Do you love helping people?  Do you get really excited about empowering people?  If so, then it’s likely that nothing is more satisfying to you than knowing that you’ve made a difference in someone else’s life.

That is an admirable quality.  However, sometimes you can drift into over-helping.

When you’re spending sooo much time and energy helping others that your business suffers, then you’re probably over-helping. 

Here are some signs and symptoms of over-helping.

1.  You let other people’s needs and schedules drive your schedule.

2.  You will drop everything to help someone in a crisis, and there seem to be a lot of people in crisis in your life.

3.  You are super-excited about the POTENTIAL you see in others, even when they’re repeatedly NOT taking any action toward that potential.

4.  You serve as answer-woman (or man) for your team members or clients, giving them all the answers or advice they want.  They’ve gotten dependent on you for that and they’ve stopped even attempting to find the answers on their own.

5.  You are consistently expending more energy helping people in need than they are expending to help themselves.

As a result:

  • Your sales are flat or down.
  • Your income is flat or down.
  • Your partner is frustrated and worried about how tired you are and how little money you’re making.
  • You start to feel unappreciated.  You’re frustrated with other people.
  • You’re getting increasingly angry or sad.  Either your feelings of sadness and anger are directed internally, at yourself, or externally, toward others, in which case people may have started to comment on how aggressive or bossy you’ve become.

This only leads to one destination: BURN-OUT.  Features of burn-out include exhaustion, anger, feeling overwhelmed by everyday life, and hopelessness.burnout

If you’ve been feeling this way, I invite you to consider this as a big wake-up call.  This is not a sustainable way to run your business.  You’ll be alternately bouncing between over-helping and burn-out.  Neither over-helping or burn-out build your business, nor they do help others grow.

If you recognized yourself in this discussion of over-helping, then you already intimately KNOW how much time and energy you are expending on other people, to the detriment of your own business.  If you’re beyond ready to try something new and get more time and energy back for you, then I invite you into a complimentary call with me.  On this call, we’ll look at your goals, what’s getting in your way, and how coaching with an experienced coach and mentor can help.  Simply email me at success@marcystahl.com and we’ll easily set up a call.

You absolutely can create a business in which you protect your time and emotions, while still helping others.  Once you’ve mastered those skills, you’ll be able to share them with your clients and team members.  At that point, you’ll be helping even more people more profoundly than you’re already doing!