3 signs you are a highly sensitive coach or business owner (and what to do about it)
I've always known that I'm a sensitive person and as much as I cringe to admit that, it's a fact that I have accepted.😄
Well, much of society still views sensitivity as a flaw or weakness. But in essence, sensitivity simply means that your nervous system is easily stimulated.
From my observation, there are 3 characteristics which are common for sensitive people in general.
#1. You have relatively low energy levels. You get drained easily, your energy levels vary drastically throughout the day, and you need to 'decompress' after socialising or meeting people and clients.
This happens because sensitive people tend to pick up and absorb other people's energy and emotions subconsciously. This means our brains are processing all these unnecessary information all the time. Is it mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting? Yes, very.
#2. You overthink alot. We sensitive people think too much sometimes. We are always trying to put ourselves in our audience's shoes, we are afraid of offending our audience and I have also seen business owners who feel hurt when people unsubscribe from their email list.
The good thing about overthinking is that, your work is usually of pretty good quality because you pay attention to detail. The downside is that we may take a long time to launch courses and workbooks because we think too much!
#3. You can't bulldoze your emotions. If you don't have the mood or motivation to do something, it's almost impossible to do it 😂. A task which usually takes 15 minutes can take you 5 hours if you are pushing yourself to do it when you are 'not feeling it'.
Talking about emotions, some of the less sensitive business owners have no issues sending 10 'last chance' emails on cart-close day.
It may annoy some of their subscribers but if sending 10 emails in one day results in good sales, they have no problem just focusing on their sales goal.
Like one obviously less-sensitive copywriter said in a recent course I took : "Screw other people's nervous systems." 😂
Some of them can promote their services relentlessly and tirelessly every single day and I admire their tenacity for that.
If you are a more sensitive person, obviously you may not feel comfortable with these strategies.
But you can run your business in a way which supports your nature.
If you identify as a sensitive person, you may notice that you need to set up routines and habits to thrive in a society which generally celebrates 'being strong' and views sensitivity as a 'weakness'. 😄
So, how can you thrive if you are a sensitive coach and business owner?
Let me share 3 ways which work for me to balance my sensitive nature + be productive.
#1. Introspective activities + alone time. You may realise that you need a lot of alone time to recharge your energy levels after socialising or even after being out and about.
Journaling, time to reflect and reconnect with our intuition are crucial for us sensitive people to be out best selves.
Sensitive people absorb other people's energies subconsciously all the time and it weighs down on us psychologically and emotionally.
#2. Creating your own high-vibe cocoon. I personally do this by sticking my Airpods in my ears whenever I am commuting or out and about. 😂
Everyone has their own preferences, but I like playing my favourite upbeat pop songs to keep my mood and frequency high when I'm out.
This is not done to block people out.
But it can be done to intentionally create a high-vibrational bubble around us.
As a sensitive person, you can easily pick up people's shifts in facial expressions, people's energy and people's emotional states if you commute in silence.
Listening to upbeat music, an uplifting podcast episode or audiobook can train us to focus on more positive things and reduce having our energy unintentionally sapped by other people's denser energies.
#3. Consume uplifting content. If you are a sensitive person, you may react strongly to even the 'smallest' things.
Hence, you may need to be very intentional about the content you read, watch or listen to.
If watching graphic videos of children suffering in other parts of the world, footage of people being shot, horror movies - you get the idea - affects you psychologically and emotionally, obviously, this habit is not helpful for your well-being.
I know someone who had to temporarily uninstall Instagram on her phone because she kept coming across videos of children suffering in another part of the world and it affected her far too much.
Social media is like second nature to many of us, and we can underestimate the effect that less-than-positive content can have on our psyche.
What about you? Do you identify as a highly sensitive business owner?
If so, which is your favourite method to help you thrive?
Let me know!
Shikah