It was just about midnight and we were laying in our tent in the middle of the woods. All of a sudden I see flashing white lights outside that illuminate our humble dome of safety in a white glow.
“What is that?!?” I ask.
In my mind out loud I start to ramble.
I knew I should be concerned that this campsite was near another, more accessible trail.
Someone is going to come here and try to kill us.
What am I going to do when I see who it is.
Oh. My. God!
Then Kim calmly answers. “It’s just the lightning bugs flashing on and off and flying around near the tent.”
Oh. Yeah. Right. I was talking about the cool lightning bugs earlier in the evening while taking my mind off of the mosquito apocalypse by standing over our smoking fire. This is so very cool!
And here I thought I was going to be attacked, brutally beaten and killed in the woods.
I will be the first to admit, I am still really struggling with the anxiety that comes with sleeping in the middle of the woods. I am great until a little bit after dark and then between then and first light it is like the boogey man, the bears, the cougars (of which there aren’t any in PA), and Sasquatch are all just inches from my tent waiting to hasten a dying breath from me.
It’s like being a kid all over again (aka monsters under the bed).
It’s like the first apartment I ever had where I stayed awake night after night with being alone on my own for the first time.
Terrifying.
Exciting.
And for the most part completely safe and harmless (as much as any part of life can be).
Yet for those moments or hours in my mind and shaking body the fear and the story I tell myself is vivid and real. Any backwoods camper will tell you that the sounds in the woods at night are magnified. That mouse truly sounds like an eight-foot giant. A snapping twig? Oh the horrors it must be the biggest, baddest bear ever (not just the three squirrels that have been circling all day)!
The longer you are in business, the more you simply believe what your mind is telling you. You get used to the noises, the bad habits, and “the way things are”. It can be very easy to lose perspective even after just a year or two in business. It gets even easier to lose perspective after 5, 7, 10+ years.
If that’s the way you’ve always done something. That’s the way you’ll do it.
If you decided it was a bear. It must be a bear.
You’re missing that clear voice of reason of an outside perspective saying – it’s not like that, what if it is like this?
You’re missing the opportunities, wisdom, and potential that comes from having someone else look inside your world and see what’s really there.
When we let that trusted someone in, big things can shift in a good way. Disasters get averted, new income streams perk up, and your business starts to feel alive again.
If you’ve been feeling stale, stuck, or even stressed about where your business is right now, summer is the perfect time to get that outside perspective and help. When I work with my clients I instantly become another set of eyes (with a unique set of training) on how the business operates and can quickly help refine and optimize what’s working while solving what isn’t working so well.
If this sounds like you, click here to let me know and we’ll set up a time to talk that works for us both.
It’s amazing how a kind word and a hand to hold in the dark woods can shift a nightmare into a curiosity and wonder. I can help you do the same in your business so every snapping twig doesn’t throw you off your path.