How I Integrated my Life and Work Successfully

Life and work integrated

Have you ever wondered what to do with your life? What is the purpose of it all? Is it just me? I don't think so. These questions have been asked since humanity started having time to set thoughts down to pass down for posterity beyond the oral traditions of the ancient world.

I have always had a philosophical curiosity, excuse the digression. However, the questions are still relevant. Without purpose, we find ourselves living day in and day out without zest for life until the end of our days. As it's been said, some people die at 25 but they don't make it official until they're 85.

I tell you this because I've lived a good life - I'm in my 40's now and have led a blessed life: great family, good job, steady career, doing well financially, living the American Dream! But I still felt like there was something missing.

I realized this year what that was: there was a business in my heart that needed to become alive. So I looked back through my life and track record and figured out what that dream was:

I want to help small businesses flourish and grow so that our towns keep their personalities and serve our towns by providing places where we can create communities, groups, foster the young to learn and grow.

At first, I thought, how am I qualified to do this? I've only worked for others, however, I was short-changing myself by not using the skills, knowledge, and experience I gained while helping to build, grow, develop, and ultimately get a small business from the ground up until it sold to a medium size company in a horizontal acquisition in 2022 for over $15 million!

When I tell you I gained knowledge and experience, I mean I was the CEO (Chief Everything Officer!) I had to hire, train, develop manuals, SOPs, onboard, acquire and negotiate with vendors, prepare customer offers, proposals, get access to government programs and RFQs, develop marketing strategies, run financials, budgets and forecasts, oversee payroll, oversight of all systems and programs, find a way or make a way. You get the picture.

We sometimes do this to ourselves, looking at our past, we tend to underestimate what we've accomplished and overestimate what others do in comparison. Comparison is the thief of joy! If you are dealing with impostor syndrome, feeling like you are not enough, I offer you this exercise:

• Write down all the bad and hard things you've faced in your life.

• Think it through seriously. Take 5-10 minutes to put a good list together.

• When done, take another 10 minutes to read through the list and really think back at those items one by one.

• Don't do this to ruminate on the bad emotions or harsh memories that they may bring, but think instead: Wow! I overcame that! I made it through that! I can't believe I did that!

Remember you've achieved so much in your life already! Are you ready for the next step in your journey?

If this resonates with you, reach out to me https://wix.to/KH7tM9o so I can put my knowledge and experience at your service. I look forward to connecting with you soon!