Word of the Day: Emotions

Word of the Day: Emotions from Blumer CPAs on Vimeo.

Transcript:

It’s time for word of the day where we strategically help you run your firm. Today we’re going to talk about entrepreneurs, those special people running these creative companies. One thing they have to deal with a lot is their emotions, and that’s the word for today.

The thing about emotions is that they are real. You feel them, but it doesn’t mean they reflect the truth. And that is so hard. So we do a lot of coaching and consulting with creative business owners, helping them gain clarity. Of course, the opposite of clarity is confusion. Emotions and truth often create a lot of confusion and they create a dichotomy. A dichotomy is two things. It’s believing two things, or it’s fighting or it’s struggling to believe two things that may not be fitting together. That kind of stuff really blows up entrepreneur’s heads. It blows my head up. It blows my partner’s head up.

So we know it blows people up, because we get blown up by that. And so it’s so hard, because if emotions are real and you’re feeling them, you really are. You might be scared, fearful, crying, struggling, worried, all of these emotions that you’re feeling them in the real. And yet they may not be reflecting the actual clarity of the truth of a situation. So that’s really hard.

I guess we would say that’s dangerous to be in that situation. Maybe not dangerous, but it’s not a safe place to be, where potentially a thing you’re feeling really strongly, your emotions doesn’t reflect the truth or some fear you should be having. Or it’s your emotions are confusing you as to some path forward that you need to take. Emotions, for example, can make you fearful about a risk you should take. And yet it is a risk you should take. So you fight these things. So emotions are really hard to manage and they are part of it.

So just a couple of things. Make sure you say those emotions out loud. It is safe to say them, say I’m feeling this way. That way it can get it out into the world so that you can deal with it. Or write it on a whiteboard, write it down on a piece of paper. Getting things out of your head and onto paper or whiteboards is a key to managing emotions. Just kind of write down what you’re feeling and what you think you’re supposed to do or not do because of that emotion. Then try to bump it up to what the truth is. So get it out of your head. Don’t leave it in your head. It is a thing you should say.

Then talk to other people. So have other people that you trust bump up against your emotion to help you define what the truth is. And of course, that’s what we do. As business coaches, that’s one thing they do. They step into the lives of entrepreneurs and go all right, is that true? I’m an objective third part that you trust. I don’t see the thing you see, so why? A coach guides you through trying to vet out this emotion and bumping it up against the truth.

It does take work, so don’t be surprised if you get overwhelmed by your emotions and the truth and fighting those things. It takes work, and you do have to do that work. So let us know, [email protected]. If we can help you walk through some of those confusing things as you build your business, we’d love to help you. We need help on our own, and so we get that help. So you may need it too. Let us know if you can help you and kudos to you for running your own business. You’re a brave soul.