it’s okay to be vulnerable in business

I’ve always been personal in my blog posts.

From the beginning of my own startup journey, I published my confessions series every 6 weeks.  It was a carthartic process for me but also helped you understand that it’s not always easy to start a business.  There will be a lot of uncertainty.  A lot of self-doubt.  Rejection.  Stress.  The list goes on.

They also showed you that I GOT it.  I’ve been through it all, too.

When I’ve allowed myself to be vulnerable in these personal posts, they have always received great response.  You appreciate the honesty.  You see that I’m human, too, and not just some person behind a screen.

And yet, I’ve been um-ing and ah-ing about what to post publicly next because the last couple of weeks have been rough for me.

is it wise to be vulnerable?

I thought about a ton of topics that I wanted to write about.

But I started to worry that I was starting to be vulnerable…TOO vulnerable, TOO raw, TOO real.  Maybe you’d start to think x, y or z about me or my business if I reveal too much about myself.

Or this time there would be some negative impact.

Maybe this, or that, or….

The self-doubt and uncertainty started to really kick in.

I started to worry that I was making it too much about ME…and not enough about YOU.

But the truth is…

it’s all about YOU, too

I’m tired of seeing us hide away and pretend that everything is okay, yet secretly wish to be reassured.  And equally I’m tired of listening to all of us beat ourselves up so much for being human rather than just accepting that sometimes shit just gets hard.

In business and personal life, there will be times when you have NO IDEA what you’re doing.  You’ll doubt yourself, question your decisions and feel like an imposter.

And at other times you’re going to get hit with curveball after curveball.  Things won’t always go the way you hope, dream or even plan for them to go.

During those times, you can’t just turn off one part of your life while you focus 100% on another.  Unfortunately it just doesn’t work like that (if anyone has a magic wand for this…please let me know!).  You’re going to have to juggle multiple priorities, multiples demands, multiple decisions.  That list goes on too!

and so, we keep going

When things get tough (whether it be from the ups and downs of starting and running a business or from the ups and downs in life) sometimes the best way through it is just to keep going.

Staying focused.  Putting one foot after the other.  One step at at time.

I understand. And I’m here for you.