The last few years have forced change on everyone. Coming out of the COVID era, we’ve been affected in some way. But all of us have changed psychologically. The pandemic altered us in innumerable ways.
Burnout has increased, especially among women and younger workers. While we’ve always had stress in the workplace, the pandemic has pulled our stress front and center. Add to that, lives have changed. Some have increased anxiety, others have new health issues, and perhaps others have life changes such as being caregivers, or they’ve lost or changed jobs.
As a self-employed writer since 2008, creating newsletters, biographies, marketing content, ads, and articles, grabbing whatever I could, scrounging for work and clients, my work has, at times, been up and running beautifully, and at others, come down and virtually disappeared. The nature of self-employment brings with it a lot of stress.
Additionally, increased responsibilities, challenges both business and personal, and a world in turmoil, meant changes to the way I do business were necessary.
Seeing through others’ eyes and experiences
I began to see J.M. Lacey Communications through the eyes of others who were also struggling. Business needed to be done, yet demands on our roles and tasks increased, and we function in a zombie-like state to get through the day.
Experiencing burnout, continual stress, and trying to run a business wearing all the shoes of every employee I represented, taught me that slowing down was my only option.
Counterintuitive to what we try to do running a business, I know!
But as I observed colleagues running themselves into the ground, hearing their stories of missing deadlines and figuring out how to navigate the pressure to be the best they could at their job, made me realize we all need a helping hand.
We all have challenges, and we need support.
Empathy is interesting. Empathy means we see what others are experiencing and try to put ourselves in their shoes, to understand, from their viewpoint, the suffering they endure. The challenges they face. And then see if there’s some way we can be supportive. Compassion comes into play when we do something that eliminates their suffering and their challenges.
It took me years to understand how to have empathy with myself. But I get it. Balancing life with work is not easy. And it’s nice when someone comes along and says: “I want to help you. I’ve been there.” And then eliminate their frustration. Be able to pull back and see their frustrations from the outside, as well as internally, to know best how to help.
And more important, train them how to overcome their challenges themselves. There’s a lot of joy that is realized when you’ve helped someone.
I took control of how I operate my business so that I could do the same for others.
My business was, first and foremost, restructured and rebuilt on empathy.
Navigating the business world is tough, but it doesn’t have to be a lonely journey.
To join the journey, visit J.M. Lacey Communications LLC on LinkedIn and “follow” the page to experience the continuing saga.
How can J.M. Lacey Communications ease your burdens? We keep it simple here. No lengthy lead generation pages. No sales pitches. Just straight-forward programs for your needs. What can we help you with? Visit our Programs page and let’s get the conversation going.
Recent Comments