Trauma as an Entrepreneurial Advantage

Welcome to the Paulvette podcast for entrepreneurs who are ready to break through their patterns and take the next step. Entrepreneurs with trauma have a head start. And you might as well make use of it, right? I talk about it quite lightly. I don't wish trauma on anyone, but if you have experienced trauma, there are many advantages to it. Every entrepreneur who has experienced something intense in their past recognizes this. You tend to be able to completely sink your teeth into something. You can do that. Maybe you don't recognize that right now, because it can also eventually stagnate your growth. But I'll come back to that in a moment. But you are someone who can sink their teeth into something, who can go all in for something. Because trauma creates a certain drive in entrepreneurs. So in that respect, you already have a head start. But then there's also the concept of post-traumatic growth. Scientifically researched in the seventies, that when you experience something intense, new neural pathways grow very quickly in your brain. And what happens then? Very quickly you learn certain behavior. Certain competencies and qualities are immediately burned into your brain. But because it's also connected to the negative experience, we often tend to dismiss those competencies and qualities as yes, that's normal, everyone can do that. Or even more so, there's negativity around it from yourself unconsciously, which means you don't even really dare to use it. I grew up with a mother. My parents divorced when I was one and a half years old. My mother was an alcoholic and mentally unstable. That means that every evening she was drunk and unstable and I, as a little boy, had to be able to read her. Because I learned gradually, if I could read her, then I could adapt myself in a certain way so there wouldn't be a fight. Not that I always felt like it as a little boy, but I did learn it. And years later I discovered that I'm extremely good at recognizing patterns. And for me that was normal, but others see that as talent. I once had to do an assessment for entrepreneurship. It came out of that that I'm extremely good at recognizing patterns in numbers. Later I thought yes, that has nothing to do only with numbers. I recognize patterns in all kinds of areas. But that's because my mother was an alcoholic and mentally unstable. And so you have also experienced something intense in your life. Maybe even multiple things. And what's very valuable for you then is to look at that situation, what behavior did you start displaying? And especially in that moment right after. And maybe an indication is where were you teased? Or did people say oh, there he goes again. Because you very often dove into something the same way. I had that too. A lot of people oh, there's Paul again, is he going to do that again? Yes, that's how I was wired. But because I very often got that reaction 'oh, there he goes again, is he going to do that again', I started doing that behavior less and less. Which is a shame, because that's also where my quality and competence lie. I call them primal talents and primal powers. So I'm curious about you. Write it down for yourself when you think of an intense situation you experienced in your past. What behavior did you start displaying from it? And what would happen if you saw that behavior as a super skill of yours? How could you use that as an entrepreneur? I guarantee you beautiful insights, it's healing because you're going to look at it positively and super valuable for your business. Let me know below what super skill you've developed thanks to your intense experiences. I'm curious. --- This transcript has been translated from Dutch.