How are you supposed to “hustle” when you hurt all the time? Are you suffering from growing pains in your business and ongoing pain in your life? If you’re struggling to run a business while dealing with pain, you’re not alone. Chronic pain affects 1 in 5 people and while it can be a challenge, it doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. Your journey will just look different.
In Chronic Profit: Building a Business While Managing Persistent Pain, you will learn how to use this simple but effective framework to grow your business even when pain presents.
You’ll learn to:
• Systematize, simplify and delegate
• Reframe your limitations, reimagine your processes, and refuel with self-care
• Release guilt, embrace tough feelings and find joy
You’ll also hear from entrepreneurs just like you about how they make things work when their body has other plans. Learn from a Future of Work thought leader about how you can leverage advances in technology and work culture to get more done and build a company you can be proud of even when you feel like the odds are stacked against you.
The message in this comprehensive resource for business owners with chronic pain is that you can do it, and you aren’t alone. You don’t have to “hustle” or “grind” to make Chronic Profits. There’s a better way and this book will help you find it!
PREFACE: HOW AND WHY I’M HERE xiii
1 THE EARLY DAYS: DON’T BUILD AN
UNSUSTAINABLE BUSINESS LIKE I DID 1
Too Many Offers 2
Weak Policies 3
No Self-care 5
Seek a Diagnosis If You Need One 6
Grieving While Running a Business 7
Find Community and Connection to Conquer 8
Don’t Give in to the Self-Doubt 10
2 SIMPLIFY YOUR BUSINESS 13
Are You Doing Too Many Things? 14
Streamline Your Offers 15
Standardize Your Offers 16
Be Clear about Who Your Customer Is 17
Avoid Scarcity Mindset when Limiting Your Scope 18
vi Chronic Profit
Find the Riches in the Niches 20
Be a specialist rather than a generalist 21
3 BUILD SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES 23
System Types 25
Documenting Your Systems 26
4 DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY 29
Making Peace with Asking for Help 33
How to Ask for Help 38
5 PERSPECTIVE SHIFT:
REFRAME YOUR STORY 39
How to Mitigate a “Disadvantage” 41
Find the Right Market for You 43
Find a Process That Doesn’t Need What You Don’t Have 44
It’s All in How You Choose to Do It 45
6 REFUEL: SELF-CARE FOR CHRONIC PAIN 47
Self-care Is More Than Bubble Baths 48
Self-care As Boundaries 50
7 GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK:
SELF-COMPASSION FOR SUCCESS 55
Pace Yourself 55
Be Realistic 56
Practice Gratitude 56
Banish Your Inner Critic 56
Stop Fearing Failure 57
Manage Emotional Pain to Reduce Physical Pain 57
8 COPE WITH BIG PROBLEMS AND
BIG FEELINGS 59
How Meditation Can Help Manage Chronic Pain 59
How to Develop a Mindfulness Practice 62
Develop Your Coping Toolbox 65
Build an Arsenal of the Things That Make You Feel Better 66
Contents vii
Exercise 66
Finding time 67
Focusing on What Matters 68
Too Much of a Good Thing Can Be a Bad Thing 68
The Benefits of Therapy 69
The Benefits of Coaching 70
Making Time for the People Who Matter 72
Write Your Way Out 74
Manage your expectations (and your symptoms) 75
Connect with your body more deeply 75
Get clearer about what’s going on 75
Learn to accept yourself 76
Track your habits, change your life 76
9 FIND JOY IN THE JOURNEY 77
Why Gratitude Matters 78
How gratitude affects the brain 79
Work-Life Integration versus Work-Life Balance 81
All Work and No Play: Rediscovering Play 86
10 PUT IT ALL TOGETHER 89
Conclusion 94
What I wish I knew 97
