Falling in Love with My Business Again: Nurturing Growth and Appreciation

Nicole Lewis-Keeber
3 min readJul 14, 2023

--

Falling in Love with My Business Again: Nurturing Growth and Appreciation

It’s a peculiar feeling when your own business starts to feel neglected or betrayed by you. Lately, my business has been rather salty with me, and I can’t blame it. You see, amazing things have been happening in my business. I have more private clients than ever, a growing list of sought-after programs, and invitations to speak at various events and podcasts as a subject matter expert. To top it all off, I’ve been given a remarkable opportunity to partner with my mentor Brene’ Brown and her team to facilitate the Dare to Lead processes with a company of 27,000 employees. It’s a dream come true, and yet, I find myself feeling apathetic, resentful, and anxious. Allow me to explain.

The Internal Crisis Amidst Success:

Sometimes, when you’ve experienced trauma, success can trigger an unexpected internal crisis. It can activate your nervous system, leading to avoidance and a sense of freezing. I’ve been communing with my business, and its energy is far from happy with me. I can hear it saying, “You’ve been handed all these incredible opportunities, and yet you neglect me? You’re not grateful or excited about them? Why should I continue supporting you when you clearly don’t care? Frankly, you’re being rude.” It’s true, my business has done so much to support my dreams, and I’ve been avoidant, reluctant, and withholding my excitement and appreciation for it. This realization emphasizes the importance of recognizing the impact of trauma or attachment wounds on our relationship with success. Understanding this can be our superpower.

Rebuilding the Relationship: To mend this fractured bond, I’ve taken specific steps to fall in love with my business again. Let me share them with you:

  1. Daily Celebrations: I’ve started writing down daily celebrations in my journal, acknowledging and appreciating the accomplishments, big and small, that my business has achieved.
  2. Sharing with Pride: Instead of downplaying my achievements, I now share them with others proudly. By expressing genuine excitement, I’m honoring my business and its contributions.
  3. Deepening the Connection: I’ve started actively conversing with the spirit of my business on a daily basis. This connection has revealed areas that need improvement, ensuring my business supports my overall well-being.
  4. Dreaming with Purpose: Instead of getting caught up in daily anxieties, I’ve allowed myself more time to dream about the future of my business. This shift in focus has opened up new possibilities.
  5. Embracing Imperfection: I refuse to feel ashamed or beat myself up for not being perfect. Instead, I embrace the commitment to keep learning, trying, and sharing my experiences with others.

Just like any relationship, the one we have with our business goes through seasons. It requires nurturing, growth, and occasional recalibration. I am determined to fall in love with my business all over again, appreciating the amazing opportunities it provides and honoring the promises we made to each other.

If you’d like to delve deeper into this journey, I encourage you to read my book, “How to Love Your Business,and explore the transformative experience of “Love Your Business School” — a course designed to help you develop a stronger bond with your business. Remember, we all have the power to embrace the evolving nature of our relationships and thrive together.

--

--

Nicole Lewis-Keeber

Nicole Lewis-Keeber MSW LCSW is a business therapist and speaker helping entrepreneurs to create & nurture healthy relationships with their business.