Are You Hooked On Trauma?
Is your business built on trauma?
Cue Alex Trebek and shiny space flavored technicolor tv transitions from your favorite Hooked on Phonics commercial
That might not be such a bad thing. In fact, I’d be willing to bet my bottom dollar you’ve found greater health, hope, and harmony building it that way.
Out of the 100s of storytellers I’ve interviewed and extracted, what I’ve found is that most of us do bring our trauma into our work. Quite honestly… it’s a story as old as time.
And let me stop you in your tracks: we’re deluded or disassociating if we think that trauma hasn’t touched our lives in some form or fashion; our experiences on Earth are FULL of trauma, whether it’s the death of a life or a loved one.
That’s because Business IS Personal (one of our favorite sayings here at R&R.)
And honestly… how can it not be?
We spend hours, and hours, and hours grounding our dream into reality (your business) that will live as a legacy, hopefully when your kids’, kids’, kids’ are kids.
And life just keeps on keeping on and so does trauma.
So that brings us to an inevitable truth:
Yes… like me… you TOO bring your trauma into business. Perhaps, you’ve even built your business around that trauma.
That could be through the products you sell or the services you perform (wishing you had you when you were younger.) It’s in the stories you share to further progress the healing of your clients, patients, or customers.
You might be reliving your trauma daily.
So, Trauma. Big T, Little T, or anywhere in between, I guarantee you, has graced the presence of your business.
So what are your options if you’re Hooked On Trauma?
Let’s review:
A.) We are doomed to stay Hooked On Trauma but not quite like that good ol’ 90s commercial.
Trauma makes us repeat the same cycles in our lives that we might have learned from our moms, aunts, uncles, grandfathers, best friends, dogs… you get the point. Body, mind, and spirit experts have more than proven that trauma is generational and cyclical if unprocessed.
This $hit has roots and if we don’t get to the bottom of them, trauma will be ever present in the worst ways, showing up at THE most inconvenient times or relationships.
B.) Plan B? We burn the boats.
We look at that bull called T R A U M A right square in the middle of its forehead.
We do something productive with our pain.
Trauma, if processed, transmuted, and utilized for the greatest and highest good in evolving our souls, our businesses, and attending to our calling in this world CAN be equally profitable and purposeful for our lives and our businesses.
Seriously, maybe everything really does happen for a reason?
Think about it… and you don’t have to tell me about it (yet.) But, what possibilities might unfold before you if you were to shine a light on all the dark places you fear. Kissed away the wounds of the past. Go right for the gullet.
Perhaps something more purposeful, profitable, and progressive can happen, something magical and healing to yourself and the world.
And yes, I am talking about sharing that gold bullion stuck in your head, called trauma, with the world.
Let me tell you about one of my favorite, holy grail, business frameworks I’ve ever had the pleasure to iterate on:
The 4 Ps.
With a little creative ingenuity and perhaps a lot of therapy (ain’t no shame in that), you just might have discovered the alchemical equivalent to gold in your business. The next step?
Follow the framework below and share it!
Pain
Recognize it. This IS your trauma. A feeling not always felt physically but everyone knows what pain is. We’ve all been through it and if we can harness it to find the lesson or the blessing that pain has brought into our lives, we can begin the process of healing ourselves and others.
Passion
Transmute it. Ok guys, this one takes work - turning your pain into passion isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to do the work - whatever that means to you. It requires grit, sweat, and the resilience of a thousand warriors, but you can do it and in the process of transforming your pain into passion, you just might have found your…
Purpose
Be curious about it. Nothing is a coincidence. So, why did we have to go through the experiences we did? Not to crumble in the fear of being seen, but rather to bring greater health, hope, and harmony into the world. To discover our God given talents through tragedies and triumphs.
And when we’ve discovered the alchemical process for gold, what’s left to do?
Publish
Shout it from the rooftops. Allow others to find the spark within themselves in the chapters of your life, your book, your legacy.
Quite frankly - why wouldn’t we want to share that victory with the world?
So go ahead, take the leap trailblazer, the world needs to hear your story more now than ever before.
So, the only question left: When’s your gold rush?
I’ve got a pickaxe called Extraction when you’re ready. Time to get off the hook.
Not a therapist (but I certainly do publish a lot of them),
