Leaving the Family Business
Acknowledging, honoring and trusting in what you want for yourself and your own life starts here.
One thing that I want to make crystal clear is how much I admire family businesses.
I love the pride, the tenacity, the dedication and the commitment it takes to work in the family business. I deeply respect the blood, sweat and tears families expend, decade after decade, to keep their businesses going and growing. By no means am I seeking to diminish or disrespect any of this.
What I am aiming to do is offer a safe and supportive space to explore what you are feeling. The uncomfortable and potential heart wrenching emotions that come along with this thought:
I think I want to leave the family business.
It takes courage to trust this discontent.
This same feeling can also be exhilarating and exciting, breathing life and purpose into your mind, heart and soul as you allow yourself to envision taking the steps to walk a different path.
Each person in this scenario has their own set of reasons why they think they could never walk away from their family’s business:
They will not forgive me
I will loose my family
I am just being selfish
I owe it to them
I don’t have a choice
When you go a little deeper, all of these excuses derive from a similar place – fear. Fear that your decision will hurt those you love. Fear they will not understand. Fear they will think you are selfish. Fear they will feel you are abandoning them. Fear you will loose your family and never be forgiven.
Fear is life’s greatest obstacle. And you can overcome it.
The other deep, raw and terrifying emotion to consider: regret. By avoiding acknowledging your thoughts and feelings about leaving and choosing to not explore what you truly want for yourself, you will end up with regret.
Coaching will provide you with the courage to trust your discontent, the confidence to overcome your fears and the clarity to avoid the regret of inaction.
Here’s what to know about the impact of whole life coaching.
1. Space to Wonder:
2. Support to Process:
3. Opportunity to Decide:
4. Power to Choose:
5. Framework to Share:
The most important element in telling your family about what you are thinking and feeling is to keep it about you; what you are wanting to do for yourself to be happy and at peace. We will lean on gratitude, empathy and vulnerability. You have had time to prepare and process this huge change. Allow them time as well. Of course, one never knows how much time they will need, but accepting you cannot control their reaction, or how long it takes for them to process everything, is huge step in reclaiming your life.
“Regrets of inaction are for more common than regrets of action.”
Daniel Pink
Wherever you are on this journey, thinking about leaving, in the process of leaving, or already gone, please always remember these simple truths: It is YOUR life, and it is short, precious and unpredictable. You never know what the next day, hour or minute will bring. And you should choose to honor yourself by living your life in the best possible way….for you. Everything else will just fall into place.
