In this episode, we are breaking down the 3 types of friendships and how you can develop more connected friendships as a business owner.

What is friendship? Is it based on how long you’ve known one another or other similar interests or that a certain person has been there for us through “thick and thin”? Or maybe it's based on just talking about the same old things everyone talks about — work, family, weather, and who died that we went to school with 25 years ago.

As an entrepreneur who strives to run a healthy business and be in constant growth of yourself, have you found it difficult to develop friendships that are based on more than conversations about — work problems, your kids wild antics, how someone’s spouse makes the best spaghetti on pasta night, and the occasional beer when you need to decompress?

How many of those interactions with people go deeper and more vulnerable? We need friendships where each one of us is advocating for each other's values and supporting each other in growth. These friendships; however, are hard to find and even harder to maintain.

Most people aren’t getting their needs met in their relationships. There are two primary reasons for this. One, most people don’t know what their needs are. In addition, for many people, regardless of whether or not they know what their needs are, they may not know how to communicate their needs. They also may not realize that relationships that are both mutual and reciprocal are an excellent opportunity to experience greater health and fulfillment in life in addition to getting your needs met.

Imposter syndrome has been loosely defined as, “doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud.” 

Did you also know that this “syndrome” has its roots in perfectionism? That’s right – you may be afraid that everything you touch won’t magically be a success and therefore you don’t belong.  

Imposter syndrome can affect anyone—no matter their social status, work background, skill level, or degree of expertise. In fact, there is research that suggests this phenomenon happens in 70% of people at least once in their life, but why does this come up? 

Why do we say things to ourselves like, “Who is going to listen to what I have to say?” Or, “My current peers are going to see me differently if I start this new business.”  In this episode, we are breaking down the 5 types of imposter syndrome and how you can overcome them. 

This episode also pairs well with Episode 13: Perfection is a Low Performance Standard.

Loneliness is an emotional state or a state of mind (a mindset). While many entrepreneurs use their business as a way to escape their feelings of disconnect – anyone who has experienced loneliness can attest to the fact that it is common to feel lonely even in a crowded room or within the context of “staying busy” to occupy your mind.

If you’re an entrepreneur who has said the phrase, “Entrepreneurship is lonely,” it’s typically because you’re choosing for that to be your reality. We normalize it by saying, “It’s lonely at the top”. In this episode, we’ll debunk this idea and instead, help you understand that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Text “Edgy” to 33777!  

Many people don’t feel cut-out for entrepreneurship and in fact, they may be right.   

That’s because entrepreneurship, by nature, entrepreneurship requires a high tolerance for uncertainty and variety. Whereas the employment context is associated with certainty and stability.  

 The public school system and college programs are designed to prepare individuals for employment - therefore, if you want to be successful as an entrepreneur, then you must first understand that success is not linear.

People-pleasers are highly attuned to others and are often seen as agreeable, helpful, and kind. 

People-pleasing involves putting someone else's needs ahead of your own; however, people-pleasers may have trouble advocating for themselves, which can lead to a harmful pattern of self-sacrifice or self-neglect. The tendency to please people typically is formed in childhood. 

Oftentimes, individuals will have a tendency to self-sacrifice and are highly empathetic, however, lack personal boundaries and the communication skills to articulate them. Make no mistake, pleasing people is a way of getting one's needs met by looking in all the wrong places to one's own detriment.

Having unrealistic expectations is similar to giving someone a test and believing they will pass it without ever having learned the material. You are subconsciously setting your teams, your friends, and your romantic partners up for failure when you do this.

Does that mean you should approach every situation with “zero expectations?” Absolutely not. When you learn to communicate your expectations accurately, you are setting your relationships up for success.

In this episode, we’ll talk about unrealistic expectations and the damage they cause in relationships as well as some antidotes to help you navigate setting and communicating proper expectations.

Are you utilizing perfection as a standard for performance? A common social perspective is that perfection is a high and relevant standard to strive toward. The reality is that perfection is not a virtue and is actually the lowest standard for personal performance. Yes, even below failure! That’s because failure precedes meaningful action.

The highest performing athletes and professionals in the world are able to stay in meaningful, consistent action specifically because they avoid perfection as a performance standard. If this is your personal standard, this might just be the reason you’re not hitting your goals. Let’s talk about it!

If this episode provoked your thinking and you would like to be part of further conversations like this one, we invite you to text the word “Edgy” to 33777. You will receive a link to join our community where we host regular Facebook LIVE events, post new blogs, and you will be the first to get notifications on joining us in new opportunities for growth.