Did you go into business to change the world, make money, be your own boss, express your creative side, or just create a corporate culture that honored your personal values?  Did that passion get lost somewhere along the journey of establishing product lines, websites, employee manuals, call scripts, business metrics, processes and legal documents?  You are not alone.  Many business owners start out with a passion for what they are doing, and lose their way at some point and feel overwhelmed running their business.

What would it mean for you to rediscover your passion and live each day fulfilling your dream, without the overwhelm?

For most business owners, rediscovering your passion means taking a hard look at what is causing you to feel stress and overwhelm, and tackling that at the source. This process is simple, but not easy to undertake on your own. We create our own stress by how we think about our circumstances and how we choose to react to them. So, the root cause of your stress is you, and there are particular circumstances or interactions that trigger you to feel stress – and these will be unique to you.  The great news is that you can change the stress you create for yourself in any circumstance just by shifting how you think about it.  The first step is to raise your awareness of the kinds of thoughts that are triggering your stress, and take them out into the light of day and decide if they are thoughts that are helping you along your path, or getting in your way.

One of the best ways to raise your awareness in this way is to work with a coach, or a group of business owners who have been through similar things and share some of your frustrations, fears and stress to uncover the hidden thoughts that are raising your stress.  With a professional coach and other business owners, you can ideas on what thoughts are holding you back and how you might change them to gain productivity, confidence and courage.  Even on your own, you can work on this by journaling your stress: try writing down the moments where you feel irritated, worried, guilty, fearful, or angry.  Notice what thoughts are racing through your mind as you experience that feeling and write them down.  Decide which thoughts are serving you well and represent the truth, and which thoughts are creating stress in you.  As you start to identify thought patterns that cause you stress and situations that trigger them, you will gain control over the level of stress you feel, and allow  yourself to refocus on the things you love about being in business.

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