The corporate hangover is becoming an all too familiar condition. With many left in the midst of professional burnout; craving purpose, self-expression, and spiritual growth. Finding the balance between a career and spiritual evolution was traditionally left to artists and healers. Presently, however, many are now blurring those lines in pursuing careers in which their spiritual path is a key facet to their business, strength, and motivation.
These spiritual entrepreneurs come in many forms, from yoga teachers, to ayurvedic chefs, to CEOs of purpose driven companies. For this group, the process of creating a business based on their deepest gifts is more of a spiritual journey than a financial one. Where success is not defined by dollars, but in self-expression and self-actualization.
Don’t let your business lead your happiness - let your happiness lead your business
This journey can be the adventure of a lifetime. The path you don’t regret taking on your deathbed. There are risks to any worthwhile endeavor, spiritual entrepreneurship is not immune to this. It must be met with a mixture of idealism and pragmatism. While personal growth is a key element, creating a sustainable and fulfilling business takes a new set of skills. It will require breaking old patterns and shattering limiting beliefs. Here are three key themes that are essential in fully embracing the path of the spiritual entrepreneur.
1. Embrace business
I used to have dirty secret, I was in love with business. The notion that an idealist like myself could love the source of all our social and environmental problems was troubling. Then I started my own business and had to confront the fact that business in itself is objectively neither good nor bad. It is the practitioner of business who determines how it is used.
Fully embracing your business persona is critical for the success of any spiritual entrepreneur. Get to know the core areas of business: services/production, sales/marketing, operations and finances. Read business books/articles, hire a business coach, and surround yourself with other like- minded business owners. Uncover your business shadows, the areas of business you resist. Dive into the hidden beliefs that are creating the pesky resistance. Remember that you get to choose how you do business and determine your own recipe to do no harm. Get clear on your values and perform business in alignment with these values.
2. Let your personal growth outpace your business success
Don’t let your business lead your happiness - let your happiness lead your business. The emotional well being of many entrepreneurs and business owners rise and fall on the tides of their business success/failure. Ecstatic when business is great, down when business is tough.
However, with each success and failure of your business journey you have the opportunity to grow and learn. That means each day your inner state can be stronger than the day before. Creating the possibility that you can grow much faster than your business and in fact you should. The beauty of this is, a more evolved you will run a more evolved business. Being committed to showing up fully despite external stressors will help keep you focused and will maintain a level of passion that will attract opportunities to you.
3. Rewire your relationship with money
We all have a history with the money that affects how it flows in and out of our lives. Get to know your subconscious beliefs around money and how it has played a role in your life. Write a short story about your relationship with money beginning with your parents and their beliefs and their financial patterns. Uncover if you secretly resent money or if you have a reckless pattern with finances. Money is inherently a neutral energy - it can be used for good or bad. Any aversion you have towards your financial success, subconscious or otherwise, will rear its head in your business dealings. Create an intentional relationship with money on your terms.
I hope these few ideas inspire a deeper commitment to your work, to fully showing up and embracing the evolution of you and your business.