Guilt

In order to divest ourselves of guilt, we need to figure out who it is that is judging us.

• Aurora Dawn (fictional character)

Gilt

Whether you are managing a team or working alone, there are many moving parts to your business, and most of us spend a good part of our day feeling guilty about something.

Here are some things that come to mind….

• You are spending too much time working.
• You are spending too little time working.
• You didn’t finish that project you promised to get done.
• Someone emailed you, and you didn’t get back to them.
• Someone asked you to help them, and now you are dodging their calls.
• You should be working on something but are checking Facebook instead.
• You need to hire a new person, but the thought of training them makes you tired.

It seems that no matter how much or how little we are working, there is some measure of guilt all the time.

So how do we fix it?

Remedy

1. Notice that you feel this way. – Guilt is a human emotion.  And every human emotion serves a purpose.  Running and hiding from feelings are sometimes just as bad as focusing solely on them.  Take a step back and ask yourself, “What do I gain from feeling guilty?” Take a moment and really ‘listen’ to the answer.
2. Self-care practices. – What are you doing for yourself every day or each week?  Are you even doing anything?  If you can’t remember the last time you did something for yourself, it may have been too long.  So start with the basics:

• Are you drinking enough water?
• Are you breathing enough?
• Are you moving daily?

And then go from there.

3. Set Realistic Goals. – No one could ever do all the things they would want in their business so you have to figure out what is realistic to accomplish in the time you have.
4. Stop Saying Yes To Everyone Else. – There are a million responsibilities and cool things you can take on that are actually someone else’s priorities.
5. Don’t try to be all things to all people. – A sure way to be great at nothing is to try to be great at everything. Demands of parenting, career, management and leadership, friends, social media, and being a role model can take their toll. It’s OK not to master them all.  Likewise, it’s OK to be crap at the ones not important to you.
6. When it turns into beating yourself up…it’s time to take stock and a step back. Guilt serves you until it consumes you.  If you feel it consuming you, and you start beating yourself up for feeling it, thus compounding the pain further, then STOP.  Be kind to yourself.  The world will do a good job of beating you up, so start crediting yourself for the good things you do.

The Bible

For the Bible, the attitude toward guilt is different.  In the Bible, guilt results from having violated a specific rule or law.

When we cross a moral, ethical, or legal line, we are guilty.  This is true even if we did not know a line was crossed.  Guilt is primarily a state or condition, not a feeling.  According to the Bible, we are all guilty before God.  Romans 3:10, 23 says,

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one,” “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

The fact that a person may not “feel guilty” does not affect his or her guilty status legally or morally.

Guilty feelings are helpful when they drive us to repentance.  However, Satan can also use guilty feelings to drive us away from God.  Second Corinthians 7:10 says,

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

Worldly guilt is filled with condemnation and hopelessness.  It tells us that we are bad, and nothing will make us good enough.  It lies to us about the character of God, insisting that we must try to earn the favor of a God who will never give it.  Worldly sorrow hangs over our heads and colors our attitudes toward God.

We must understand the biblical nature of guilt to combat worldly guilt.

Many business owners have guilt feelings for many reasons.  However, business leaders and entrepreneurs have no reason to have or embrace these feelings outside God’s commands. 

Get control of your guilt and spend your energy leading your business as God has willed.