Everyone can use a little bit of help along the way.
Case in point. I’ve been facing some difficult issues within my own family and trying to think about the best way to respond to make the situation better. I wanted to see if there were other things I could be doing that might help ease my worries.
My first notion was, “I can figure this out.” Then another idea came to me, “Maybe a counselor or therapist could bring new ideas and expertise to this situation.”
Quick sidebar… I was working with a family last year and realized they needed a family therapist to work in conjunction with our family business coaching. I volunteered to reach out and find a therapist who could help them. Trying to find a therapist was an incredibly difficult, time consuming and almost futile process. So many therapists were not taking on new patients.
Which brings me back to this story. I’ve been watching a company called Better Help (www.betterhelp.com) that offers access to counselors very easily.
After visiting their website and filling out the questionnaire, I got an email that matched me to a counselor within the next few hours. It was a simple and fast process.
I scheduled an appointment easily with the counselor. The next thing you know I was on a Zoom call speaking with an expert who provided helpful insights that I hadn’t thought of about my situation.
Here are my top three takeaways and benefits from the online counseling:
- Our new online world makes access to support much easier, convenient and less expensive – so there is no reason not to seek help
- Someone who has years of experience working with similar situations can offer new ideas I could not come up with on my own (I didn’t know what I didn’t know)
- It was a little relieving to know other people have faced these issues, and now I had a couple of new strategies I could employ to make it better
Here’s the bottom line from my perspective. Many people are experiencing high levels of stress or dissatisfaction or seriously contemplating what their place is in this turbulent world.
I had to realize I may not have all the answers. I had to be willing to put my ego aside and get a bit uncomfortable sharing my concerns with a stranger. Yet, having done all of that, I walked away with more clarity of my situation, and found tangible steps to make the situation better.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
Most people, myself included, are uncomfortable asking for help. In our digital age help is more accessible than ever before and affordable. I have been recommending Better Help to many people after my experience.
The other great part of online therapy providers is that if you are in any way dissatisfied, or not a good fit with your first choice, you can easily ask them to recommend an additional resource – a new person. I did that and found it to be very easy and helpful and I enjoyed getting the second counselor’s perspective.
Don’t be shy. Be courageous and be in action to help you and your family have your best life now! Feel free to reach out to me if I can answer any questions about this experience or provide you support from a family business consulting and counseling perspective.
I hope you keep finding ways for your team to play to their potential!
Coach Pete
Pete Walsh offers family business consulting services, workshops, tools and resources as the founder of the Family Business Performance Center. Subscribe to his newsletter or get in touch to get actionable insights to help your family business grow for generations to come.
