How to Stop Feeling Lonely in Your Holistic Business
Jan 27, 2022
When you train as a practitioner, you’re surrounded by friends. Everyone’s excited about the future and building their practice but the reality of working as a practitioner can be very different.
The feeling of isolation can creep in when you start to build your practice. Many of the aspects of creating a business result in working alone – even when you’re seeing clients, you can still feel lonely. It doesn’t help that friends and family don’t understand the challenges of running a business or working with clients.
Sadly, I’ve known of amazing practitioners, who’ve stopped doing the work they love, because of loneliness.
Build your support network
You can’t thrive alone - you need to have your support network. A team of people behind you who’re there to celebrate your wins, and to support you through the challenging times.
Being surrounded by people you trust will help you navigate life as a holistic business owner and keep you company along the way.
Here are 5 ways to build your support network:
Peer support
When you studied to be a practitioner, you spent time building relationships with others on the course. Continue these by creating peer support groups, where you can be there to help each other. They can be a sounding board for ideas and inspiration for working with clients, help you understand and adopt developments within your discipline and build your businesses.
Business buddy
This is where you buddy up with a friend or peer and commit to supporting each other. Find someone who has some understanding of what you do, so you can act as a sounding board for each other.
My business buddy is someone I trained with as a marketer and has their own small business. It’s been priceless knowing there’s someone I trust who’ll listen when I need to offload without judgement or criticism and provide constructive feedback when I need it. We’ve been having weekly catchups for years which are a highlight of my week.
Online community groups
These have become more and more popular and can be a brilliant way to find a community of like-minded people. Groups have been created around any topic you can think of, and they can be a great way to build relationships for your business, find new friends, or even find new clients.
If you want a support group specifically to support therapists, coaches and healers find clients and thrive, come and join Holistic Business Matters. It’s a safe space to share ideas, inspiration, ask questions and discuss anything that matters when creating a sustainable business – join here.
Mastermind group
Mastermind groups are peer-to-peer support groups where the members mentor and coach each other to solve their problems. They’re a great way to build your personal network, find new business friends and feel like part of a like-minded community. They are such a great way to bring new ideas and inspiration to your business.
You can create a mastermind group with other practitioners, or small business owners. It doesn’t matter if they don’t do the same work as you, look for those who have similar business models and values to you.
You can also pay to join a mastermind that’s led by a coach or other professional. These groups have an understanding and commitment between the members that is powerful. They are a brilliant way to build your business, get help and be kept accountable.
Coach/mentor
Coaches and mentors are traditionally different roles, but both are there to support you in creating a thriving business.
Coaches don’t need specific knowledge or experience of your discipline. They facilitate change by exploring your values and aspirations and helping you to find solutions, set goals, create action plans, and keep you accountable.
Mentors will have been on the journey you’re on and will use their experience to advise you.
I love this quote that describes the difference brilliantly: “A coach has some great questions for your answers; a mentor has some great answers for your questions” Unknown
Combining these approaches is the most powerful option for my clients, hence I call myself a coach-mentor. Yes, I’m a qualified coach but I’m also a chartered marketer and I’ve set up and run my own business as a complementary practitioner so can mentor clients in the practicalities too.
Ultimately, your coach-mentor is there to support you, believes in your potential and will work with you to help you achieve it in the best way possible. Having this person on your side is a huge support and helps stop feeling like you’re alone.
If you want to find out more about how I can help you, book a discovery call today.
So as you can see, even though you may work on your own in your own business, you don’t have to feel alone on the journey. There are different options depending on what works best for you so make sure you have your support network in place.
