Do your chronic conditions overshadow your business? Or does your business overshadow your chronic conditions?

It’s a fine line, keeping your sidekicks as part of your story but not letting them be the lime light. I get it. You want to be genuine and authentic but you don’t want to attract a pitty party and then on the opposite end of the spectrum there’s all the ridicule because people don’t understand how you can “do all the things” or “run a business” with “those conditions”. And sadly, the ridicule will sometimes even come from the chronic community.

Something we have to understand is ridicule will be there, always, and so will pitty parties, always. it’s whether or not we give attention to those things that will determine how long they linger in our path.

So, for beginners, you have to know what you want out of this journey. On a personal level. Why do you want to not hide your conditions? Why do you want to give them any attention whatsoever?

Is it to inspire others to not be defined by their situation but to look for defining moments inside their situation? Is it to show others not to ever judge someone’s abilities or determination because you never know what greatness is inside of them, even with chronic conditions?

 So, as we go through the next few paragraphs it may feel like I’m rabbit trailing but stay with me because I will bring it all together in the last point. Remember, as we go through these exercises, you choose how much of a voice your conditions have over your business and how much of a voice your business has over your conditions…

Before you speak, know why you stand.

So, why’d you start a business anyway? Why did you decide to take a risk, chase a dream, or challenge the status quo? (ya know, the whole ‘go to school, get a degree, get a good job, and retire’)

Did something piss you off? Was there an injustice between protecting your health and building someone else’s business? Did your health finally say “enough is enogh, we can’t do things this way anymore”?

ASSIGNMENT ONE: write down the defining moment in one or two sentences.

Before you speak, know where you stand.

Let’s take that first question a little further. You’ll hear gurus ask what stirs you up, what makes you get a backbone, what makes you mad about the way things are done, etc. but when I was listening to Mike Kim’s book, You Are The Brand, he asked it in a simple way, a way that rung to my core as a more accurate description to what happens inside….”What pisses you off?” 

See, I remember thinking to myself during my own defining moments “That’s not right! That pisses me off!” but I kept it ‘professional Caitlin’ and would voice it as ‘that upsets me’. It lost luster! It didn’t just upset me, it pissed me off and it’s totally okay to notate those things!

SO, what pisses you off?

For me? it’s that I was being told to “just go on disability” but my firm belief is that just because traditional workplaces don’t fit our health needs doesn’t mean we’re incapable of doing great things, earning an income, and making an impact. (there’s circumstances I understand of course, but I myself am not 100% disabled or reliant on someone else to do basic life tasks for me. Therefore I feel like I can still find something I can do that I enjoy, contributes to our home, and also helps others too…I just can’t work a regular 8-5 anymore)

But let’s go a step further that will really help narrow in that statement. Why does it piss me off? Because it hurts me deep down (or ‘breaks my heart’ as Mike would say) watching some of the chronically ill community believe the lies that society tries to conform us to and feeling lost, not valuable, or hopeless when we just don’t fit inside society’s ‘normal’ box.

SO, what hurts you to see deep down? What breaks your heart?

ASSIGNMENT TWO: write down the answers to these questions. you may have a few things, write them all down. 

When You Choose to Speak, Know What to Convey

Okay, so know we know what boils us up inside and the injustice we won’t stand for. Now what? These things will come out in your messaging and the way to share your story, your journey, and your business. But ultimately you’re not going to just walk up to a stranger and tell them what pisses you off lol So, we’re able to share these positions by sharing our point of view in business, life, and the tools or things we use to live both.

For example, one of my point of views is that we can strategically use our story without it coming off that we’re begging for sales (conditions overshadowing our business) and without just a highlight reel of entrepreneur life(business overshadowing our conditions). This opinion is backed by my “what pisses me off” and driven by my “what hurts deep down”. Which all leads to this post titled “Finding Your Voice as a Solopreneur Outside of Chronic Illness” and not letting either one overshadow the other but to embrace them both as part of your story.

I don’t know where you personally stand, but I’m a believer (follower of Christ), which I don’t normally just blurt out there in my business content but it makes a really good point for this example. My foundational beliefs, values, and view on how things should work in a perfect world are all influenced by the Holy Bible. I don’t post sermons on my blog or deep scriptural studies, etc. but I’m open about it in conversation and I trickle those values, beliefs, and views into my content, how I run my business and live my life.

So, as an example, I personally believe we all have a purpose and that things in our lives happen for a purpose. You can see that reflect in my personal stances on what pisses me off and what hurts me down deep. Regardless of chronic conditions, we’re not incapable of making an impact. Regardless of chronic conditions it breaks my heart when I see people feeling like a burden or hopeless because of society’s perspective on chronic conditions making us “less”. I hope that makes sense and I’ll jump off my horse now and bring it back to the actionable steps lol.

This is where you voice your viewpoints, your beliefs, your perspectives when it comes to your business or industry, your life, and the tools and tactics we use in both of those. For example, I’m currently organizing my personal and business lives with Trello and Monday.com. These tools are part of my opinions on tools/tactics about my life and industry.

ASSIGNMENT THREE: write down your perspective or contrary thoughts in your industry, for life, and the tools or tactics we use in both.

When You Convey Your Message, Know The Purpose of the Content

Know this. You do not have to reference your chronic conditions in your business or talk about them or anything. But, I gaurantee you there is someone that needs the validation you can bring to the table. Just think if this blog was named “Crushing It”. Just think if I didn’t include the words “Outside of Your Chronic Conditions” in this blog post, would it have resonated with you as much? Peaked your interest? Or given you any validation in wanting to be an entrepreneur despite chronic conditions?

So, make sure you’re validating your audience, you’re teaching them tips or things to help in the industry you’re in, that you recommend others that compliment your business that could help your audience, and asking them what they need from you (market research) or what they would like to see you do in your business when you’re faced with a decision in your business.

Each type of content listed above serves a specific purpose, sometimes a couple purposes are covered but one main specific purpose is accomplished. They all create community, letting people get to know you and you know them, giving them reason to trust you, and ultimately invest in themselves by investing in you/your business.

For example: When I validate my audience by posting “You need to know today that just because a traditional workplace no longer fits your health needs, that does not mean you are incapable of great things or crazy for thinking you can. If someone tells you that, unfriend them and come hang out with us. Warning, if you hang around too long we’ll have you believing in yourself, embracing your differences, and all growing our businesses together. Because apparently we’re crazy too :)”

I just shared my point of view on business and life while infusing what pisses me off driven by what hurts deep down and even mentioned “growing our businesses together” which is my voice as a solopreneur outside of chronic conditions.

ASSIGNMENT FOUR: write down how you can infuse some of your perspectives/opinions/points of view into content that does these purposes.

So there you have it! AND if my comment of validation resonates with you, seriously, come hang out on Instagram with me and send me a DM.

We can totally chat more over this blog post topic because this is just the tip of the iceberg and I’m super passionate about it if you can’t tell already 😉

That’s all for now. Chat later hun!