Thriving as an Empathpreneur in These Turbulent Times

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About the episode:

Welcome back, today I want to talk about some ways that we as empathpreneurs and leaders can set ourselves up to thrive in a world that is feeling increasingly chaotic and unsafe for so many. As empaths are uniquely motivated by impact and mission, now more than ever, we need to be committed to thriving—not surviving. I think that leading with heart, learning how to make continued strategic decisions in the face of uncertain times in this VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world that we’re facing is the key to creating lasting positive change.

Topics discussed:

• Learning to respond to our own emotions with curiosity, permission, and honesty rather than trying to hide or “fix” our feelings
• Why we have to learn to accept our current reality so we can get connected with our higher purpose and the difference that we want to make
• Why self-care and self-preservation are non-negotiable business strategies in order to connect with your intuition and creativity
• Breaking free from Internalized Capitalism and leaning into Conscious Capitalism instead

Episode Resources:

• Read: Internalized Capitalism and Four Conscious Ways to Combat it
• Listen: The Power of Rest and Resistance for HSPs
• Listen: The Power of a Morning Routine
• The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker

Connect with Catherine:

• Apply to join the free Unbounded community, a vibrant group of empathpreneurs who are passionate about supporting each other on our entrepreneurial journeys. 
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• Sign up to receive my bi-weekly digest on empathic entrepreneurship and hear from voices committed to spreading this message, sent straight to your inbox since 2016, here.

Work with Catherine:

• Interested in working with a certified coach on her team, or joining one of her premium mastermind programs? Schedule a low-pressure call to begin the conversation here.

[expand title=”Click here for a raw, unedited transcript of this episode“]

Catherine A. Wood  00:01

Hello, hello. Welcome back to the podcast. Cat here today. I want to keep the episode short and sweet, and I want to talk about some ways that we as empathic entrepreneurs and leaders can set ourselves up to thrive in the world that we live in that’s feeling increasingly chaotic and unsafe for so many of us right now, and I think that we as empathpreneurs are uniquely skilled to make a difference and contribute, and that now more than ever, we really need to be committed to thriving, not surviving. I think that leading with heart, learning how to make continued strategic decisions in the face of uncertain times in this VUCA world that we’re facing. For those of you that aren’t familiar, VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. It was a term that was characterized by the army in the post 911, world that we were experiencing during those times. And we’re really living in another layer, another level of a VUCA world. There’s so much uncertainty all around us, and complexity and overwhelm and chaos and mass fear, and I think now more than ever, the most good we can do as empathic leaders and entrepreneurs is in setting ourselves up to thrive, to be able to contribute, to allow our nervous systems to be regulated, so that we can respond rather than react, so that we can commit to change and being a contribution. And how do we do that? And here’s where I think it begins. I think it begins with getting really honest around the reality that we’re facing and the world that we’re living in now, I was on a call with a colleague a couple weeks ago, and we’re both empaths, and we were talking about the work that we do with our empathic clients, and some of the qualities and traits and common struggles that we notice both we and our clients experience. And she said something that really hit me. She said that in her experience, we as empaths are historically dishonest, and that we learned to be dishonest as a trauma response. Now that hit me like a load of bricks, because I think that she’s spot on. I think for so many of us in childhood, we had such big feelings, such big Gosh, heart, heartfelt heart, led emotions and reactions to the world that we were living in. And for many of us, our caretakers didn’t know how to hold us with those big feelings. They wanted to immediately make it better for us by fixing our feelings, or telling us we were okay, or telling us not to feel that way, when, in reality, we just needed to be held and honored and met where we were at and and just witnessed. Now, this feels so front and center for me right now, because I have my six month year old at home with me, and I don’t really know if he’s a highly sensitive baby or an empath just yet, but he definitely has big emotions like any baby, and I notice that even for me, my default is To tell him, it’s okay, you’re fine, you’re okay. And to make it better for him, because, in reality, I’m the one who’s uncomfortable. He’s just emoting. He’s just letting out steam and releasing, you know, his hunger cues, or his over stimulation, or his tired cues, or whatever it is that I’m missing and still learning. He’s just trying to communicate something to me, and I notice in my own discomfort, I just want to make it better for him, rather than just getting curious, holding him, hugging him, reassuring him. And so I’m already kind of experiencing that myself and learning how to respond with curiosity and with comfort, rather than just trying to immediately fix his feelings. Now I want to, I want to connect that to this conversation, because I think for for. For many of us as empaths, we often learned to be for so many of us who identify as empaths in childhood, when our caretakers tried to fix our feelings or make it better for us, we often learned to adapt by shutting down our feelings or disassociating from our feelings. Now that’s where the dishonesty comes in. So when we learned that it wasn’t safe to feel our feelings, that it wasn’t safe to express our feelings because people were going to try to tell us that we shouldn’t feel that way, or that we were fine, when in reality, we weren’t, then we developed these survival mechanisms or these defense mechanisms in order to protect ourselves and for many of us, that resulted in being disassociated or disconnected or walled up around our emotional interior worlds. So in reality, we did. We did learn to become dishonest with our feelings. And so I think for a place to begin this conversation, if we’re gonna commit to thriving as empathic leaders and Empath preneurs In this, gosh, in this VUCA chaotic, fear inducing world that we’re living in right now, it starts with acknowledging and being radically honest about what we are experiencing around what we are feeling. I noticed even just the other day, I was on a call with my best friend, and she’s like, how are you? And I’m like, I’m fine. How are you? Come on, we are not fine. So maybe it begins with asking the question and checking in with ourselves. How are we really? Now, I notice when I check in with myself and I answer the question, How am I really? I am infuriated. I am angry. I am charged up around what’s happening in our own political climate, in the US. And this is not a political Podcast. I’m not intending to talk politics with you all, but for those of you who’ve been here, well, you know the my introduction or my my entry point to entrepreneurship. I spent four years abroad in the DR and then I came back to to Washington, DC, and I worked in the government. Now, if I backtrack a moment when I lived in the Dominican Republic, I was a Peace Corps volunteer, but then I worked for a USAID project to promote sustainable tourism in the DR and I got to travel around the entire island on the Dr side and fund, implement and monitor and evaluate Sustainable Tourism grants that we partnered with community run organizations, mostly women, led to start community run businesses all around the tourism poles across the north, eastern and southern coast of the Dominican and That work was incredibly formative, those relationships that I formed during those four years abroad have continued to be some of the most important relationships that I that I cherish in my life today and these days, when I look when I look on my LinkedIn feed, I see post After post of former colleagues or people that I met during my time abroad, and I see them being laid off their work or their USAID contracts being defunded, or them being sent home, or posting their open To Work notifications on LinkedIn, and I feel so heartbroken and riled up on their behalf that their jobs are being taken away from them, because I think that the work that they did was so honorable, that they were guided by their values, that they were committed to making a contribution. And and there’s some of the the best, the most good people I know now, man, I noticed, even in this moment, as I share about some of those colleagues like I, I feel angry on their behalf. Life, and I think that anger is activating, but we have to allow ourselves to feel those, those feelings, those those walled up feelings, those disassociated feelings, those resigned or resentful feelings that we have disconnected from or we have hidden away. Now, one of my mentors, he offers this beautiful reframe about coaching. He said, at the heart of coaching, what it’s all about is acknowledgement and acceptance, acknowledgement and acceptance. So what else is there to acknowledge and and what can we accept now? I think that that’s really important, because it the world is what it is right now, and there is power in learning to accept the truth and the reality of what we’re facing now, that does not mean we have to become resigned or settled around what we’re facing, but we have to accept it. We have to learn to acknowledge and accept what’s going on so that we can react consciously, so that we can take a stand, so that we can commit to creatively responding, rather than continue to react or place blame or feel powerless or hopeless, because when we’re in that powerless or hopeless state, we can’t make a difference from that place. We can’t come up with creative responses. We can’t be a change maker, because we’re feeling powerless. We’re feeling helpless so as empathic entrepreneurs and empathic leaders. For those of us who identify in that way, we are so guided by our values, by our principles, by the mission and the contribution that we have to make, but it starts with accepting what is so that we can respond intentionally, so that we can respond purposefully. Something I say to clients all the time is this idea that if you’re not being on purpose, you’re being off purpose. But we have to accept what is so that we can get connected with our higher purpose, so that we can get reconnected with our higher commitments and the higher contributions and the higher difference that we want to make. So it starts there. It starts with acknowledging and accepting what is and consider that. That begins with taking a deep look inside you, inside your own emotional interior world and confronting what you’re feeling. Everything you’re feeling is valid. It is honorable. You deserve to feel everything you’re feeling. And then there is there’s safety in feeling your feelings with practice and with consider that it is safe to feel your feelings. It may not have always been. Consider that it gets to be safe now, and we all need safe partners to practice With and sacred rituals to come home to ourselves. You one of the concepts that I talk a lot about here on the podcast is this idea of internalized capitalism. And for those of you who are new here or not familiar with the term internalized capitalism is this idea that our self worth is directly linked to our productivity. Now this is certainly not a new concept for me or the ambitious empaths that I tend to work with, but I notice that in this environment that we are living in, many of us are defaulting back to those largely unconscious defense mechanisms or survival tactics of trying to Gosh steep ourselves in. Into work and the doing of our lives so that we disassociate from the feelings of what we’re experiencing outside and around ourselves. But the reality is that internalized capitalism is largely an unconscious survival response, and we can’t make the largest contribution from that place. We can’t respond creatively. We can’t be led by our highest values or the highest expression of our gifts when we’re defaulting to surviving rather than thriving. So I want you to consider that in these turbulent times that we’re facing your own expression of internalized capitalism, your own version of toxic productivity, is likely to resurface, and is likely a tactic to try to distract or to further dissociate you from what you’re feeling from the overwhelm and the chaos and the fear that that you might be trying to avoid. So it starts there. It starts with reconnecting with your emotional interior world, getting present to the new facets in which your own internalized capitalism is seeping through, acknowledging it and accepting it. Now, acknowledge and accept is the first principle I want to leave you with today, and the second one is the idea of confronting and committing. So some of the ways in which we can confront what we’re experiencing is in learning how to respond with purpose and with intention. Now one of the first strategies for that is recommitting to your own self preservation. Consider that self care is a business strategy. It is not a luxury. Self Care and self preservation becomes even more necessary in the in the environment that we’re living in, because it allows us to respond from a place in which we’re connected with our intuition, in which we’re connected and driven and led by our values, by the contribution we want to make, by the purpose that we want to be driven by. But if we don’t pour from a full pot, if we don’t commit to ourselves and our own inner resourcing, then we won’t show up with all of our internal gifts. We won’t show up from a place that’s grounded and centered with a regulated nervous system. And for empaths, that is such a key strategy to thriving rather than surviving, because when we’re grounded, when we’re centered, when we are internally resourced, we are so much more creative. We’re so much more connected with higher power in our intuition, and we’re highly creative and intuitive beings. So if we’re not grounding ourselves and starting with our own self preservation, we’re disconnected from some of our greatest tools to respond with intention and with purpose. So gosh, I could talk about self preservation and self care for days. I think it’s probably the mindset shift, the inner transformation, that has been the most fundamental to my own success as a prosperous Empath, we will link to some of our past episodes on self care and the importance of having a morning routine or having a sacred start to your day, but consider that a place to look is one ritual. What is the one ritual or the one practice that, if you were to commit to every morning as a way to start your day, just like you do with your first cup of coffee? What is that one ritual or that one practice that would make the greatest difference, that would have the greatest impact on allowing you to show up, grounded, centered and connected with yourself and your values and what you stand for. Now the second strategy. There is this importance to be adaptive and to the second strategy is the importance of being adaptive and being resilient now in uncertain times, consider that it becomes even more important to be led by our values and our intuition. Now here’s where I think the importance of supporting conscious capitalism and being intentional and on purpose with how you want to show up in the business world, how you want to talk about the solutions you provide and the contributions you want to make, and what you stand for and against, this becomes even more important. So if you’re not familiar with the term of conscious capitalism, consider that In a conscious capitalistic market You are committed To you consider that if you’re committed to conscious capitalism at its simplest form, that means you’re committed to profit, purpose and people. Now I think that’s who we are as prosperous empaths. We’re committed to that. That’s who we are, as prosperous and bats, we are committed to our bottom line, but we’re also committed to our bottom line supporting a larger purpose or a larger mission, and we are most certainly committed to the people around us and the communities that we belong to. Conscious Capitalism is the future. And if you think about some of the brands that support conscious capitalism, one of my favorite brands that comes to mind. It’s certainly the company that I support the most is Patagonia. Now, if you’ve ever checked out Patagonia’s website on Black Friday, you’ll see that they completely shut down. The whole screen is black and they uh, if you’ve ever checked out black if you’ve ever if you’ve ever checked out Patagonia on Black Friday, if you Go to their website, you’ll see that they don’t participate at all because it aligns with their company values to discourage excessive consumerism and instead promote sustainability. Now I love that. Another thing I love about Patagonia is their worn wear program of Bucha. Buying back used Patagonia clothing and reselling it. They are one of the most fantastic companies, companies to partner with, and I love their customer service. And for me, that is a company that truly expresses conscious being, consciously capitalistic and growing in support with their values and their mission. And they’re not cheap, right, but you certainly pay for what you get. And it is a company that I am proud to support with, and it’s a company that I’m proud to support, and I will shout from the rafters about why I love them constantly. You up. So so far, we’ve talked about the first strategy of why self preservation becomes even more necessary, even more fundamental in the VUCA environment that we’re living in. The second strategy is this reminder that being adaptive and being a smart decision maker becomes even more important. The third strategy is the importance of community and connection. As empaths, we are natural and gifted relationship makers. We value collaboration over competition, and I think that this becomes even more crucial in these times we’re facing. So consider your support network. Who are you surrounding yourself with and do you have? Take a look and consider whether you have a support network of like minded of values, aligned colleagues and entrepreneurs to surround yourself with, to support, to allow yourself to get supported by Um for many of us, I think we realized the importance of community during COVID Now, I think we’re in a similar environment where there’s this pervasive experience of fear and chaos, and the reminder of the importance of community, the lifeline that it provides becomes even more necessary. Now, as a new mom, I’m certainly connected with the importance, the necessity for my village, for my support network in raising my son, because we we can’t do it alone, and we were never meant to now I want to leave you with a quote from one of my favorite books. It’s the art of gathering, by Priya Parker. She is such a gifted storyteller and such a advocate for the power of gathering and the power of community and in the some of the first pages in her book The Art of gathering, she talks about the importance of gathering. And here’s what she said, in countries descending into authoritarianism, in countries descending into authoritarianism, one of the first things to go is the right to assemble. Why? Because of what can happen when people come together, exchange information, inspire one another, test out new ways of being together. Gosh, that really hits home for me as you’re that really, truly hits home for me. Today, I invite you to test out new ways of being together. Find your village. Recommit to your own self preservation and look at the i recommit to your own self preservation as one of the most fundamental business strategies to support you in thriving. Get grounded in your intuition, in your creative problem solving, so that you can respond rather than react, and so that you can be led by your purpose and be on purpose rather than off purpose. Thank you so much for tuning in. If today’s episode resonated with you, I would love to hear from you come join us in our community. We’ll drop the link in the show notes below, and I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much. We’ll see you next time you.

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