Running a business is not exactly as smooth as a flowing river. Business owners won’t beg to differ that statement.
However, I can assure you that this is a deep human adventure.
Running a business generates a lot of emotions like: enthusiasm, fear of the unknown, eagerness, discouragement, passion and perhaps a wish to give up…
Years ago, I had to live my birth city and country in catastrophy, due to deeply unpleasant events. Leaving a huge part of my family and friends behind was a painful challenge. That challenge was almost forgotten during my first school year in my host country.
Then, I had to relocate. Again. I had to face:
- Separation with people I cared about. Again.
- Falling apart. Again.
- Starting over. Again.
- Silently endure the pain. Again.
It was like the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was experiencing all at once discouragement, fear of unknown, deep pain. And I was even contemplating giving up on all my values.
The following months and years were very trying. I was so emotionally distressed that I could not think for myself. I had to:
- learn how to deal with such massive pain
- learn how to get emotionally distant from people
- get myself back together.
Sometimes, doctors induce their patients into a coma to limit cerebral damages…
I applied a similar strategy and I shut myself down: I went on automatic pilot. No attachment, no emotions, nothing!
As I put went on automatic mode, some core values kept me going on. Despite everything.
I thought those values were not powerful enough… I had clearly underestimated them.
- My parents had raised me with the fear and the love of God. So I had my faith that I kept preciously
- I couldn’t share my feelings and dreams with anyone. So I started writing them down. I kept those notes for years
- I had excellent school results, despite a complete change of environment and language
In other words: back then, those were my foundations. My faith in God, my school results and my secret dreams kept me going on.
All these with little effort to none. Because I was on “auto-pilot mode”.
Strangely enough: that auto-pilot mode kept me in an extraordinary peace. The kind of peace that made me wonder, “how can I feel at peace, yet so broken?”
You need to experience that to understand. That kind of peace is so overwhelming that even when I tried to panic, I did not manage.
The same goes with business: when everything falls apart, will its foundations keep your business going on?
What keeps you going on? What keeps your business going on? If you are not able to be on manually pilot your business, are its foundations strong enough to keep it afloat on auto-pilot?