10. Your Business is Not Your Therapy
Free download for this episode: Find Your Place Workbook
Your Business Is Not Your Therapy
What if the thing you’re building your business around is something you haven’t finished working through yourself? Your experience can be the reason you start a business. It can give you insight, empathy and a deep understanding of a problem that other people are struggling with.
But there’s a difference between using your experience to help someone and using other people to keep processing your own experience. Your clients aren't there to validate your story. They aren't there to prove that your way of doing things is right. And they certainly aren't there to become versions of you.
In this episode, I’m exploring where that line sits — and why I think your business has to be about the value you can genuinely offer, rather than what you still need from the people you’re trying to help.
I’m also asking a question that I think we should all ask ourselves from time to time:
Whose need is this?
Why do you need your client to change?
Why do you need your audience to approve?
Why do you need somebody else to succeed?
And, perhaps most importantly, are you trying to solve somebody else's problems before you've worked through your own?
I believe that if you have a genuine skill or talent that can benefit other people, you have a responsibility to use it.
Your experience may have led you to that skill, but your job is to turn what you've learned into something useful. That's where purpose comes in.
If you want transformation — whether that's in your life, your career, a side hustle or a business — change alone isn't enough. Transformation requires action, and purpose gives that action somewhere meaningful to go. Your story might be the reason you start.
Your purpose gives you direction. Your skill gives you something valuable to offer. But the transformation belongs to the person you're helping.
Finding Your Place If you're thinking about starting a business, a side hustle, changing direction or finding work that feels more aligned with who you are, I've created a free Finding Your Place workbook. It's a guided exercise to help you get clear on what you do, who you help and where you fit — so you can create a business or find a role that feels aligned, fulfilling and purposeful.
And if you're ready to take those ideas further, you'll find The Next Chapter Pathway at www.helencollard.com
Follow An Ordinary Tuesday
If you're enjoying An Ordinary Tuesday, follow the podcast wherever you're listening so you don't miss the next episode. And if this episode makes you think of somebody who is trying to build something from their own experience, share it with them. Because sometimes the question isn't “How can I change them?” It's: “What have I got to give, and how can I use it?”
