A Case For Entrepreneurial Growing Pains

I like to think that we’re at our best when we’re GROWING. Expanding our ideas, questioning our beliefs, opening our minds to see if there’s another, better, way to do things. 

But growth isn’t easy. More often than not, it comes with some gnarly growing pains. 

As a kid, growing pains felt like an ache in your thigh or an internal tug in your arm. As an adult, it feels more like banging your head against a wall and questioning all of your life choices at 2 a.m. in the mirror. 

In other words, it’s not as cute.  

When you set your sights on expansion, the struggle is definitely real. There can be a lot of slip-ups, mistakes and human moments. It’s up to us to give ourselves the grace and compassion necessary to stumble as we get started. 

A lot of us remember what it’s like to feel like aspiring entrepreneurs who had no clue what they were doing. And a lot of us don’t care to revisit that feeling. 

So many of my clients have ideas that go way beyond what they’re currently doing. While they’re finding success and clients in their offerings now, they’ve got more they want to do. Sometimes, they even let it spill that they want to eventually be doing something else. 

The horror! The blasphemy! How dare an entrepreneur lucky enough to find success think about switching it up to something else?!

Eh, wrong. 

While we may have had big dreams of being the best [INSERT YOUR TITLE HERE] ever when we quit our 9-to-5s, sometimes when we get far enough down a road, we realize it’s not for us. 

And that’s okay. 

It’s okay to dream bigger, to try new ideas and to follow other interests. It’s okay to build a business just to decide one day, you want to refocus your offerings, expand your band or even do something entirely different. 

That is the golden key you were given when you entered the world of self-employment: the freedom to do whatever you want. 

As someone who’s experienced growing pain after growing pain, let me assure you, what’s on the other side is always worth it.

What are you ready to outgrow? Shoot me an email and let me know: brea@breannagunn.com