With all of the different topics we cover here in the Home Business blog, so many are geared toward ways to make our businesses more successful and ourselves as home business owners more effective. I realized that all of this focus on what to do and how to do it can take the focus off the fact that we really do need to be who we are and do what we are meant to do–being genuine and authentic is important. No matter what else you do to build and grow your home business, you also have to be yourself…
Reading articles and getting advice from experts can be extremely helpful–but if we are not careful, it can also make us feel like we need to act like someone else or adopt a different personae in order to be successful in our own businesses. We may find ourselves trying to be LIKE someone else or do things AS IF we were Joe Expert. Our customers and clients may think we are efficient and effective but they will not get to know our genuine selves and this may affect our relationships (and their loyalty).
I think that at the root of our trying to be like the experts or like some vision we might have of the perfect business person is a feeling that we are not good enough as we are. Learning to accept ourselves and work on being genuine even while we are trying to make our businesses better can be a challenge. We have to separate the work and the effort from who we are just as ourselves. It can feel risky for us to let go and be ourselves–flawed, imperfect, and sometimes not feeling much like a self-assured expert at all, but in the long run it will be better for our businesses and our own piece of mind.
Also: Forgiving Yourself