Seven Learnings for Our 7th Year in Business
May 2024 marked 6 years of 'my' business, which has become 'our' company 🙂
My, what a long, strange trip it's been.
I've spent the better part of this year marveling at how what I knew to be true, what I was committed to in the beginning, has not only stood the test of time but feels more relevant today than ever.
To mark our 7th year in business, here are 7 learnings.
One – Be Wary of Extremes
I am not against extremes, for they are as natural as lightning striking a lone tree in the plains or the shocking turn from Winter to Spring. As natural as a coyote’s howling or a stormy sea.
In the world of business, especially online business, we are incessantly sold the idea that artificial extremes are something to be sought after and markers of success.
Extremes are wholly possible and have been accomplished by many, but depending on the myriad nuances and complexities that make up a person and their business, reaching for them can cause great suffering.
A fruit sapling does not force itself to produce fruit in its first year—or five.
A bee does not carry more pollen back to the hive than what it can hold.
The moon does not pretend to be full when it simply isn’t.
Extremes are not off the table. Just like the Aurora Borealis spilling into America or a visible eclipse, myriad factors can and do come together to create a miraculous pinnacle moment.
These extraordinary moments come at no cost, which is why bearing witness to them is, in itself, a healing act.
But what about the ones that do?
You went viral or garnered massive attention, and now you are a slave to making a specific type of content that chips away at your creative spirit.
You enrolled thousands of people into an offer, and the energy is so overwhelming to your system that you disassociate.
You make 7-figures in a short time-span by overriding, only to find yourself rich in cash and poor in peace and fulfillment.
Extremes are only sustainable if they are natural.
If they are not natural, sustaining them will come at a cost.
Two – There’s More to Something ‘Working’ or ‘Not Working’ Than What Meets the Eye
Anything 'can' ‘work.'
To understand this, we must first acknowledge that we all have different definitions of what works or does not work. And often, misplaced energies skew these definitions—and us.
We also have to acknowledge the complexity of why things work for some and not others, especially in business.
Something 'working' for someone and why is as vast as they are. When you have even a semblance of awareness of who and what you are—your mind can relax into knowing that though we co-create our reality, we don't control it.
You can also begin to pierce through the illusion that just because something worked for someone else, no matter how convicted they may seem, does not mean it will work for you.
Something in your work can work from flow and be generative.
Something in your work can work from overriding and be degenerative.
But perhaps this second person has never experienced the fruits of their naturalness. So, to them, this is all there is. They are not, at least on a conscious level, aware of the cost.
If you know the cost, you have the privilege of consciousness.
You could rob a bank to make money but choose not to. Why?
This is a hyperbolic example, but in terms of generative and degenerative, it's not far from choosing to sell something that your heart isn't in just to make money. Except in this case, you are robbing people through half-heartedness.
So the question becomes, anything can work, but at what cost?
Three – People Aren't Numbers, They're People
Now more than ever, we are trained to look at people as numbers.
Subscribers, followers, like-counts, listens, views, participants.
While I'm not advising to eradicate this from your consciousness, if it is not held in the wider perspective of remembering that each number is a person, it can become a dangerous disease.
This proverbial illness says that more is always better. Higher is always the goal. And over there, over there in that place where higher numbers (more people) are, is the promised land.
The more you are infected with this awareness, the more you are trained to see what is—whatever numbers are present in your reality—as not enough.
When business is solely in service to more, better, over there – ultimately diminishing the sanctity of humanity, we have lost ourselves.
Those addicted to numbers will never be able to trust the people they attract.
Those who remain aware but unattached to them and serve the spirit of the work will always be able to trust that the right humans are finding them.
What would change if you created space to acknowledge the preciousness of each human, choosing to invest their time and energy into your work as enough?
Four – You Both Are and Are Not Your Business
Another tension-ridden paradox.
In the industries I swim in—spirituality, personal development, wellness, healing—this is an area of great confusion for business owners.
On the one hand, there is the notion that you are your work; your work is you, and therefore, you are your business.
On the other hand, there is the idea that you are separate from your work and your business. Your business is a separate entity that you serve but are not inherently a part of.
That's the thing with sides. They never let you see the entire landscape clearly.
Both of these are true. All tension-ridden truths require more consciousness to relate skillfully.
Extremes give solace to laziness. Laziness is often a byproduct of low capacity. Low capacity is the true pandemic we are in the midst of.
There is you and ‘your work.' Your emotions and stories, your pain and karma. This work is not separate from your business. You will notice that your business and entire reality respond to the change when you engage it.
There is your business ‘work'—the information it gives you—be it numbers, how a launch went, or feedback from clients and consumers.
Often, you miss this layer of information because you become so caught up in our personal work as the only thing that matters.
What happens in your business could bring up so much pain that you tell yourself the only important thing is the pain itself, ignoring what your business is communicating to you, beyond the pain.
Yet, engaging your personal work is the very thing that creates space to turn back towards your business and look at it as both spirit and form. As something that has both intuitive and logical information to share.
When engaged, both your inner and outer landscapes respond to change.
This is what's covered in nauseating depth and detail in this masterclass.
Five – Sustainability Is a Wise Business Plan
There is forgotten wisdom in the oasis of sustainability. The more we are trained into better, more, over there—the further we get from this watering hole.
We live in a time when a life of balance and harmony is a dying art.
Where I live, in America, overworking is normalized, rewarded, and—for many—the only way to survive.
Yet, we see reports from places where work-life balance is prioritized. People live longer, are happier, and more naturally embody virtues that, in other locations, are forced and enmeshed with punishment.
One of the greatest delusions we face today is our loss of trust. Trust in what is, in Life itself. When we return to this refuge, which does take 'work,' we find the pearl. Life supports that which supports you.
If you want a full life that includes family, friends, practice, and play, then sustainability is the wisest business plan.
Just look to Nature—our greatest sustainability teacher.
Yet, there are things you will have to give up on this journey.
Short-term gain and sight, being swayed by flash and hype, haste, and distraction—to name a few.
As your pack empties, there are a few seeds you'll have to pick up and intentionally cultivate—patience, presence, and persistence.
Don't look to me or this article for the 'how' of making your business sustainable. Instead, say yes to this way and watch with wonder what emerges. For you are Nature, and your business is too.
Six – The Idea That Hard Work = Success Needs More Nuance
We are told to work hard to succeed. This idea is both true and not true.
It's not the term necessarily but what's driving us as we work.
You can work hard, driven by the energies of your wounding, and make something work only to reach the mountaintop and feel depleted, angry, and confused.
You can work hard on something not connected to your heart, essence, or soul and not succeed, which would be great. Perhaps you won't see it that way for years, even lifetimes. But when you do, you will see it as a great thing.
You can give your Life space to emerge and devote yourself entirely to the winds of your own unfolding (recognizing the illusion that this is solely about you), and you will find yourself 'working hard.' But this 'hard work' is no different from the tree putting out endless fresh shoots in the spring or the ducks diligently building a nest. It is as natural as Nature itself.
Everything real and true in my work has come from working well, working wise, flow. When I overworked, when I made work hard—I had no capacity to enjoy anything that came of it.
Seven – Why?
This is both akin to 'find your why' and, perhaps, deeper.
Don't simply ask your conscious mind why, and take the first hit as truth. Explore what, who, and where is in your why. Look at what's driving it. Notice its time stamp. Is your why 5 years old? Is your why stuck in last year? Why?
Don't need your why to emerge perfectly and neatly because a journal prompt said it must.
Clean the house. Find emptiness. Give your why the gift of patience. Let it unfurl in its own timing, like a crocus in early spring, pushing through the last snow.
Because, Dear Ones, without this, your work and business will become a series of motions to feed a hungry ghost that has taken up residence inside you.
Turn it all on its head.
Is it even a business? Is it even right now? Are you fulfilled working alone? Are your days ripe with force or flow? Fear or trust? What you think it should be, or the richness of what is?
How do you wish to sanctify this one wild and precious life?
Let your definitions of work, success, and destiny take a hot springs trip, allowing them to relax into softer, more supple versions.
Create space.
Don’t immediately fill it.
Invite the Mystery in.
Here, listen to Life.
Watch what emerges from this place.
