I’ve been a small business owner since 2014 and at the start, I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into. As a mental health therapist and serial entrepreneur, I take pride in my ability to create and help others to heal and grow. Yet like so many in my field, I hadn’t earned a business degree to embark on my small business journey with the confidence I craved. I was anxious that I was going to be part of the statistic that says 50% of small businesses will fail in the first five years. And as a driven professional with my small business being my sole income, that felt like a lot to risk!
Luckily, several years into my business, I was fortunate to be accepted into the Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Small Business Program, a mini MBA that catapults small business scholars into a better understanding of the world of business. Things took on more dimension and clarity. I left feeling motivated and invigorated. The experience brought so much value to what I wanted to accomplish within my business and community.
Fast forward to our time with COVID. Workaholism is on the rise with the hope of financial security in the face of so much uncertainty. I too found myself backsliding into a scarcity mindset and was suffering from Noble Poverty. I knew I needed to continue to work on myself and my relationship with my business to find balance again. Enter Financial Therapy!
Financial Therapy is a process of healing our money stories and improving our relationship with money. It’s exploring our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors around money. As a workaholic therapist with significant student loans who comes from one saver parent and one spender parent, I knew there was work to be done.
Wealth
Financial Therapy is offered with compassionate curiosity, inviting us to do the work of uncovering what wealth means for us. Is wealth about having financial security? Taking vacations without guilt? Paying for our kids’ college? Getting out of debt? Perhaps our process begins with being more comfortable talking about money. By exploring how wealth is defined and measured for us each as an individual, we can invite wealth into our lives through saving, strategizing, and embracing money tools that work for us to be one step closer to our money goals.
Worth
There are several studies out there that say happiness is defined by a specific yearly income. But what if I told you our hardship over happiness isn’t actually about money? For some driven professionals, it’s about our worth being wrapped up in what we do. What we contribute. How we help. We are only as good as what we do. What if our low sense of worth prevents small business owners from raising our rates or collecting payment for a job well done? Money is one piece of our worth story. Financial Therapy uncovers the complexities that shape how we show up in our personal and professional lives.
Work-Life Balance
If Workaholism is defined as a money disorder, then I’m one of thousands of professionals looking to maintain a better work-life balance. Folks who are fighting against the urge to work 24/7 and feel guilty when we take a break. Small business owners who skip social events to work long hours or weekends. Entrepreneurs who struggle to stop thinking about their business at all hours of the day and night. It doesn’t have to be this way. Financial Therapy uncovers that inner dialogue about worth and work that can signal the beginning of healing our money story. Work-life balance is possible! Financial Therapy can be part of the magic to making it happen.
If you relate to any of these experiences, Financial Therapy may be the missing piece you’ve been seeking to achieve the next level of your small business success! I know the process has been invaluable to me as a driven professional and the team at Financial Therapy Solutions would be honored to help you on your journey to financial freedom!
Supporting Small Business Owners to Redefine Wealth, Worth, and Work-Life Balance
Originally Written by Khara Croswaite Brindle for Financialtherapysolutions.com