and compartments, and instead allow your work to simply flow – you’ll have so much more energy available for showing up in your business, being what your clients need, and being in the full flow of your creativity and inspiration.
And of course that’s where the financial success starts falling into place as well.
Ready to do your own “inside work”?
My business partner and I just opened registration for an absolutely amazing program: a vision quest for small business owners. I invite you to look at the description and let me know what you think!
Posted: August 28th, 2009 under Small business.