Starting your business or taking care of your health first?
I realize this message can be a bit heavy to take in for some people, but I value transparency and I believe it would have helped me in the past to see this, so I share it in case it can help someone here too.
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This drawing you can see on the main picture basically represents the situation I lived (except the divorce ah!), but also the situation of people I have been helping the last past years (as I always say, it’s never ‘just’ about business, personal is linked to business too).
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Indeed, we always say in coaching “you attract who you are” and that’s been very true. Every single time I talk to someone who asks me for advice or just want to have a quick chat randomly, it happens they are usually living what I lived in the past (long story short but if you are a bit into the spiritual world and in human design, I am a ‘projector’, so basically here to experience and then guide other people with what I learnt).
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And I realized by talking to a lot of people, that there was a real repeating pattern : people who I meet and who want to change jobs/start their own business/re-start a business always lived something difficult that has really shaken them (usually a main event + series of events) to the point that they finally say “enough is enough I want a change”.
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Because this is how we are for most humans : we wait until we are at the edge, and then seek help. The thing is usually by the time people seek help to do anything (like building their business) they have tried everything by themselves : it’s harder as they are exhausted! Physically and mentally (because the mental very much affect the physical).
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Again I lived that cycle myself actually, and I’m telling you, it’s not fun … at all.
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I had a knee injury for nearly 5 years. That would make me highly depressed. At that time, I went to see 12 doctors in total. Every single time I would leave the room feeling even more depressed as I wouldn’t feel heard and sometimes it would make my pain way worst for weeks.
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Little did I know all this was linked to my mental state and that I didn’t need surgery or whatever — it was curable with natural ways (just took me 2–3 years of full-on research, considering every options from medical reports to spiritual practices.
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Back then, I was battling between “I need this knee to heal” (not even because of the pain or because I was caring about my health, but because I was completely addicted to salsa dancing!) and “I need to start a new business and earn money” (as I had just had a very tough breakup which was involving moving out of my appartment and staying at a friend’s house (thank you Braja) and dissolving our business, so basically being jobless.
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I put so much pressure on myself back then, I had on top of that financial pressure/visa pressure, knee injury getting worst and worst to the point I couldn’t walk — that my health/mental health collapsed and I ended up putting my big ego on the side (to admit you need help at that age and go back to daddy’s house for someone very independant was the hardest thing).
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I was lucky enough to have my dad welcoming me with open arms at that time, but not everyone has that chance to have parents who can support them when the time is needed.
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I took a big break, found what I wanted to do, eventually decided to freelance, went to Paris, started living in Bali. Rest is history.
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BUT, it happened again. My dad passed. I was in a dark whole. Lost my clients. Went down-down.
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At that time, I put my health and mental health first, went into intense reasearch mode again, learnt everything I could about how the brain works. I took it as a full-time job : if I wanted to get back to work, I had to take care of my health & mental health first!
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My brain was really not functioning anymore, I had constant migraines and brain fog and couldn’t even think (whereas usually by default my brain would think 24/7 and I would exhaust others and myself on the way).
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So I studied, studied. Learnt about how the brain works, how nutrition & sleep affect your mental health, learnt about chakra healing, got very much more into spiritual healing (reiki, breathwork, sound healing, healing frequencies etc).
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I eventually started to heal myself. Started to be able to work a but more every day. At first 10 minutes a day, then 1 hour a day, etc.
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The massive game changer after that was a marketing challenge (OFA) and being surrounded by the right mentors, particularly Russell Brunson & Steve J Larsen who really had the right words and the right energy to get me going. It changed everything. After few weeks in, I started to get my first clients again. I couldn’t believe it to be honest.
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I am trying to make this post short (but I always have a hard time not to go deep into topics, can’t help it) but I’m saying all this to tell you that if you are in this situation where you’ve had life events happening to you / health issues / physical & mental issues, and you’re having a hard time getting back on track all by yourself (because most of the time people want to be strong and keep it to themselves or tell people but without emphasizing too much on it not to worry their loves ones — so their health gets worst without anyone noticing and they get even more lonely) and/or having a hard time with work, you’re not alone. And it’s normal to feel overwhelmed or powerless in the situation.
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You’ve been, I’m sure, working hard all your life, helping others the way you can (before yourself) — and you and your body deserve a break before conquering the world the way you want it.
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If you don’t take that break for yourself, do it for your loved ones.
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Take care of yourself everyone.
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Mel.
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Who’s Melanie Dupre?
Melanie is a french digital marketing strategist based in Bali for 7 years. She helps driven people to turn their skills into an online consulting business — so they can live the life they want.
Where to find her?
Instagram : @mel_nomadlife
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/melaniedupre
Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/onlinebusinesswithmel
Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniedupre/
Want to turn your skills into a high-ticket consulting business ?
Click here : www.melaniedupre.com
