Handling the Unscrupulous

Not long ago, it came to my attention that a former colleague was not only copying me professionally in many regards but also making liberal use of my copyright material.

I was stunned. At first I was angry, but that has passed. The truth is, the more you put yourself out into the world, the more you will come across people such as this. The better you are at something, the more someone might want to copy you. Happily, most people are not like this.

So what to do? The worst thing you can do is shut down. It is important to take any practical steps you can to protect yourself or deal with the matter of course, but emphatically important not to let any emotional impact last.

I have heard people say that they are frightened to embark on a new creative endeavour such as a business because they are afraid it will happen again. One person in particular I can think of who is enormously creative, does jobs that are well below his capabilities because he was ’ripped off’ by a business partner. I know of someone else who went into partnership and effectively ended up simply providing her associate with clients and receiving little herself.

These happenings can hurt for years and make us guarded in a way that is detrimental to us, if we let them. None of us has to let these things affect us and hold us back indefinitely from the fulfilling lives we want to live. I have worked with many people in just the kinds of situations described above. Often in the process of letting go of the upsetting feelings, new learnings are made about the situation, the other person and themselves which lead to useful information they can take forward with them into the future.

We are meant to be living our lives and expressing ourselves to our utmost. There will be ups and downs as an inevitable consequence of that. Often, we can use these unfortunate happenings to propel us to greater satisfaction.

If you recognise yourself in this description, know that you can move on from that experience and that hypnotherapy can help you do it in a relatively short space of time.