By Lauren Lepley
When it comes to entrepreneurs and our business, we tend to invest ourselves not just financially, but mentally, emotionally, and even physically, into our business – and definitely bear the consequences.
Purpose-led businesses belong to entrepreneurs who are striving for their personal purpose to be aligned with their business’ missions and values, mixing together both professional AND personal goals. As a result, it’s hard to see our business as a separate entity as opposed to an extension of ourselves.
How much simpler would life be for us entrepreneurs if work could simply be work, and personal life could just be our personal life – two separate bodies with no overlap!
So, when you have a business and you have personal blocks… how on Earth could you possibly not bring them with you?
Whether we like it or not, the reality is that the person we are in our personal lives directly translates and manifests in our business lives. Chances are, if you’re struggling at home, it will affect your patience and tolerance as well as the way you will treat people in your professional life.
Identifying personal blocks
Personal blocks run far and wide, and are often deeply rooted inside of us. Sometimes, they run so deep that they go undetected for years, despite the damaging effects they continue to have on us.
From childhood trauma and unresolved conflicts, to unaccepted regrets and overwhelm, dealing with personal blocks can be a real battle.
They can make us unpleasant to be around – both at home and in the workplace. They can make us jaded, causing us to expect the worst from everyone and everything. And they can tint our view of the world, making it difficult to clearly see people and things for what they truly are.
That’s why my true belief is that,when there is an issue with a business, the core problem needs to be identified and resolved in order to straighten out anything else. And in order to do so, it’s so important to develop a strong sense of both self-awareness and self-understanding.
While they sound pretty similar, self-awareness and self-understanding have two entirely different meanings. Self-awareness relates to thinking of yourself in the presence, whereas self-understanding is all about knowing where you have been and what you have gone through.
When you do develop both skills, you’ll gain a better understanding of your current, present moment, and the way that you think and why we think certain things, to support removing those blockages.
When it came to me trying to find my personal blocks, it took me some time to find my own way. Overtime, I’ve found that doing daily things for myself, from immersing myself in books to talking to people and opening up about the problem I was facing, helped me come to terms with my personal blocks.
Finding actionable things that can help you understand YOU better, that will develop your self-awareness and your self-understanding, will help you enormously when it comes to identifying and then overcoming those personal blocks.
Identifying business blocks
Business blocks very much tie in with personal blocks – but often unravel in a number of several different ways.
Unresolved personal blockages often manifest themselves in common business-related issues such as a lack of clarity, having no vision, being far too emotionally attached to the business’ outcome, experiencing overwhelm at a whole new level, and decision fatigue.
The health of your business relies on your health of mind, body, and spirit – your business relies on you possessing the abilities of self-awareness and self-understanding.
Having that clarity to know what direction you want to steer your business in, to be able to make decisions confidently, to understand what tasks are important and which aren’t – all of it depends on having the awareness of your abilities in that present moment of time
Personal and business blocks are inevitable – but that doesn’t mean they can’t be overcome. I wholeheartedly believe that when there is an issue with a business, it’s important to identify what the core problem is here. And to identify, is to have self awareness and understanding of yourself. Let’s get into it!
How can you separate them?
When do we attain self-awareness and self-understanding? What do we do next to separate and overcome such blockages?
The very first place we need to look into is ourselves – we hold all of the answers, after all. Every person is different, so find the best practice for yourself – whether it be journaling, meditating, or just anything that allows you to go on a journey with yourself and doesn’t allow any external factors to impact the internal. Once you find it, stick with it. It’s a journey, a continuum, not a quick fix, so be patient with it! Remember to continuously ask yourself, “What is my strength today?”
What is it that you can take forward, and what do you need to be aware of in the flipside of your coin, to stop you putting on a mask? The moment we put on a mask and carry on, we’re doing ourselves an injustice. We don’t allow our real authentic selves to move forward in that aligned flow state. Whenever we feel like we are going against the tide, that’s when we’re wearing our mask and we are just getting on with what we THINK we are good at, and what we should be doing. It is that daily action of jotting things down, and you do this forever!
For me, I thought for the longest time that my biggest weakness was my indecisiveness, and that my biggest strength was my resilience. And now? It’s completely flipped!
Right now, my indecisiveness provides me with a foresight for potential issues that may arise along different paths. Whilst still a strength, my resilience never lets me stop, and it has now gotten to the point where it’s my mask that can prevent me from doing the right thing.
The process is daily, and it’s all about thinking of yourself. From being aware of your surroundings and environment, to understanding your triggers and stressors – you set the tone.
Despite it not feeling like it, we have the ability to make a change, to choose how we absorb the energy around us. We are able to choose the environments we walk into and the ones we create! The two of us can walk into a room of 10 people at the same time, but we both can choose entirely different ways to position ourselves – no matter how different they may be from one another. When we look into our inner self, we decide to make progress and move forward.
Another way to separate and overcome blockages, is to ask for help. Many entrepreneurs see it as a sign of defeat, as a weakness to be embarrassed of. But that couldn’t be any further from the truth!
I have found so much value in having coaches and mentors, so much so that I have my own personal boardroom filled with them! All best positioned to support me in different ways, those in my personal boardroom are those who I trust in and who know me inside and out, but are also not too close to me and can still be objective in their guidance. And now, I no longer ask two people the same question, because undoubtedly, I will receive different answers!
Stick the questions to the experts – and whether you follow or agree with their advice or not, all outcomes will allow you to move forward with a better understanding of yourself.
My last bit of wisdom – if nothing is feeling good, start somewhere. You can’t win a race you never start. You must start somewhere!
Edited by Angela Azuar
About Lauren Lepley
Lauren is The Go-To Mentor for multi 6 & 7 figure Entrepreneurs to Breakthrough The Next Level Of Success. A qualified, certified and triple accredited coach in NLP, Timeline, EFT & meditation as well as an Advanced Personal Trainer and Nutritionist, she has the ability to work with those with suffering from chronic illnesses and a Mental Health First Aider. She really does have the ability to support on the full spectrum!
Lauren works to support her clients to achieve their Peak Performance and to Breakthrough their Limiting Beliefs & Blockages using an array of Holistic Modalities. Her Wealth Triad is a proven methodology to create TRUE success across Life, Business & Wellbeing.
