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There’s something you may not know about me. Four years ago I was almost forced to give it all up….. Everything.
My business, my home — everything I had worked so hard for.
Four years ago, on a cold February morning I slipped on a patch of ice, landing full force on the back of my head. I suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) which changed my life in the blink of an eye.
I had trouble focusing my eyes, problems coming up with words, my short term memory was pretty much non existent.I would eventually come to understand that I no longer understood how to use my camera.I had trouble keeping up with emails because I would forget to reply.I couldn’t comprehend numbers, my spatial reasoning was off the charts compromised, and my cognitive processing was severely altered.
For the first year after my fall, I went through the motions of working with clients — trying to mask my significant handicaps. I used all my energy on any given day with phone calls and in-person sessions and meetings. There was ZERO energy left over at the end of the day to try to keep up with my marketing and networking.
I withdrew socially because over stimulation was too much.
I was afraid people would think I was being a flake, when in reality I was struggling just to keep up.
As I entered the second year, I noticed that my business was slowing down, the phone wasn’t ringing as frequently and I was struggling. I was struggling physically, emotionally, financially, and cognitively. I wanted to quit. Give it all up. But damnit, I had worked too hard, come too far, to just throw in the towel.
By the 18 month mark, I finally began getting treatments and therapies for my TBI that were helping me gain back my life — and business. I put all my attention back into my marketing plan to start filling the sales funnel once again. Fortunately, I had laid a solid foundation over the years, and I didn’t have to start over from scratch.
Being an entrepreneur has its pros and cons — you can make your own hours and create a flexible schedule after tragedy occurs. However, if you don’t work — you don’t pay the bills. It’s can be an extremely lonely and scary place to be.
Fortunately for me, the phone was ringing again, and I was starting to feel like my old self. I still have my challenges and handicaps, but I have created coping mechanisms to help me get by (like LOTS of post-it notes, and calendar reminders!)
While your story may not be quite as dramatic as a brain injury, your struggle is just as real. Whether it’s finding the work-life balance, or adjusting to working from home, or a divorce, or birth of a child, or dealing with an illness, or just trying to juggle too many hats in the business.
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Photo credit: Pixabay
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