spirit and entrepreneurship

Book review: Accept This Gift

2008-01-27T10:32:00.000-08:00

Accept This Gift: Selections from A Course in Miracles
Edited by F. Vaughan and R. Walsh

This brief 105 page book of excerpts from the Course in Miracles is an inspirational read. The different language they use to explain concepts similar to Christian Science is of interest. Plus, reading this will help you understand the language and conceptsused in this popular course. The book has “chapters” that are like poems on different topics. These topics include: mind, belief, thought, perception, illusions, time, body, ego, self, spirit, pain, fear, forgiveness, freedom, love and much more.

Some of the excerpts I found interesting on the topic of Illusions are, “Freedom from illusions lies only in not believing them.” And “Truth does not fight against illusions, nor do illusions fight against the truth. Illusions battle only with themselves.” On the topic of body, you’ll read, “To accept the limits of a body is to impose those limits on each brother whom you see. For you must seem him as you see yourself.”

I think tThis book is worth at least a perusal in the book store.

The foreword is written by Marianne Williamson (a popular spiritual author), who has appeared on the Oprah TV show.

Prayer improves workplace issues

2007-09-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

In the last few weeks I’ve been working with a new client and finding new opportunities to use prayer. Here is how I’ve used prayer in this new situation:

I’ve prayed before I go to bed to clear my thought from the day and to align myself with God. This has been helpful so that I don’t carry over any negative experiences or expectations or problems. My spiritual coach told me that “clearing my slate” with God before I go to bed is a great idea. Although I often forget to do it, during times of challenge (like lately) I’ve been good at remembering this helpful idea. Basically what I do is reaffirm in my thought all the good that went on during the day – all the evidence of God at work and being expressed by His creation. And then I throw out of thought anything that would suggest a power beside God is at work.
I’ve prayed each morning to be clear in my thought that I’m going to express God and that I’m not going to see problematic situations or difficult employees. My prayers focus on affirming what I know from the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures written by Mary Baker Eddy – which has great ideas on God and mankind’s relationship to Her.
Each morning, I’ve also asked myself “what am I going forth to see?” In other words, what am I expecting to see, or assuming I will see. This exercise has helped me turn around false views of what is going on in God’s universe and how His creation will act. For example, instead of assuming a person who is argumentative will be the same every day, I can expect to see the power of the one Mind, God – which unites instead of divides people.
I’ve also been able to silently affirm God’s power and presence in meetings that have been divisive. I’ve found this silent moment helps me expect good in the meeting and helps me let go of the evidence of ego or will power in the session and turn to the one power, God and know that power is the ultimate power in the room.

I’ve seen amazing results from these prayers. I’ve seen tough interpersonal relationship issues resolve quickly, I’ve seen increased cooperation and decreased tension and I’ve seen much more peace and harmony in this workplace from when I began helping them. I’m not saying my prayers are solely to credit with this change but I know the prayerful work I am doing and I’ve seen first hand the good results. And I’m so grateful.

There are no time boundaries for joy

2007-05-28T08:26:00.001-07:00

While on a vacation recently I realized that I was limiting my own expression and experience of joy and happiness. What I realized is that I had mentally restricted or prescribed when I could be happy – and I knew that wasn’t right. And surely it isn’t what God has in mind for me. Do you know what I mean? Like how you expect weekends to be the time for fun and joy but that’s it. Why was I restricting my own joy? Why couldn’t I live with joy and happy while at work (I’m a sole proprietor) or in any situation at any time or day of the week?

What I was discovering in my own thought was a limitation or boundary for when joy could happen. As if it only happens on vacations and weekends or only when I did certain kinds of work. No way. I knew God had no sense of these false boundaries – God offers unlimited joy for all Her creation.

I think this all came to mind because my vacation was winding down and I knew I would be back to work soon. Then I started thinking about why I expected vacation to be so good and why I wasn’t looking forward to answering all the voicemails that had piled up since I left my office. I would check my email each day and be grateful I could wait to reply on most of them and just relax and take time off. It didn’t have to be that way. And once I changed my thought about it, I felt much more relaxed during my vacation and when I got back.

Yes, time off is good and it’s great when it can be a time of rest but I knew that work could be a place for joy and happiness just as much as relaxation happens during vacation – and how that was a source of happiness.

Is this all making sense? Let me set the stage a bit more here. I believe that God is the source of all good in my life and that God creates great abundance and opportunity in my life. I believe that God is all good and only wants the best for me. And I know that Gods providence for me includes good – all the time – not just in limited material confines (like days of the week or during certain kinds of activities or work). Meaning God doesn’t set up weekends and only provide opportunity for joy then, God doesn’t limit anything that way.

So this was my realization. This is how I got a whole new view of my own happiness and since I’ve been back from vacation I’ve been reminding myself that each day is my opportunity for joy. I realized that even while doing things that may not be my favorite things at work – I could appreciate the opportunity to learn something new or get even better at a skill I had. Why not?

No doubt you’ve heard that how you think about a situation determines how you feel and the outcome. So why not choose to be joyful and happy during the work day and all the time? I can tell you it’s working for me.

God’s supply ever available

2007-04-23T12:52:00.000-07:00

During my usual morning prayer I started thinking about God’s care for me and how it never wanes. There isn’t a point where God is available and another point when She is not.

However what I realized is that I might have been believing that -- indirectly. I realized that despite material circumstance or conditions I am never outside of God’s care. Here’s an example: do entrepreneurs and those who are self-employed feel they are more likely to do without what they need (clients, money, etc) than those who are employed by others? Yes, often entrepreneurs feel this way – I know I have thought this.

So I asked myself, because I’m an entrepreneur does God care for me and provide for me less than when I was employed by someone else and getting a steady paycheck? That cannot be the case. That would mean God doesn’t know everything (and I believe God knows all) and that She isn’t looking out for me all the time (and I believe God is). My understanding of God is as a source of all the good in the world, everything made in Gods image (like wholeness, health, love, spirituality, good, peace, etc). This is the God I have known for 30 plus years who has come to my aid all the time, who has brought me to new spiritual levels and helped me make progress.

My prayer today helps me get centered on what is good and true in my life and the world. And it brings me assurance that no matter where I am and what I am doing I have God leading me and walking with me on my right path. This also made me realize that I need to give credit to all the ways God cares for me and not only define my “wealth” in narrow financial terms. I’m never without what I need – whether it is ideas, connections, clients or dollars. And I can feel strong in this fact because of God’s love and constant care.

Saying “thank you God”

2007-04-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

An important part of my spiritual life and practice is staying connected with God, Praying in the morning before I start work and reconnecting to Spirit during the day.

I’ve realized how important saying “thank you” to God is. It is a part of my spiritual practice and it affirms the connection I have with God. For example, every time I have a good meeting with a client at their office or via phone afterward I say “thank you God” out loud. If I’m in the car or in my home office I say it out loud and I notice that when it happens I’m smiling. How cool is that?

Like this week I was driving home from a first meeting with a potential client and I just thought “I need to thank God for brining me this opportunity.” So I smiled and said it.

I think this simple phrase keeps me connected mentally to how pervasive God is in my life. I probably could say it even more but I know that when I say it, it reinforces my connection because I’m giving the credit to God for Her practical support and guidance in my life.

So “thank you God” for everything. And for reminding me it would be a good blog entry to share with others.

Spiritual growth of an entrepreneur

2007-03-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

I have new attitudes about my business this year (I’m in the second year of my self-proprietorship) and I know that is because of the spiritual progress I have made during this time. The spiritual growth has given me more peace about my work and I also feel more connected to God and not out on my own to succeed or fail.

My understanding of God is of an all-powerful, all-good God, one that is constantly loving me and supporting me – directly. And this viewpoint has proven true – it is what has brought me good in my life in so many forms.

However, on and off in the first year I kept being disappointed that I wasn’t getting more clients and making more money – compared to what I used to make in a senior role at a company. (Not a good thing to do I know know.) I prayed often to find greater peace and greater confidence in the direction I get from God that kept me on the right path.

Part of the spiritual progress I’ve made has been in removing fear – like the fear that I didn’t know where my next client would come from and how I could make a decent living at this.

What I’ve done through prayer and listening to God is to realize that I needed to shift my thinking. So, now when I wonder about business growth and new clients I reconnect with God more quickly in my thought instead of worrying. And I’ve been able to get new spiritual insights from my connection with God. Some of the insights I gained include:

God is in charge and because of that She controls all including the positive flow of clients who need my services so I can find the opportunity to help others. God knows what I have to offer and matches me up with people who need my help. When I’ve prayed with this idea I have found more confidence and trust in God and new connections and potential new clients have resulted.
I also realized, I am not solely responsible for getting new business. I can listen to God’s direction for me and each step I take I can expect good to come from it (God wouldn’t put me on a path that has darkness). As a result, I’ve seen good (new clients or whatever) is up ahead when I approach my business this way.

For example, this week I knew I had capacity for some new clients for the coming months. My prayers affirmed that God was in charge of my work and my life and that I was receptive to all the ways He brings good into my life. I also knew that I’d be ok if I’d listened and responded as He directed. I felt at peace after this prayer and went off to a networking meeting. At that meeting, someone totally unexpected came and asked me to help him launch his website. And he wasn’t concerned about budget but wanted it done right - cool!

Also I’ve learned in the first year of my business:

To be more grateful for the examples of God’s care that is all around me. Like each new client this year I’ve been very grateful for, and I’ve really had a fun time working with them as a result.
I’ve also learned that when I’m grateful that the clients respond by being very appreciative of my help.
I’ve seen that being grateful also helps me grow in new ways. In the first 3 months of this year my business revenue is 50% more than of what I made in the whole last year.
Being grateful also brought a client I worked from last year who wants to hire me again. And also a person who heard a presentation I made last year called to ask me for more information because he is considering hiring me.

I feel like I’m really in a new place in the second year of my business and I am more confident and more grateful. I know God has been lifting me up and reassuring me the whole time. Now I’m hearing it and seeing it more and that feels really good. I do feel like I’m on a new spiritual level and I’m thrilled to be here.

Finding time and peace of mind

2007-03-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

I knew this week would come, the week when I would have to prepare and give an hour long presentation. And because of the client work I had to do, I couldn’t begin work on the presentation until this week. It’s just how it had to go – I had to stay focused on clients last week.

I held my breath and jumped into this week. To help myself prepare, I didn’t set up too many meetings and also put three big blocks of time on my calendar from Tuesday to Thursday (when the event is). On Monday night I was a bit anxious so I worked very late to get the shell of the presentation ready.

Then Tuesday came and I spent an hour or two preparing and felt much more at peace. All of sudden I felt I had tons of time to prepare and could even do other work between now and the Thursday evening presentation.

Then while praying the next day I realized that I didn’t have to endure these ups and downs. Since God is always caring for me there isn’t a point when I’m beyond help or over pressured. This was an important reminder that God is always with me guiding my every step and keeping me on track. Whatever my own sense of the situation is – I can look at it from higher ground and find confidence in knowing God is organizing every piece of my life.

Meaning, God had organized my day, my actions and certainly was helping me prepare – and because of all this I could be at peace.

My prayer each morning includes recognizing my connection with God and the power of that connection – this is what makes each day the best it can be.

I share this now in case it helps you avoid the ups and downs and points you to reconnecting with God to see things from a spiritual view. Once I realized God had always been in charge I realized those feelings of anxiety were misplaced and that I could avoid that trap next time I have a big deadline.

Beyond chocolate – spiritual comfort for hurt feelings

2007-01-23T15:33:00.000-08:00

I’ve noticed that when a client of mine responds in an unkind way I get a sick feeling in my stomach. I’m no wimp, in fact I used to be called a bit hard around the edges – at the least I am a person who is very self-confident.

Unfortunately I’m noticing this reaction because there have been a few bumps in the road lately. Specifically, a difficult client (who I wrote about in my last blog,) and now a tough email reply from a client who sent a copy of the email to 3 other superiors of his instead of just working through the draft with him. That feels like he is ridiculing me in front of others and now I have an upset stomach.

Clearly my mind is affecting my body and I don’t want to let it do that anymore. I realize that I need to address and eliminate the upset in my head so that the stomach reaction will disappear. Avoiding the problem won’t make it go away.

I can sit here and feel sick the rest of the day, complain about it to anyone who will listen (but since my office mates are 2 cats that won’t help). Or I can look at this from a spiritual perspective and see what is really going on. So I’m sitting down and blogging through this issue.

Let’s take the email issue that came up today. My options are:

I can sit around and feel like I’ve been wronged by this client contact who would rather try and prove he has more talent than I have in front of 3 others than honor what he offered to do – which was to be a sounding board.
I can try and get it off my mind and do other work.
I can hate being a small business owner and dealing with these issues (but I realize they happen everywhere – not just here).
I can eat chocolate.
I can step back and address the issue in my thought.

I realize that option 4, ooops I mean 5, is the best option for getting past any sick feeling in my stomach.

I like to clear my thought and look afresh at a situation in times like this. Here’s what I’m doing now:

A) Think about God, His role in my life and my business. Affirm His closeness to me and His leadership in my day and my life and acknowledge he guides me in each right action and communication. This means I don’t have to react (in mind or body or in an email) but can find the best next step without involving ego.

B) Think about the role of God in the larger world – not just governing me but everyone in the universe. That being the case there is no unkind motive driving anyone since God is the guide of each person. And surely God’s guidance never includes action that includes any kind of negative motive.

C) Think about my own talents and reaffirm that they all come from God and that I have the talents I need when they are called for. I can’t be lacking any skill or idea that would benefit a client of mine. And with each step being God-impelled that includes the right action and comfort in each step. I can’t be anxious about a response or a view of me that isn’t good. All I have to do is embody as much of God’s talents as He gives me and move ahead with good motives and the desire to bless. And God takes care of the rest. (This idea hits me hard and really is what I’m going to focus on especially.)

D) I can also be grateful for what is going right in my day and stop focusing on the bad stuff. Why do we let the bad stuff take over? Why can’t good take over? I say it can and I will let it. For example, today I had a nice lunch meeting with a client and we had a great chat and really got some good new ideas for working together. And that felt good.

I’ve found that being a sole proprietor means no one really says “good job” - like a boss or maybe a fellow employee. In this gig, you have to defend your thought from the negative ideas that would try and pile up on you and see through them to what is really true – what God defines as true for me (because what He sets as the reality for me – is the reality for me).

I won’t allow myself to feel sick, not when I know God is in charge and He would never put me in a situation where I feel sick or am hurt in any way. It’s time to clear the mind and body.

Now I can move ahead with more confidence and a better feeling about myself, my work, my day and my body. And I can admit I did option 4 too – and boy was that piece of dark chocolate tasty.

The power of God’s law of harmony

2007-01-18T09:21:00.000-08:00

Several months ago I was working with another small business owner and we were trading services. Because we weren’t clear up front about how exactly we wanted to work the trade there were some bumps in the road. During the bumps I felt I had made some notable sacrifices in order to keep the trade working. Now that I look back at that, I'm not happy with my concessions but felt it was the best and easiest way to move on.

This client has been challenging for me because of his extremely slow response time and his attitude about my hourly rate being higher than his. I can tell he is taking it personally that I charge more despite the fact that we are not remotely in related industries.

The rate issue came up as we were talking about how many hours we had each worked. To that point I had worked one more hour than he had so he asked me to bill him for the 1 hour and if we wanted to keep working together he’d sign a real contract with me. He asked me to send the bill and a new contract. I did.

Two months later the invoice was still unpaid and the contract unsigned (now I know this is a blessing). I finally got the check this week and it is not for the full amount of the invoice. I inquired why and got no reply. He then sends me a bill for his time and I check in with him to see if that is to even out the difference between my bill and what he paid. And he said no. That he thought two months ago we agreed he could pay less than my normal rate (which we didn’t agree to).

So it’s been a tough back and forth because of the difference in his memory and my notes and memory. I have felt really “off” with this client and felt for some months that we should just end the working relationship and any future work.

That is a long way of saying it has been frustrating.

I was agitated yesterday about the delays and back and forth and his waiting two months to question the amount due. In my head I thought that if he didn’t agree with the invoice he should have brought it up much earlier. Oh well.

So you see where my thought has been about all this. The only way to get away from this mental turmoil was to finish the day and get it out of my thought totally.

I knew that wasn’t ideal but at the moment it was the best I could do.

This morning I woke up realizing I had to deal with this again and would wait for his reply and see if he is willing to agree with me or if we have a sticking point.

Then I realized the only way out of this was to pray. I realized that I wanted to: (a) clear my thought about him (that he was always late, perhaps trying to cheat me, or whatever); and (b) I wanted to re-affirm that God was really in charge of my business, my work and every person (so that included me and this client).

From my history with prayer I’ve found this a good approach and yields the best results. I picked up this idea of prayer for a chapter on prayer from the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

Back to my prayer. I started thinking about God’s laws, God’s government and how I could never live outside of His laws and that those laws create harmony. So I realized I could live with harmony and not anxiety. I could live with gratitude for the opportunity to learn a bit more about clarifying things in work relationships before you get started. I could stop reacting to the material actions and circumstance and see God could clear all the confusion up right away. I didn’t have to wait for the client’s reply. I could see God’s laws would enforce harmony because God has infinite power (He handles way bigger issues than this with just as much surety).

Instead of reacting to the circumstances, I could focus on the operation of God in my life and what power that has to immediately resolve issues and guide me and all His creation.

So before I even got another reply from this client I decided I would expect a peaceful response - one that would give us both peace and resolution without feeling loss. I didn’t know what that would look like, maybe an email saying he was sorry for any confusion and we will both pay the remaining invoices in full. But I am leaving it to God and watching and listening for how I should act so I keep on track with His wishes instead of just reacting.

I’m also going to let go of the feeling that I’ve been taken advantage of because the terms weren’t clear up front. That isn’t a healthy thing to keep in mind. Also I’m going to stop labeling this client with any negative judgments and I’m going to stop labeling this as an unhealthy relationship. I’m sure that is no help to me to have in my thought either.

Lastly, I remembered that the Bible says “..with God all things are possible” – that means that harmony and resolution can be my experience right now. God is all powerful and is always present in my life so I can move on, assured in His power and love for all mankind. Plus, He knows what I need and is caring for all involved.

In exploring this idea from the Bible more I came across the great idea below. It is about shifting your thought to God, to His Truth and away from a limited view. I know this kind of shift has powerful results.

“The law of Christ, or Truth, makes all things possible to Spirit [God]; but the so-called laws of matter would render Spirit of no avail, and demand obedience to materialistic codes, thus departing from the basis of one God, one lawmaker. To suppose that God constitutes laws of inharmony is a mistake; discords have no support from nature or divine law, however much is said to the contrary.” (Mary Baker Eddy)

Now that is a powerful message. And I’m holding to God’s power and support. And I know it will bless all involved. I’ll keep you posted on how it turns out.

Accounting for my true value

2007-01-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

The other day I was thinking about my value and my purpose and where that all comes from. It can be tempting to define your value by yearly salary. And mine this past year is lower than it’s ever been because I started my own business.

It’s tempting to think, “what am I doing?” and how can I be employed in something that isn’t more profitable. And I’ve thought that a number of times.

It’s funny to admit but I even googled, “What does God want me to do?” to see if a search engine could tell me my purpose and the work I should be doing. Google didn’t have any direct answers but was interesting to see all the God-related content out there.

Moving on. Then I started IM-ing (sending instant messages) with a spiritual friend of mine. She asked me good questions about what I most love to do and what work would I do regardless of the salary. I had a hard time coming up with something I was willing to do without considering the salary. She told me that she knew exactly her ideal job was and she would take no lesser job. And it had nothing to do with salary. Now that was someone with a clear sense of true value.

Yesterday I was thinking more about my value and purpose. I was digging deeper in prayer to see these things from a spiritual basis. What does God know about my value? How does She define my value? What am I not seeing that God sees about me? And what did God give me in terms of talents and how can I see the value of those?

I started thinking about my value in spiritual, lasting terms. Here is some of what I was thinking: My value is in the talents I have from God, and in things like how I give, share and love others and am grateful to God. And in ways that I use the talents I have – what I know, what I’m good at, how I inspire and support others.

Also I was thinking that no matter what my salary is God always cares for me and is the true source of the supply of what I need in my life. If I’m only cared for and valuable when I make a high salary – that is nuts. God-given supply has nothing to do with my income – I don’t think it works just that way. In fact, God doesn’t even know about such things since She is all-spiritual, so she is supplying me spiritually and I am rich in ways that matter – in life-sustaining ways that last.

Then what I observed was that despite the fact that my salary took a big dip, there was never a time I didn’t have what I needed – ideas or financial supply to pay a bill. And this is despite the fact that I too often saw the lack side of the equation instead of the supply side.

I had God’s love and support and supply no matter what and more material things would not bring me more value or more love or some bigger purpose.

I really felt uplifted from a low sense of value (and money) after this prayer and instead felt uplifted by the opportunity I had to grow spiritually in the last year. I have had an opportunity to get a whole new sense of my value and my connection with God and that is worth more than the bucks.

'Tis the season for stress. Or not.

2006-12-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

As Christmas approaches it feels like the world is spinning faster and faster. And the urge to feel stress (yes I said urge) is all around. The lines are long at the post office – really long; the mobs at most stores make it tougher to shop; and the pressure to have the perfect gift for everyone could drive you nuts.

And at the same time, I’m noticing the urge to stop working and focus on relationships more - nurturing myself and others. And this is despite the fact that I’m a small business owner who is always thinking about how to use my time wisely.

It has occurred to me that I can choose to not pick up all the stress I can see all around. And I realized that I need to spend time nurturing and giving as much as buying and holiday baking.

Part of this dawned on me today as I got a thank you email from a client who received a year-end gift from me. I was trying to keep costs down and came up with a terrific notebook with my company logo for each client and business referral source I worked with this year. The thank you note from this client said, “Thanks for the gift; it is the bright spot today in a bad day.”

I hadn’t realized when I sent the gift that I might actually brighten someone’s day. That I might make them smile. Then I got a gift from a business referral source that I love working with and it brought a smile to my face because I truly expected no gifts. I could relate to the light giving and thoughtfulness brings to one’s day. So why can’t we give and say thank you more? It isn’t hard. And it doesn’t have to be with physical things only. I sent one contact a note of how I appreciate his skills, talents and work. He was thrilled.

Another observation that hit me last week was I can see that external to me there is much discussion about stress, much definition of where this stress comes from like long lines, traffic jams and such. And that those convenient descriptions on the nightly news and in conversations among friends and associates bring these frazzled states to reality.

What I mean is, I can see that I can choose to be frazzled or not. I can see that I can choose to be impatient or not, or let the person with one package in front of me at the post office go before me since I have 10 packages. I can choose to see the light in the world coming from so many giving and loving souls or I can see the insanity that is shopping and consumption (and I love gifts as much as anyone).

So this year I’m choosing to take the time to nurture others, to connect and to say thank you more and more. And I’m much less stressed. I gave up at least 95% of the impatience I was feeling at the post office when I was in line and I am letting myself take the time to recognize the importance of this season spiritually and to let that calm me and move me to action.

It’s a cool feeling. And it was easier than I thought to reject the idea of stressful planning, shopping and end of year business planning.

Will the world end if I don’t have a million presents for friends? No. Will my business stop if my business planning for 2007 continues into January? No. It will be alright. And I believe this calm and realization is coming from Spirit – my ever present supporter and guide. Thank you God for a much more peaceful holiday.

The power of light

2006-12-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

Recently I heard Maya Angelou, famous author and poet, speak at the Massachusetts Women’s Conference. She is a powerful and vibrant woman. What a breath of fresh air and inspiration.

She spoke with passion, love and great energy for about 45 minutes. What I took away from her talk was the power of light. Her main message was to, “let [your] light shine without discrimination.” You can tell this is a woman who lives that idea every moment.

She told stories about how in the midst of hate and segregation she saw lights (that each of us has) shining on those of different ethnicity. She spoke about her crippled uncle who despite his physical challenges and segregation in the US was a loving support to children of deaf and blind parents who were of a different ethnicity. You could tell this humble man really made a difference in many people’s lives – he lived without boundaries.

In another story she illustrated how we can defend others and care for others (without boundaries). She stood up for 2 young adults who seemed to be without a place to stay in Paris. She saw them on the street resting in front of a store front in the very early morning. Someone from the store came out and literally spat on the young people. She went right over and told the store employee that action was unacceptable – that these children were his brethren. While he didn’t understand her English, he no doubt got the message.

You could tell she lives her life without boundaries or borders – she doesn’t let anything stop her from shining her light on as many as she can. What an important message that is. She said we have the strength to lift up someone.

I think letting your light shine is a HUGE part of why we exist - to live the expression of divine Love.

She also made another point that I cherish – how we need to be grateful for the light that is shining on us from others. That idea really opens your eyes to gratitude instead of limitation and lack and fear and selfishness. She said, “thank as many people as possible because they shed light on you.”

I connected with this message because I believe that God is the source of all life, and all love. And that being the case we are truly sisters and brothers and there can be no boundaries to separate or divide us. What a great foundation to live your life on!

The successes of women-led businesses in MA

2006-12-05T15:05:00.000-08:00

Recently The Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson College and The Commonwealth Institute released their latest research on women-led businesses in the state of Massachusetts (USA).

After reading in the last few months about women’s salary inequity, abuse of women in school shooting incidents and other horrible news it was uplifting to see the celebration of these successful businesses and leaders that are women.

I went to an awards program honoring the Top 100 firms and it was amazing. The keynote speaker Ami Kaplan, Deputy Managing Partner of the Northeast Region of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP talked about her own life experiences of taking risks and how it blessed her. She placed even more emphasis on relationships in her talk and in her career. Amy spoke about the need to care about everyone you meet – not just those in powerful positions but those in every level of your organization. In one case, when she became partner of her firm, the copy clerks called her to let her know because they were making photocopies of the memo that included her name.

This made me think of the strength we get by giving and by caring about others. Life is basically all about relationships. It’s the number one area we all need to focus on. Why? Because when we focus on others instead of just ourselves our lives are blessed and it radiates out from us. A book I cherish: “Love is the Killer App” by Tim Sanders talks about how you need to love more and care more about others in the business world. He also talks about how that standpoint of caring for others really brings good things into your life. It is a must read and is a quick read – so please do pick up a copy.

Look at Ami. Her life story sounds like it always had caring, genuine relationships in it and with that she has soared to the top of her firm. That’s a nice example of the blessings that come from giving first and from caring.

In my own life I’ve seen how giving blesses. I’ve been blessed when I aided friends and peers who needed business advice and family who needed someone to talk through challenges with and how to approach things spiritually. Because of this I feel blessed by God in that I have what I need – family, friends, opportunities, inspiration, a loving husband and more.

When you are genuinely caring about others – you will be blessed. And this has a serious import to business. Let’s be a part of a revolution in business that starts with caring for others.

PS. For those of you who are wondering about the top women-led businesses, here are some of the stats I liked best from the report:

· "The Top 100 Woman-Led businesses in MA are stronger than ever. [They have done annual research for the last 5 years.] Higher revenues at every decile of the Top 100 list reflect the strong growth pattern from 2004 to 2005.
· The annual revenue growth of women-led businesses responding to the study is striking. Since 2004, more than 55% grew by more than 5% while a full 80% grew by at least 1%. In comparison with the 2% growth rate of the MA state economy, the revenue growth of woman-led businesses is significant.
· Nearly 98% of woman-led firms regularly contribute to local charitable or nonprofit organizations; and more than 1/3 are engaged in philanthropic activity on a monthly basis.
· Interestingly, regardless of firm age or the total number of employees, the greater the percentage of women employees in a firm, the more likely it is to have a higher level of philanthropic activity.
· Although they may closely hold ownership, most (77.3%) CEOs responded that they use participatory style for leadership decision making, seeking opinions of others in their deliberations."

Spiritual entrepreneurs local group - update #2

2006-11-30T14:38:00.000-08:00

I was talking with my friend Victoria Merriman (who also writes a spiritual blog) because we started a local discussion group. Our group is for spiritual entrepreneurs who want to connect, share, learn, inspire and be inspired. We've been meeting monthly since summer time (if I recall correctly) and we were chatting with a PR expert about how she thinks we could get our little group some more members and more attention.

The PR expert (Beth D. Stone) was very helpful and practical and spoke about how we need to create a mission for our group, establish an agenda for the meetings and topics for discussion. This made lots of sense and surely can help us articulate the group and its benefits to others. She then went on to explain the topic for each meeting is what is promotable. Having specific topics for each meeting will attract those who want to think and talk about it. This idea made a lot of sense and was something we were mulling over but hearing how it helps with PR was great to know. Basically, offering a calendar allows busy entrepreneurs to consider which meetings they won't want to miss. Plus the topics are "PR-able" (that is what I call something that you can get press coverage on).

I am sharing this because I want those who have read my past blog about this local Boston spiritual entrepreneur group to hear how it's going and get some practical ideas for your own group.

Please add a comment below if you are a part of a spiritual discussion group. I'd love to learn from others and exchange ideas.

Thanks!

43 Entrepreneurs Changing the World

2006-11-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

I thought you might be interested in this feature from Fast Company magazine about 43 Entrepreneurs who are changing the world.

Click here to find out more about these 43 companies.

I just wanted to honor these people who are leading companies to much good work.

What I'm grateful for

2006-11-21T15:02:00.000-08:00

It is often in this time of year (in the US) that people are thinking about what they are grateful for.

Here's my list of what I'm grateful for:

* the new opportunities God brings to me each day, lately that means: new clients, new venues for my articles, new venues for networking, for speaking engagements and new partners to work with.

* venues to dialogue with spiritual seekers like: www.SpiritOnTheJob.com, a local Boston spiritual entrepreneurs group and the annual conference I went to last month.

* my family - husband and wider family, my adorable cats who keep my home office full of life and love.

* this reminder to be grateful (the holiday is a great reminder to do this).

* the time off and the opportunity to spend it with family.

* spiritual growth and inspiration that I can get afresh each day from Spirit.

Share what you are grateful for with the comment feature below.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

Post Script on speaking opportunities

2006-11-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

For those of you who read my posting (a few below) about my speaking engagements... I'm writing after the first 90 minute presentation I have ever given... and it went amazingly.

I am elated about how well it went. The group wasn't huge but it was at a regional conference and included all small business owners (who I work with). The participants were engaged, asking lots of questions, nodding their heads and taking notes -- all ideal signs of engagement from an audience. And all audiences are not this responsive or at least it can be hard to tell some times.

Anyhow. It went great and I know my prayers paid off and I'm growing in experiences and confidence. It is great!

The state of abundance

2006-11-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Recently I was a participant at the International Spirit at Work Awards Conference. One theme that stood out to me was "abundance." While there is much discussion in the world about the physical evidence that would point out lack (of money, time, resources, fuel, or whatever else) you can turn to the evidence of abundance too (talents, spiritual ideas and inspritation, innovative ideas and lots more).

This concept means a lot to me because of the spiritual law it is founded on. The law of an all-good God who is loving and caring for each of Her ideas. Why does there have to be lack? The spiritual laws of Life (I'm using ideas from the book Science and Health - click the link to read or search the book online) actually uphold the abundance we get from God - and the assurance we can have of this abundance.

Often I find when you can get beyond the physical senses (which I find can be deceiving many times) and think of the spiritual grounding of life or supply it all goes back to God. God is the ultimate power, the One that governs all. And with that foundation - abundance is possible and in fact is our right.

While the speakers at this conference didn't each explain how they viewed abundance what I took away was that the spiritual values, the spiritual strength we have to live the best possible life is abundant. We don't have to act like there is limited love to go around. Instead we can give it away freely - and know that more will come our way. We don't have to judge, or criticize or classify. There are an infinite number of ideas from God that all have good in them - and we as offspring of God have the capacity to see that good (instead of only focusing on what may seem more evident to the senses about what isn't good about people).

Instead of being tricked into thoughts about limitations - of myself, others, or whatever else - I can see the abundance of good and of talents right here, right now.

This surely has application in the work environment - we can act with an abundance of values and talents, and we can work ethically and spiritually without fear. And I see the connection to prayer and how that connects us with the Divine and brings us closer to understanding abundance through God's eyes.

I've also found that the laws of abundance while spiritual translate into physical needs too. Many a time in my first year of business (as a sole proprietor) when income was low, I had the money I needed when a need arrived. Also I have never had a shortage of great ideas and direction from God. And often the direction is to give, to teach, to share. I know when I am seeing abundance as a part of my life - that is really is true. I see the evidence and am blessed.

Don’t react. Just change your thought.

2006-10-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

Last week I had a phone conversation that was tough. The person was very harsh in tone and completely unwarranted. Ever had that happen to you?

I belong to a paid networking association and I needed to transfer my membership from one town to another. So I called the main office and spoke to a helpful person twice. When I called a third time and I felt attacked by a different person who answered the phone. She was angry because someone on her staff had given me wrong information – and she wasn’t very good at hiding it.

Her tone was rough and I was upset at the end of the call. Though I had been polite this person was agitated and I bore the brunt of it.

I spent the next few hours reeling from this phone call. I kept reliving the conversation, imagining all the things I should have said, such as that I would prefer to have a conversation in a different tone. I thought of some harsher statements too – things that I felt would have been justified and would have been some sort of retaliation.

As I drove to my next appointment I thought back to my morning prayers about living my day with joy, and gratitude and flexibility and being of use to those I met. Among other things in my morning prayer, I had committed to not letting anything steal my joy from me. And I realized – that is exactly what had happened here.

By replaying those messages in my head I was giving them power over me. I was saying they were real and I was justified in feeling hurt and wanting this person to know they had behaved badly. When you dive into self-justification it isn’t healthy. I knew I wanted to stand firm on the spiritual fact that God was governing my day – and that meant my joy couldn’t be taken away.

This logic comes from my study of the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. It’s a great source book of break-through spiritual concepts that are as relevant now as they were when the book was written 130 years ago. Not so amazing since I believe the book describes spiritual facts that stand the test of time because they are true eternally.

When I stopped replaying the scenario I was able to align my thoughts with the fact that God was moving me to right action. Also, that God was moving this person to right action as well (just as important). I didn’t have to keep reliving this abuse but instead know that God was right with all of us and would remedy this situation. By putting my trust in God’s control of the situation, instead of ego or a human reaction, I could be sure of a right resolution.

I’m not saying let people walk all over you, but the power of your thought on the situation is huge. The change in my thought from being victim (one where God wasn’t in control) to the opposite, where I could connect with God and know Her power was enough to manage human relationships and interactions -- was critical.

The next day, the secretary of the person I had spoken to called me. She was apologetic that she had given me wrong information and restated her boss’s position. I calmly asked if they would be willing to honor their initial offer. She would be happy to find out. And she understood that it was a calm and reasonable request. (Note: This is how it works in customer service – if you offer a customer something by mistake and they still want it, you should make an exception and readily give it to them. This is a factor in maintaining a positive long-term relationship.)

So I’m awaiting the reply, but whether in my favor or not I’m actually ok with it. Mainly because I have been able to let go of the need to tell this person they acted wrongly and instead act with peace in my heart and put God’s desire first. God’s is in charge of the situation and that means I can’t be abused.

I am grateful for this transformation of thought which led me to put aside human reaction and put divine Truth first. Any time we can do that we are working “right.”

Facing Salary Inequity

2006-10-09T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today I was reading an article on the top 25 women in banking and came across this startling sentence, “The U.S. Census Bureau’s Labor Day announcement that full-time women now earn 77 cents to every dollar earned by men, the smallest gap on record, although analysts say this anomaly is because earnings have fallen for both men and women—and the precipice was highest for men.”

I have to say my first reaction was one of shock and disbelief. I have heard statistics like this before but somehow I just figured they were old statistics – maybe from a decade ago. But when I hear this in today’s marketplace I have to say I’m somewhat sickened. Yes, because I’m a woman. Who says that my work is worth less than a man’s? That is just insane. I work just as hard, and in fact tons of research proves women are more often better at relationships which means better at managing, at employee retention, and also when it comes to customer relationships.

After my first visceral reaction I realized I had to face this issue with prayer – otherwise how could I move on just accepting this as true and accepting that it will mean the whole rest of my career will be undervalued. For me – I couldn’t go on without straightening out my thought on this matter.

For me this means prayer.

But where to start? How do I stop being mad about this statistic and find a spiritual foundation for worth – one that I know will be mine regardless of what this US statistic says.

Several months ago I wrote a blog about my value not being solely defined by salary or dollars. That is a good concept to revisit since this statistic certainly is all about financial value and there clearly are other ways to be valued and to value yourself.

Having said that, I will start my prayer by focusing on the truth about life and value – as God defines it. (And I understand God as whole – He and She.) Reading the Bible in Genesis chapter 1 we find out that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (King James Version)

This tells me that God made man and woman equal - both made in His own spiritual and perfect image. That is the right foundation to start from - instead of the allegory of Adam and Eve, which suggests a source of inequality and inequity. God already made perfect man and woman in chapter 1 – why edit that creation to be flawed and mortal later? I don’t think God would do that.

Then my prayer moves to consider more about God’s operation in the universe and the power of only one God. A God that is over every creation – not just one type of religious followers but people of all beliefs and backgrounds and all creatures and every idea He/She has made. I unite with many spiritual practitioners in this way – believing in one Higher Power, in one Truth – and seeing that it’s only mankind that has created a million ways to look at that one Truth.

Then my prayer moves on to considering the power of that one God. If the whole universe could unite mentally, powerfully and prayerfully in the understanding of one God what would that truly do for all of us? It would lift us all up.

Here is what one spiritual author, Mary Baker Eddy, says will happen when we get to that point.

“One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.” (emphasis added)

Notice the text I bolded – the result of uniting with all humankind in a concept of there being one God will have awesome benefits – including gender equity. So, will you join with me in this concept? In believing and connecting with others based on our commonality as brethren instead of the idea that we are separated and competing? Like the haves and the have-not’s – or the well-paid and the underpaid?

My prayer has led me here – to this powerful message – and how when I live according to this concept I will benefit and so will mankind. For example, when I live knowing there is only one God, I don’t give power to anything else except God, and thus I can live above any opposite suggestion. There is no competition for God, no competing power – God is it. So I can’t be duped into thinking there is something I’m vulnerable to – including a workplace or a boss that wouldn’t value me to my fullest.

This is not just a hope. I truly believe God is in charge of all, including my individual life. And because of that I can live with all the greatness that is in Her promise of care and love.

This is my foundation for knowing the true statistic for God and Her care for me is 100% or 1 to 1.

Prayer leads to new opportunities

2006-10-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

I’ve found good success in public speaking. When I present to one group, I make a connection to speak someplace else.

The speaking hasn’t necessarily led to tons of clients or business but I know when I offer something of value, I am blessed too.

For example, today I met with the one client that came directly from my presentation. We meet monthly to discuss how to best support and communicate with his customers and grow his business as a result (my specialty). It’s a nice opportunity to apply the principles and experiences I have had to his business – I love it and he does too.

I’m bringing up this topic because today I just booked another speaking engagement that came from more word of mouth - which is very nice. Additionally, I’m working to help introduce other speakers I know so they can present to these groups as well.

I’ve seen steady speaking opportunities and next month I have my biggest conference yet. That should be exciting and challenging since I have 90 minutes for my session when previously I’ve only talked 20 to 30 minutes. But I’m looking forward to learning and growing and offering ideas to those I meet.

Each time I speak my confidence grows and I really have fun with it – I like sharing ideas and seeing nodding heads as I make key points.

I believe these speaking opportunities are a result of my praying about my business on a regular basis. I’ve been praying to use the talents God has given me and this is one way to do it (public speaking). And I’ve been praying to be led to the right places where I am needed – that seems to apply here as well. These ideas for prayer have come from my study of the book Science and Health by M.B. Eddy – it has a great chapter on prayer that I’ve read many times and broken down each idea and phrase about what powerful prayer is.

My prayer often focuses on being open to God leading me each step on the path that has been made for me. I’m flexible and willing to shift and adapt as God needs me. And that is the critical part here.

And it’s always good to remember who is really in charge, instead of thinking sole proprietor means you are the only one steering the ship. And I know that my openness and willingness to be the best expression of Mind, Love, and Principle I can be – is a blessing to me and those I encounter.

Giving before receiving

2006-09-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

I’ve owned my own business for about a year now and know the importance of making connections and being of value to others. That is a logical way to build a new business (tons of books propound this idea). And of course we have plenty of advice from Jesus who tells us to love and to give unconditionally.

But how easy is it to put into practice?

In theory it is easy to want to help others, but truly putting the interests of others before yours and offering help before being asked for help can be tricky. For example, as a new business owner you are dying to find clients, you are dying to find new opportunities to provide your service and of course, an income stream would be great too. Consider all that and then try and give first. It is certainly the way to go but can be tricky. It’s hard not to want to do what may yield the best for you and instead start by offering something of value and knowing that in return along the way good will come your way.

I recently finished the book The Little Black Book of Connections by Jeffrey Gitomer. In it he states: “Take a genuine interest in other people before you ask them to take a genuine interest in you.” In other parts of his book he states, “In order to build a solid connection, there must be a value connection exchanged. One-sided connections are short lived. Value-based connections are built to last. Do you always provide as much value as you expect to get?”

This is all so true. You have to offer first before you can expect something.

Living by this principle of giving first can be freeing. It frees you from the fear that you won’t have enough (money, clients, time, etc) because when you give, the spiritual law of gratitude and giving means God cares for each of us. Look at Jesus, what did he have? Just what he needed when he needed it – not tons of extra stuff he didn’t need to have or carry around. But when he needed food, it was there. When he needed housing he had that too. And that is the same law that provides for each of us.

Honestly, it can be hard at times to trust this much, to trust this spiritual law – but isn’t God more powerful than you? So surely, She has enough ability and resources to help even one of Her infinite number of creation (you). This is how I see it – clearly God can and will help because it is surely possible and in fact it is as enforceable as any law.

And this is how I come to understand the power of giving – and giving first – before asking for something.

Grateful for new opportunities

2006-09-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

I’ve owned my own business for about a year now and am feeling really grateful for the connections with other professionals I’ve made. I’ve met so many talented and passionate individuals. And recently those I’ve met and worked with are telling others about me – generating some nice word of mouth. And I’m so grateful.

The reason I’m taking the time to write a blog about gratitude is because of the power that gratitude has on our lives. When you are grateful you turn from a view of lack to a view of abundance; you turn from discouragement to joy. And that change in thought and feeling has a powerfully good effect on your life. I’ve seen this first hand before. And I know many spiritual authors who say the same. For example, an inspiring idea from spiritual pioneer Mary Baker Eddy states, “Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more.”

How awesome. We are blessed by the good that we are grateful for and then we are blessed for being grateful. Hey, that sounds good to me.

And the funny thing about the nice introductions and good things that have happened to me recently is that they came after a dry spell. And that was a time when it was tough to be grateful – even though there are always things to be grateful for.

I had been praying regularly for my business but not finding the return I hoped for (return in terms of connections, opportunities, new clients, etc). And then something just broke free and opened my path to seeing more good, to moving to a place of greater gratitude and opportunity. I really changed the view of my situation in my head, I moved from the list of all the challenges I had -- to viewing my life as God/Spirit views it, with unlimited good and unlimited opportunities to reflect the goodness and light of Spirit. And then “boom” there were new opportunities and connections for me. What a blessing!

A new view of success

2006-09-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

How do you define success? When do you tell yourself that you have “done well?” I was praying recently about my business and praying about what my next steps should be. I realized I was defining my success in very narrow ways. And I was allowing myself to be happy only when I meet those narrow parameters.

When I thought more about how Spirit creates and defines life I realized that it does not include limitation. Spirit is unlimited – infinite in nature and the source of all life and abundance. On the other hand, things material and mortal are defined in a limited or restricted sense. Any why spend time focused on the limited view?

Changing my thought to what Spirit has made and given me changes my whole focus. Awakening my thought to a focus on other bigger and broader ways success can be seen and defined has been a blessing for me. And bigger definitions of where and how I find joy and satisfaction go hand in hand with that model of success (yeah!).

Truly I realized that I needed to stop viewing my success via very narrow parameters and open my thought to the abundance of goodness that I have and to be grateful for all the progress and success I have experienced.

With Spirit or God being the source of my being – I can live with an expectation and expression of abundance. What it requires of me is a change of thought and a willingness to understand more of how God’s defines my life. I am willing to do that – it is a constant goal of mine – to understand more and more about God in new ways – to expand how I view Her.

So I am able to see the bigger ways I’ve been successful – measures beyond the money and number of clients, and see the breadth of what I’ve accomplished in the last year. How I’ve grown spiritually, contributed to my clients and contributed via volunteer projects - in important and valuable ways.

I can continue to see my work as God’s expression instead of just viewing myself in limited ways (as a new small business owner). This new view has been a great source of inspiration and unburdens me from limited thinking to see new and higher views. I am so grateful.

Lessons for small business owners

2006-08-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

I recently read: E-myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It By Michael E. Gerber

I loved this book. If you are a small business owner or new business owner you should read this book. It’s only $10 on amazon.com or you can get it from your local library as I did. It is a quick read and worth it.

The book dispels some myths that small business owners have when they start a company. One, that you are the same as your business. I have surely felt that way at times. This book makes a compelling case for the importance of building a company that can function without you – one that takes your best thinking and incorporates it into systems and operating principles so it will work even when you are on vacation or when you sell your business. Yes, I said sell your business. I hadn’t initially thought about that but I can see the validity of approaching a new business this way.

I also realized as I was reading this book how important it is not to be stagnant, but instead to be willing to consider new ideas and new ways of approaching things.

And I think there is a spiritual connect here too – we are continually given opportunities to grow, advance and develop (from Spirit). To keep improving what is the best life we can live/the most we can give. I remember my spiritual coach telling me that every moment I’m making progress I’m going further because of what I’ve learned and proven and how I’ve grown. That applies here – to business ownership and development too.

One of the basic assumptions in this book is that most people who start a business have skills in their craft, but may not have the skills to run a business. When you think about it – this makes sense. A story in the book illustrates a woman who loves baking pies and opens a pie shop. She loves the pies but avoids bookkeeping, managing employees and the rest. Basically it doesn’t work out well – she has to bring more to the table than a love of the skill. This book makes the important point of getting out of the mindset of the “doing” of the work and into the work of planning and building a healthy business.

There may be some ideas you don’t embrace fully in this book, but for me if I can take away an idea or two I can really use from each book I read – I’m happy.

Here’s a quote I loved: “If your business depends on you, you don't own a business - you have a job.” And of course having a job doesn’t mean having a successful business.

Lastly, this book may challenge some deep seated assumptions, but go with it. (Also there may be some ideas you don’t embrace fully, but take away an idea or two) There are several valid ideas and questions to consider. I marked important passages as I was reading the book, and then transferred those ideas and questions into a notebook and plan on using it as a workbook for re-thinking my business.

If you have read this book, I’d love to talk with you about it. And if you have put to use its principles, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to post a comment below this blog to share your thoughts. Thanks, Kim

The prayer I most need

2006-08-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

I’m committed to prayer because I know it helps me grow spiritually and live my best life. One of my favorite books on spirituality says is “What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.” (Science and Health by M.B. Eddy)

Now that is a prayer! It tells me a strong and sincere desire to grow through an expression of more patience, meekness, love and good deeds is very important. This sentence has always intrigued me because it says “what we most need” - and this author is quite serious when she makes statements like that. So I figure this is a critical focus – one that will truly bless my life and my work.

And this prayer is humbling – if our focus starts by how we live and love and react (or don’t) then we have a foundation for much joy and goodness.

How does this idea relate to business? Here is how I see it: business could certainly use those acting with more patience, with more grace, thinking of the other person as much as themselves. And part of the dictionary definition of meek is to endure injury with patience and without resentment. Certainly there are opportunities in the workplace where you will be injured – intentionally or not – and opportunities to react with love or with resentment. It is the choice of each of us. And surely patience in a reaction instead of resentment will go much further to a useful resolution and peace in the workplace. We need a little more of this all around if you ask me.

So I can live my life with more peace, more patience and more good deeds. I’m dedicated to reacting with love more instead of any impatience or anger. This prayer idea starts with me and how I live my life. And I’m committed to this concept I can see how much good it would do for the world and every workplace.

This quote also makes me think of the book “Love is the Killer App” which is a business book about working and living with more grace and love – and how that will transform business. I totally agree.

Chime in on the comment link below and tell me what you think.

Feeling pressured? Who me?

2006-08-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

Some years ago I worked at a start-up dot com that was a new model in the spirituality and personal development space. It was a thrilling job, creating something from scratch that has meaning – it was great. I was so happy to be working there and working like crazy to manage a 24/7 website. Dream job - for real.

You waiting for the catch? The catch was it was a very demanding job - in terms of mental capacity and time. I suppose my work/life balance was a bit "off" at times - working 12 hour days was fine for a while but then I started to resent some of it. I still loved the work and wanted to be there - but why was I killing myself? I know it was self-imposed. I'd work very hard and then burst and then work hard and then burst. My boss, a spiritually composed person, would listen and offer ideas – and she helped me realize it was all self-imposed.

So I wondered how I could feel less pressure. I loved working really hard and striving. But what didn't I like? Part of it was how I treated myself - I made my own deadlines in most cases. My boss knew I was hard working and could do most anything. Why did I have to keep overworking myself? Why was I always feeling pressured?

Part of what was driving me was the desire to get this great site in front of as many as possible. That was an all-consuming but healthy desire because of the spiritual nature of the site. I truly wanted to help others.

I turned to prayer about my work, my strength, and finding greater balance. When I pray I open myself to listening to a Higher Power. I work to raise my own thoughts about the situation to focus on what is true on a spiritual level. In this case I prayed about how I could be most useful and most reflective of God’s nature. I thought about how God must be all-knowing and how He truly manages everything in the universe. And if that was true then my life could be ordered by this divine Intelligence and not only reliant on my personal education or will. In fact, I could even go beyond my personal will when guided and supported by Spirit, or Mind. To me, this type of guidance is all about efficiency and purpose and effectiveness. If I am reflecting the divine nature, then I must be reflecting these qualities too. So I started listening more and more to Spirit and less to my own will.

And I asked myself would the world end if I gave myself a little more time to complete project occasionally? I think my boss asked me this and then I really realized that everything didn't have to happen at the same time - I could multi-track the projects and make good progress.

So I tried a little more sane schedule and found all worked out fine. Some things on my to do list actually fell off and sometimes the request went away. Sometimes the timing changed on the projects. What I found was the more I was willing to stop PRESSING things into my own sense of time and listening to Spirit more, everything really worked out.

Ok I admit I still had the 5 minute lunch at my desk, but I didn't work 12 hours every day. And while I read at home at night and on weekends - I liked it. I still loved my work. And I still had time for my personal relationships – especially with my boyfriend at the time (and now we are happily married - for 3 years ). We found time together each weekend and both of us still had time to be dedicated to our work. It can be done.

I think part of the lesson here is to stop doing things just to prove something - like how fast I am, or how smart I am. I seriously respected my boss and somehow felt like I had to re-prove myself constantly. I wanted her gratitude and kudos. And all the while she was just praying for the whole team and I know that helped me too.

It's an interesting question - do we press ourselves into tight deadlines and over-commitments to prove something? Like to prove we are the best employee, or spouse or friend? I wonder if more of us could find peace and a less hectic schedule if we stopped trying to prove something and just lived by the Divine design - according to God's plan for us.

Does that make sense? Well for me, it was a critical lesson. Never again after the job did I feel unending pressure. And that wasn’t just because of a change of job or responsibilities because the level of responsibility just kept growing. I went from managing 1 person to managing 30 and did it in stride (more or less).

The lessons I learned at that dot com I cherish often and am so grateful for.

Handling discouragement

2006-07-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Here’s what I’m wondering right now – how can I turn to Spirit and find support in a moment of discouragement? How can I turn around that feeling/reaction into something that is more productive? I certainly can see what there is to learn from the situation. I believe that we have much to learn and often that learning can come from a higher view. It can come from turning to the spiritual facts about the situation instead of only looking at the material view of things.

Here’s what I’m thinking. I have gotten discouraged when I think I’m on the same page with someone only later I find out that I’m not.

I’ve had that happen twice in the last few months and both times it seemed really clear what was desired. Then I find out at the next meeting we are on different pages. Obviously being as clear and specific as possible is ideal, but what about when you think you are being specific and clear? That can be frustrating.

Perhaps there are times to cut loose those you don’t “click” with. But beyond that, what can be done? I’m reminding myself that this is an opportunity to pray – to be open to new insights on how to communicate, and act and what to do. That can always help.

Here’s an example of the confusing messages: a client told me he wanted to hurry up on the projects I was doing so he could see results by fall. Then later he said he only wants to work on one project/area at a time and has been slow to respond. In this case, those are two totally opposing views. You can’t hurry and see results and yet slow down the work and work on only one idea at a time. And this is what happened to me today.

So right now, I’m writing this blog entry as a way to sort through my thoughts and turn to Spirit. (Since I’m a regular blogger for www.SpiritOnTheJob.com, I often turn to writing to help me think through issues on the job that no doubt can be helped by connecting with Spirit.)

It does feel like a blow when you have this kind of mismatch with someone (at least to me). Now I am trying to find ways to still my thought and release any agitation. Since I work from home I can walk away from my desk and do anything else around here. That is an easy distraction. But will I end up feeling better about the relationship and communication? Likely not.

Instead, I’m going to think about the power of Spirit and how that Spirit is good and positive; One that forms all that is good and beautiful in life (at least that is how I see it). And if I’m a reflection of Spirit, which I do believe, then I can communicate and act in a way that reflects the best of Spirit. And those I encounter can do the same.

Now I focus on the opportunity I have to express more and more of Spirit in general and with this client. Plus, I know that if I’m really working with Spirit then I can find greater and greater harmony in all my relationships. I know Spirit has a direct impact on my life. And right now I can affirm that truth.

Staying on track with prayer

2006-07-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

One way I work to stay on track with my business is to check in with Spirit on a daily basis. Sure, you need a business plan and some goals and all that good work but you also need to be open and flexible to a bigger intelligence at work (I call it God).

This morning it dawned on me that I was giving my biz only a routine prayer each day. And that I wanted to re-dedicate my thought, attention and desire to a sincere, open prayer where I affirm what I know about God, what my real job is in expressing His awesome talents, and such.

Instead of just plowing through my thoughts and ideas, I want to start with Spirit and listen for what more I can know. There are an infinite number of ideas from Spirit and surely there can be fresh ones each day for me.

Another part of my prayer I've vowed to be more regular about is weeding through the garden of my mind. What I mean is, exploring what's in my thought that might be negative - like stress or concern about my finances - and apply the Truth. This means pulling out the weeds and planting a thought that is based on Spirit, Truth (like planting the idea that the ever-presence of Spirit fuels me and is my guiding Truth). I’d rather keep a thought that will blossom and benefit the whole garden than a weed.

I heard a cool story a few months ago about a person who intentionally chose not to be negative (in his case, not to hate) because he knew that negativity consumes people and never leads to a good result. So true isn’t it? Even physical science has revealed so many times the power of your thought on your situation. And I want my situation to be as good as it can get.

Just wanted to share my intentions here. Thanks.

It's not worth being mad at yourself

2006-07-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

On Friday I had no motivation. I mean none. And when you work from home - if you aren't motivated to work then you can really be tempted by other activities in your home - TV or whatever else.

At first I was disappointed that I couldn't get more motivated, then I decided I could end up being mad at myself or I could actually just bite the bullet and do a little work and then use the weekend to catch up on the rest. Now I'm working on a Saturday to catch up on emails and a few client projects.

And that is ok.

The point of my blog is: don't hate yourself for moments of low motivation (or whatever else is bugging you) just move on. I learned from a spiritual teacher that it doesn't help to berate yourself. Instead of thinking less of yourself, you should think about the truth - your true spiritual nature. Think about what Genesis 1 says - that God made everything in the universe in His own reflection. (Here is a quote from the King James version of the Bible: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.")

So while on Friday it was tough to see my true spiritual nature, I can now see this important point and wanted to share it with you.

What is my value?

2006-07-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

I know many people who are self-employed (like me) think about their value quite a bit. How do you see yourself and what value do you put on yourself, your talents, your work. It can be a tough subject for some - including me.My whole career I have been employed by someone else - happily working very hard and earning my paycheck. And I know that during that time I did identify my value with salary and with my position. I never really thought about it until I believe God said it was time for me to leap into self-employment. In some ways it can feel like jumping off a cliff (and I hate heights). I can admit to you, fellow spiritual seeker, that I still struggle with understanding my value, my worth and my financials. It is a sticky ball of wax. I find the key when I fall into a pit (that place where dark thoughts live and pull you in and it seems hard to climb out of) to start thinking about Spirit and my relationship to this higher power. I think about how Spirit animates me and moves me into my right action and right interaction. I think about the tenderness of Spirit who sufficiently cares for me where ever I am and always values my expression of spirituality. And being valued by Spirit - what could be better? That is much higher than dollars and cents.

This is what I figure: if I am made by Spirit, God, then I have some of the talents of that Creator - I include qualities that Spirit has - just on a smaller scale. On my scale Spirit is gigantic and while I'm smaller, I am still the reflection of Spirit. Isn't the offspring an image of the parent? Makes sense to me. (I didn't just come up with this entire premise I did pick it up from reading the book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by MB Eddy.) Then I consider that Spirit must think of me as valuable - because it is important that I express Spirit, Principle, Love and Truth (that reflection work).

If that is my truest work then I am always valuable and always needed. And that is the kind of employment that is always steady and always is valued. When I'm able to re-connect to Spirit with thoughts about what is my constant value (and not one that rises and falls and is tied to money) it helps me get beyond the little material issues and think about the present power of Spirit. And that uplifts my thought, my outlook and helps me re-ground myself in God's plan and find my value and identity through that (more permanent) lens.

Importance of following Spirit

2006-07-04T15:09:00.000-07:00

“…I will listen for thy voice, lest my footstep stray. I will follow and rejoice all the rugged way.” This verse from a poem by Mary Baker Eddy popped into my head today when I was praying. I wrote it out as I heard it and started to break it down in my thought. Here is what I thought:

1) “I will listen” to God, Spirit – Listening to God and silencing my own will or opinion is important. When I listen to all-intelligent Mind I won’t get off the right path.

2) “I will follow” – God leads the way down the path that is right for me.

3) “And rejoice” – So when I listen and follow I know I’m on my right path and I can rejoice for ever-present God, who is all good and loves and cares for me.

4) “All the rugged way” – Notice this doesn’t promise a perfect path without challenges In our life. It is honest and still it assures us of the continual help we have in God no matter what the path looks like.

This makes me feel that I need to think less about the bumps on the road and more on listening and following... and then rejoicing.

Keeping thought more on God is always better than keeping it on problems. I find when I can fill my thought with God, I am open for more inspiration and blessings.

Getting together to talk Spirit @ work

2006-06-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

Last week I was part of a group that met locally to talk about Spirit at work. Myself and another entrepreneur were surprised to find how similar some of our experiences were about connecting with Spirit and how it was the fuel and foundation of our businesses. And we wanted to talk about this on a regular basis plus invite others to join in.

We had our first get together with 5 people and everyone wants to come back. We talked about our spiritual practices and how they connected to our work and benefited our work. We had folks from various backgrounds and beliefs and it was interesting to learn, share and hear stories about spiritual experiences, insights and how we are blessed by it.

A few of the things shared at the meeting included:

I shared how I pray each morning and my effort to carry the inspiration and grounding in Spirit through the day.
Another person shared a prayer where they ask God for help (or help for others or her business).
Someone shared a book they are reading on spiritual warfare and how obstacles and challenges try to derail you when you are really doing something good and right.
Another shared the spiritual experience he has when reading centuries old Hebrew texts.
And much, much, more.

I enjoyed seeing the similarities of Spirit and Truth across various beliefs and backgrounds. I just love that kind of thing because it is evidence to me of how connected we all are.

We figured we would meet about once a month and just talk about what we are facing, how we are facing it with Spirit and the great stories that result from working with Spirit.

If you are in the Boston area, check out Boston.Craigslist.com for our ads. (That is a site that offers free classified ads by region and is a great place to advertise your group.)If you want to get a sample of the ad text we posted, just contact me.

Or! How about posting an ad to start a group in your own community to talk about Spirit@work? No doubt there could even be groups in each town or area – because so many opportunities and people abound who want to talk about this topic.

It is an awesome feeling to talk and connect about Spirit. I love it.

Our group is going to connect and chat in the discussion forums on http://www.spiritonthejob.com/ to add our thoughts in between meetings. Join us there too.

Businesses that go from good to great

2006-06-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

I just finished the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. This book comes from an intense research study of firms in the Fortune 500 that leaped from good to great and sustained that greatness for at least 15 years (all of those 15`year segments began after 1964 and all finished by 1999).

Out of 500 firms, they found 11 that meet the tough standards. Each of those 11 was compared to another firm in their industry that was facing similar challenges (like steel manufacturing moving out of the US).

The book shares the commonalities among the companies that leaped from good to great. And when you look at each of the principles you can see some grounding in Spirit. See what you think….

Level 5 leadership. This is a CEO who is a combination of humility and professional will. Many were shy, modest and good at giving the credit to others. Their “ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves.” (pg 21) Interesting, eh? Those who are meek and aren’t out for personal glory but for the good of the larger cause are rewarded.
First, find the right employees and then determine where the team is going and what they will do (vision, strategy, structure and tactics). This is not a dictatorship where the CEO envisions it all and others carry it out. I like the idea of finding the right people – like God picks us each for the work we do and because of that we are blessed and so are others.
Confront the “brutal facts, yet never lose faith.” In this step you create a true opportunity for employees to be heard. To create a culture of truth, they suggest these 4 practices: “1) lead with questions, not answers; 2) engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion; 3) conduct autopsies, without blame; 4) build red flag mechanisms that turn information into information that cannot be ignored.” I thought these sounded like a Principled way to work – guided by Spirit at work.
Focus your business on the intersection of these 3 areas: 1) what you are deeply passionate about; 2) what you can be the best in the world at; and 3) what drives your economic engine. This is a fascinating exercise - to really examine what you do now and if that can be the thing you can best in the world or not. I thought this sounded like listening to God and glorifying Him in the best way you can and being open to His specific direction and not just ego or other supposed influences.
A culture of discipline. You need a culture of self-disciplined people who take the right action that is consistent with your key business concept from above. This is not just an idea about action, but about getting disciplined people who engage in disciplined thought and action. This is not the same as a controlling CEO who enforces discipline. This sounds good to me – and sounds like people who are motivated by Principle and not selfishness, greed or ego.
Momentum builds powerful sustainable change and growth. None of the 11 companies made overnight changes but learned and grew over time until they hit a breakthrough. This sounded to me like staying on the right path and the payoff will come – God has it in store for you.

FYI, the 11 companies that made this leap were: Abbott, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens and Wells Fargo.

This book is worth a quick read at least. There are some very usable ideas here for building a great company and I felt the connection to Spirit guiding what was “great” in these companies. I found much of it fascinating. Enjoy.

Performance under pressure

2006-06-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had to make two public presentations (in front of an audience). I am a confident person but was getting somewhat nervous a few days before the presentations.

I spent a lot of time honing my presentation points so I could present in the allotted time and get my key messages across. And I realized all-of-a-sudden that I could and should pray about these presentations too. And that was as valuable as the other preparation work.

When I thought of my motive, it was really to share what I know about building long-term customer relationships to help the audience grow their businesses.

I prayed to know that I had talent from God that I could easily express without any anxiety or concern – because Spirit was the one communicating to me I could certainly pass along what I know.

I prayed the morning of the event that I could have other qualities that God gave me – and be able to freely express them. Qualities like grace, poise, intelligence, wisdom and flexibility. I knew these talents would allow me to present clearly and respond to audience questions.

When I got to the event that day I didn’t feel nervous at all. I had lunch with the group and then it was my turn to talk. I stood right up with my notes and gave a calm and clear presentation and was able to answer questions at the end with no problems at all.

I was almost surprised how easy it went. I was able to talk without even using my notes most of the time. I felt in control during most of the speech and really had some fun when folks would nod at what I was saying and take notes. I just wanted to share ideas that would help their businesses grow and I think I did just that. Plus I learned more about making good presentations.

Just another example of the practical power of prayer for me and how it is continuing to bless my business.

Letting Love lead the way

2006-06-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

“Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way.” – Mary Baker Eddy in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

I read this passage and started to think about what this really says. Sometimes I find when I read spiritual ideas that I need to pause and dig deeper to find fresh inspiration that can help my day. (This author uses a variety of words like Love to mean God or Spirit.)

I started thinking what each element meant in this sentence. Here is some of the inspiration I found from this idea:

* “Love inspires” = Love opens my eyes, lifts up my thought to something higher, impels me to clearer views of Life and Spirit.

* “Love illumines” = Love shows me what I need to see/know, it brightens my path, it brings light to darkness (like confusion, stress or fear). I also thought about how this illumination destroys darkness immediately – like as soon as the light turns on in a room instantly there is light everywhere.

* “Love designates” = Love shows me the right way – how and where to go. This makes me think that Love reveals to me the right action and right thoughts and if God is revealing those to me what a special path I have.

* “Love leads” = Love goes with me down the path He has made for me. He doesn’t just show me the path and give me a nudge to get going. This reminded me that Love or God is always with me, and how great it is that He helps me along at every step and goes with me.

So overall this means to me that Love, God, is lifting my thought to spiritual views, helping me grow in spirituality. He illumines the path he has designated just for me (we each have a unique path) and then He walks with me leading me to take each step.

What a blessing this is for my business and my whole life – to know that Love leads me, inspires and supports me - that I cannot get lost because God is there holding my hand and lighting my path; that I cannot be hurt because God is all good and is not the creator of discord. This prayer applies to my business because God knows my talents (that He gave me) and knows the right steps for me to best freely express those talents and share them widely.

Amen!

I am sustained by God. Cool.

2006-06-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

In reading one of my favorite spiritual books by M.B. Eddy this morning I came across a simple idea that triggered a good prayer and some good insights for me and the business work and projects that I do.

The idea was, “…man is sustained by God, the divine Principle of being.” This may seem like a fairly basic idea – man being sustained by God -- but what I saw was:

I have been always sustained by God. And it’s really true - I can look back and see that even during times when my business is slow and hasn’t yielded me income that I still have been sustained and never lacked anything that I really needed. Instead I have been able to pay expenses based on past revenue and just keep moving forward in finding new ways to share my talents.

Going forward the same must be true, that God will sustain me so I don’t need to be anxious about my business but instead be intelligent, alert and willing to go where God directs me. And I will not suffer any loss but have opportunities to help and be helped.

This direct relationship I have with God is so tender, is so caring. I mean seriously, little ol’ me is important to God - and important enough so that He makes sure I have just what I need each step every day. Plus He walks that path with me. Sometimes I think you can forget that God does this on an infinite basis for every single idea He has made. How cool.

I also realized that because God is supreme and the ultimate power in the universe there is nothing that can break or suspend His action and His power. No mortal suggestion or fear or action can break a supreme spiritual law and power. It just isn’t going to happen. So I can rely on the fact that God’s government is the true government that blesses all.

These inspirations are a great comfort for me today and each prayer and the inspiration from it I know becomes my foundation for tomorrow too. So I know tomorrow I can build on this inspiration and find ideas afresh that connect me to Spirit and allow me to live in a way that best expresses God and embraces His work and ideas.

The power of one God

2006-06-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

Today when I was praying, a clear message occurred to me - there is one universal God. Part of my daily prayer includes an exploration of who God is and my relationship to Her/Him so this isn't a surprising thought. However, it seemed quite loud in my thought. So I paused and thought about what this really means for me today.

Clearly this is a foundational spiritual idea or law. What I realized is there is much power and good in one universal God. And when there is recognition and worship of only one God, this eliminates other competing “gods.” With only one source, we don’t compete with each other because there is an infinite number of unique ideas.

So then I reasoned that if there is one God, and we are all brethren we cannot have reason, motive or power to hurt, hate or compete in negative ways. Instead there is much more peace, commonalities and love than we might see or even recognize some days.

In a book on spirituality I love, written by Mary Baker Eddy, is a big list of what the benefits are when we recognize one God. She writes in Science and Health, "One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed."

This prayer leads me to conclude there is great harmony in my business, my work, my life because of the power of the one God. And that inspiration, and the conviction I feel, is from Spirit, God. This is my prayer for my business and mankind too. We can live the blessings listed above as a worldwide group of woman/man-kind under God.

What do you think about the power of one God? Add your comments below.

The connections of Spirit

2006-05-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

I have recently been reminded that there are people every where you live spiritual lives - and they are right next to you. I do a lot of business networking to develop my consulting business and have met some very cool, very talented people.

And recently because I also contribute to www.SpiritOnTheJob.com I was emailing some contacts I've met through networking to introduce them to the site and see if they'd like a free classified ad (if you'd like one, register and click "marketplace" in the left navigation bar). And this one gal who is a great web designer replied to my email with terrific enthusiasm. And she and I had never talked spirituality at all - but I figured there are always people out there who like to connect on this topic.

And that leap paid off. It was a great reminder to me that everyone can connect because of the one universal Spirit. I'm so glad to be part of this website dedicated to those who love spirituality and live with spiritual guidance and principles.

And if you are in Boston and want to connect this gal and I are going to start up a monthly spirituality at work forum so we can talk locally and on this website. We'll be posting the group in the calendar on this website. Stay tuned.

How to Win Friends...

2006-05-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

I recently finished reading "How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie and found some good foundational ideas for business that have spiritual underpinings.

Here are a few of the ideas that resonated with me:

" Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. But it takes character and self-controlto be understanding and forgiving."

"If out of reading this book you get just one thing - an increased tendency to think always in terms of people's point of view, and see things from their angle- if you get that one thing out of this book, it may easily prove to e one of the building blocks of your career."

Some of the principles include:
- The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
- Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say "you're wrong."
- Appeal to the nobler motives.
- Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
- Become geniunely interested in other people.
- Smile.
- Talk in terms of the other persons' interest.

I love seeing how universal ideas/truths appear in all kinds of books. It shows the application and interaction of Spirit in all areas of life. Very cool. Hope you read and enjoy this book too. And post in the discussion boards on this site what books you love to read.

My spiritual strength

2006-05-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

Today I was thinking of where my power and strength comes from. Does that sound odd? Well, I was thinking about what gives me strength - strength to face each day with hope and joy and gratitude. Strength to see good and expect good when struggles may be close at hand. For me it is Spirit. When I feel “low” I have found that by turning to Spirit I can reconnect with the natural (and current state) of my joy and my energy.

My middle name is Joy and my husband likes to bring a smile to my face by saying, “You can’t feel stressed (or sad or whatever) your middle name is joy – it has to be a part of you.” I know he was encouraging me to use my spiritual strength to overcome any challenge. That strength can come from living with more joy.

In my spiritual study and reading, I love this book called Science and Health. Yes, Science and Health. What does that have to do with spirituality? Quite a bit actually. It talks a lot about Spirit and the natural strength I have from my divine Parent. This book is a good source of fresh inspiration for me on a regular basis.

To me the strength of Spirit is awesome – it is a power that transcends. Think of physical power and something really strong. Now think of something stronger, and something stronger. And what is above all that is Spirit. I’ve seen the power of Spirit help me in many of a tough situation. Help me find the right decision, help me strengthen workplace relationships, help me approach employees with compassion and help me work passionately for what is right.

I stand on that strength today and each day and it brings me such joy to think of the true source of my strength, energy and natural joy – Spirit.

The place to be

2006-05-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

Most of us think from time to time, what is the ideal place we’d like to be. It may be a great destination or vacation spot or the job or company we most want to work for. It can sound very good but sound very far off or hard to reach too.

When I’ve been tempted to see someplace else as the place I want to be, I remind myself of the good that is happening right now where I am. Is that sometimes hard to do? It certainly can be. But I know that if Spirit is present, and the cool thing about Spirit is that it can be everywhere at one time or ever-present. And logic can lead you to conclude that where God, Spirit is – there is good. And if that is where I am, there is good here. No matter what. If you are asking “what good?” or “how can I see more of it?” ask yourself, “what does God see in this situation or place?” That helps me re-orient and open my thought to what might be good – even among challenges.

You hear people talk about “being in the present.” That is a good reminder to look at our thoughts and efforts right now instead of only looking to the future for good or for happiness. Why not choose to like the place you are in? Sure some places may not be great to be in – I understand that. But you can chose how you will react and feel.

I was listening to an inspirational radio show this weekend and I heard an amazing story about the power of your choices and your thought. It was the story of a man in a concentration camp. To the surprise of many this man was actually healthy and happy and was very well liked by all the groups interned in the camp. When asked how under horrible conditions the man could do so well, he said he had seen in his life too many examples of what hate did to people. Hate had destroyed his precious family and he decided immediately that he would not live hating anyone and instead would love everyone he met. This story made such an impact on me about the choices we make and what we value and choose to think about. We aren’t faced with a decision this dramatic and so certainly we can also choose to live with love right now.

As a favorite author of mine, Mary Baker Eddy, says, “Your decisions will master you, whichever direction they take.” To me that means if you decide to spend energy on hate or something negative you will be consumed by it and your life will be predominantly negative. But if instead you choose to focus on the present good, you will experience more joy and satisfaction.

So my “place to be” is here and now.

Patience, what a virtue

2006-05-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

Patience. It’s a virtue that I've been working on expressing more of lately.

My husband has been a great example for me on the topic of patience – he is so easy-going. (We are a great complement to each other.) I’ve picked up some good ideas and lessons in patience from him but now I’m impatient about the growth of my business. Technically I’m 6 months into this and I want to be thriving and working with great business of notable size. And I’m not.

So I’m sitting here trying to approach this spiritually and pull myself out of the funk I’m in today. I like the clients I have now but I want to make a bigger impact and earn an income I can live on.

I’ve heard it takes 2 years to really get humming in a new business. Argh – that is forever and I can’t wait that long (or it sure feels that way).

So I guess I have to be patient with myself. Hmm, patient with myself. I get that conceptually and it is my husband who is often reassuring me I’m doing fine and just need to keep at it but I’m tired of feeling small. Of not contributing in the biggest way I can with clients and resources and such.

What I have to remember is that Spirit is in charge here. I have said Spirit is my business partner. So I guess this is the time to listen to Spirit more and shut off my ego or whatever else is trying to rule my thinking. Yeah, that makes sense. It isn’t easy but I know that is a more productive line of thinking than dwelling on disappointments. And when your thought is positive and open you can get fresh inspiration.

Here is a poem from a fellow spiritual trekker, Mario Tosto. It has some nice ideas to ponder.

Waiting with patience
Is resting in the
Center
Of that which never changes
For the change that
Must come.

The power of thought

2006-05-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

Last week I saw a notable example of how your own thoughts (which you choose) can determine your experience. I was on vacation and ate out twice a day with my husband. And this is after my recent posting about the fear of low finances when you are self-employed.

What I noticed is that I gave myself permission to incur food, hotel and air travel expenses last week - all without fear. Even when my husband would fret a bit I was able to find grounding in Spirit and talk with him about Spirit always caring for us. I saw how my own thought really determined my experience there.

Last week I was able to leave fear behind. And yet previously I was dealing with aggressive fear. Hmm - interesting. What I realize now is that I need to keep track of my thinking and not let it go down paths that aren't productive.

I can find relief in knowing that Spirit aligns all rightly and this is a Principle operating in the universe. And I'll keep at it.

Spirit's power to dispell financial gloom

2006-04-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

Spirit helps me with every step of everyday. I've seen the hand of Spirit at work in my life and all around me - the good that results and the harmony too. Spirit has led me into self-employment with confidence and wisdom and brought me much good during this time of growth, learning and trust.

The power of God, Spirit in every day life is discussed in much detail in the book Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy. And I've found these ideas a great resource for me. I use the ideas in this book on a daily basis - it helps me better know God and understand Her role in my life.

What I was thinking about today is that Spirit is fully caring for me -- and that includes more than just guiding me into the activity, good clients, and intelligent decisions -- but it also includes the finances I need at each step.

I've found it easier to pray about other things than to pray about money. For example praying that I'm led into right action by Spirit and that I'll get the right clients and right opportunities where I can make a difference. I feel more confident in these areas because of my prayers.

What dawned on me today was that I can rely on God's strength and supply to help me make ends meet. If God can do anything, surely She can help me in financial ways. Not that God will drop down some cash on me but God can help me see what are the right expenses to pay at what time, where to draw from and She can surely coordinate my client payments and my needs. Sound far-fetched? Well I've seen it happen before and know others who have found prayer to have such very practical effects. Instead of feeling like things are out of my control, I can feel confidence that God is on my side and I can't run out of what I need or be stuck in any place where She can't help me. I am just starting to really feel this. I will continue to pray on this because it is something I need to continue to feel on a regular basis - instead of fear or worry.

Spirit drives my work

2006-04-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

I truly believe that Spirit cares for me 24/7 - helps me, comforts me, cares for me in whatever way I need. On Friday I saw another example of the laws of Spirit in action. I use my car a lot to get to client meetings and networking events. That day was no different. I had 3 client meetings today and a long drive to visit family. I got into my car on Friday morning and heard an alarming crash and bumping noise that scared me. I thought my tire had blown or something big happened. I looked under the car and saw nothing. I called a friend with a repair shop who advised me to have the car towed to a garage. So I did.

And am I grateful this happened before I got on the road. Come to find out my suspension coil was broken. And with some prayer and listening to God I knew this could be resolved and I could get on my way. I pushed the fear aside that this would be a very costly repair and would delay my travel to see my family. While I did cancel one meeting but was able to attend the two other meetings.

I see this experience as proof of God's care for me because at each step I had what I needed. I needed a tow company right away, I needed a repair shop that could work on this right away, and the part available, etc - and I had it. I know Spirit was caring for me, guiding me and supporting me at each step of the way. And I could feel this support for my business and my family. Thanks God. It all worked out well and I was on the road by 3:30pm - not bad at all.

Choose your thoughts well

2006-04-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

Today when my accountant told me how much tax I owe for the first quarter of 2006 I was alarmed. (This is the first time I've done quarterly tax payments for my new business.) I didn't make much because I'm newly self-employed and basically 50% is going to taxes for my state and this nation. Ouch. I felt bitter I have to say. I was a bit angry too - angry that the government takes my money and uses it for "gosh knows what."

I checked my business checking account and had enough to cover both tax payments. It was a relief that I could use that money to cover these expenses. Some client payments lately surely helped.

It wasn't until I was talking with my mom about how little I am left with after taxes that she reminded me - "hey you can be grateful you have the money to cover the taxes instead of being angry." This was a wake up call. I've always believed that when I'm grateful, I am being grateful for God's provision for me. That felt good. My mom was right, I could feel relief and gratitude that I can cover these bills.

So I went to the bank and deposited a client payment I got today and then wrote the two checks. All is well. And I can calm my anger and move into appreciation. This was an important reminder and wake up call - that there no need to live in anger or disappointment (over myself and my income or over government and taxes).

This also reminded me that we choose our own thoughts - they are not inflicted on us. We can choose to be disappointed or choose to be grateful (among many other feelings). So I'm going to choose to see the light of Spirit instead of the darkness. I know this choice will determine my day and state of mind.

What do you see?

2006-04-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

In my morning spiritual routine, which includes reading and prayer, I came across an idea that triggered this blog post. The quote was this: "Man's genuine selfhood is recognizable only in what is good and true. Man is neither self-made nor made by mortals. God created man" (From Science and Health by M.B. Eddy.)

This triggered in my thought how do I see every person I meet? Do I see the good and true or do I accept something less? Basically, I can choose to see mankind as God does (in a way) by seeing the real deal. What is that real deal? Well this statement tells you - it is in seeing the expression of life that is good and true - that is real, honest, kind, thoughtful, etc.

And think of how different our lives would be if we viewed all mankind from this more spiritual foundation, instead of in the limited way that we see in business and on the news every darn day. I think it would transform each of us and the universe. And the author I quoted above seems to say the same in her book. The power of Truth is awesome; the power of Spirit is awesome.

So I head out today intending to see more of the reality that God made and less of the material judgments, criticism and such. Even when I go see my dentist later today - which I'm completely dreading - I can see more of what God made in him and "see" (what I accept in my thought) less of someone who seems oblivious to my discomfort.

Be passionate about work

2006-04-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Why do work that you are not passionate about? I can't see why.

That is why I am self-employed as a consultant selling unique services - because I love it. I am passionate about customer experience management and customer treatment. I can't explain it, I just am. And any time I can improve the relationship between a company and its customers I'm thrilled.

This idea of passion came to mind while reading an article on the formation of Fast Company (the magazine). It began as a revolution with passionate workers. I found the article inspiring - maybe you will too. Here it is.

So go follow your passion!

The Spirit of CRM

2006-03-30T13:17:00.000-08:00

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management and is a big focus in my consultancy. As a topic that I think and talk about regularly it is dawning on me how much spirituality is at work in CRM because it's about relationships.

And when I think of Spirit (which I often think of as my business partner), I think of the care, comfort, support, inspiration, guidance and love that are part of that relationship. Spirituality is the connection I have with God that gives me the qualities or talents that God expresses.

The customer strategies I suggest in my work embody Spirit’s qualities, such as:
- truly caring about the customer
- being genuine and sincere
- doing what is in the customer’s best interest (being self-less)
- listening and responding
- offering something of value without an expectation of return

The reason these principles are a part of good customer/business relationships is that they are spiritual. They are natural expressions of the Spirit and that is our common foundation.

Focus and action

2006-03-27T18:01:00.000-08:00

It can be hard to decide where to focus when you are running your own business. There are tons of ideas and limited time. How to spend your time? I turn to Spirit as much as possible to hear what is the right activity for me day by day.I find others contribute ideas and support too and those and I think of those as indirect ways that Spirit is supporting me.

Like today, I met with a neighbor who I found out helps new business owners (small world!) So we were chatting and she just re-emphasized the importance of finding an area to focus on instead of scattering your efforts. Good reminder.

Then I articulated that I was focusing on visibility and finding forums for publication and speaking so that I can widen my contacts and business. That alone spurred me to action today in researching speaking opportunities. This gave me a chance to get focused on that and work on my speaking applications and pitches. This was time well spent - it helped me dig into that a bit more.

So I'm grateful for the direct ideas and intuitions I get from Spirit as well as indirectly through the intelligent ideas of those I meet that spur me on. I see that Spirit is working in all of us, so of course I would find support in others as well as in God directly. Just a nice way to see all the support around me.

More gratitude

2006-03-18T14:56:00.000-08:00

I feel like I'm hitting my stride with my business now.

This week I got my first real signed contract and check from it. Yes! Plus I met with someone who only heard me speak for 30 seconds about my business and wants me to speak at a regional conference for painters (of 200 people). And several are considering hiring me for work. These are (a) creating a website for a sculptor; (b) creating customer centric marketing materials and other communication pieces for a general contractor; and (c) CRM work for a master painter.

This is fun!

So I'm taking the time to be grateful. To pass along the credit for my success to Spirit because I know that is where my directions come from as well as my true talents. I am so blessed by partnering with Spirit (as if I have a choice :) ).

Just wanted to share the joy and gratitude and tell my readers to press on because when you partner with Spirit you will be victorious.

I'm cared for in so many little ways

2006-03-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

I know my business partner Spirit is always caring for me - in little ways that sometimes can go unnoticed. I continue to pray that Spirit will guide my right activity and because I'm flexible and willing for this spontaneous unfoldment of good I know I will be blessed.

Today I saw one of those ways and I wanted to share it. My mom, such a sweetie, sent me flowers. Her message was one of love and support and a reminder that Spirit is in charge of my life supporting and caring for me in every way. What a nice message and gift. It surely put a smile on my face. What made my mom send this message now? I don't know but I can say it has brightened my day and reminded me of God's care for me - that I can see in little ways all around me.

Another way is when I was looking at my expenses versus income. As you recall, I'm new at being self-employed and it takes some time to get income rolling in. But as of today I chuckled that my income to date has covered my expenses some money to spare. That is good. I'm ok with that because I believe that some new income will be coming through in March. And I'd say that money will come in time for me to pay by logo designer and my networking membership dues.

Thank you Spirit. I owe you one :)

Free press

2006-03-09T12:58:00.000-08:00

As many entrepreneurs realize free press is a great thing. By 'free press' I mean opportunities to publish or get published and credit your business. I meet a woman who is an amazing executive coach and much more at a networking group a few weeks back. She has introduced me to an editor of a weekly law publication. I sent along some ideas for columns and got positive interest from the editor. I'm thrilled. I hope this comes to fruitition. I am so grateful for this opportunity. And I love how selflessly this woman I met, Pamela, shared her contacts with me -- so naturally and kindly.

The networking group I met Pamela at is called BNI - it is an interesting and very focused networking group. (I'm going to join this group after much research). I'm excited to make more connections and also to talk with other professionals about their work and give them introductions and ideas too.

You gotta share what you know and who you know. It will bless you, I believe this is a law of Spirit or Truth. (Check out the book Never Eat Alone for great ideas about sharing and growing in business.)

Guess that praying is paying off. YES!

Working from home

2006-03-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

Having an in-home office is quite nice. I always wondered if I'd feel lonely or bored sometimes with no one to talk to but that hasn't been the case.

I suppose at first, I did IM (instant message) more to stay connected with friends and old co-workers but I adapted quite well. I think I loved the flexibility. I can work for a bit, read, go run an errand, meet a client, come back, cook dinner, check email in any order. That is really nice. I don't always flex-time as much as I could, but the option is there and that is nice.

Plus I have to say having 2 cats in your home office is awesome. They don't distract me much and are my companions at work. (Anyone in a stuffy offices right now can be jealous.) But what I've realized is they (the cats) often bring a smile to my face. They are so cute and snuggle up on my desk or lap -- and then how could you be anything other than totally happy. So maybe God gave me these critters as the ideal office mates. I'm serious.

A purring cat on your lap is the best treatment for the blues or any problem. I guess I'm grateful to have these companions and especially now - during my workday.

What is the point of this blog post? I guess it is that we can all be grateful for the little things you might otherwise miss that brighten your day - and I give credit God the credit for those little "lights" in my day.

Spirit and CRM

2006-03-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of CRM (customer relationship management). And I've read tons of books and articles on the top and love hearing about the way business is blessed by a closer, more personalized relationship with customers.

What I've been thinking about lately is that Spirit offers the ultimate 1 to 1 relatinship (on an infinite scale). Spirit has a relationship individually with every one of us. That is a special relationship between us and Spirit. Like I'm connected with Spirit, you are, my husband is, and everyone I could ever meet has a direct relationship with Spirit too. That is the ultimate CRM - which says treat each customer uniquely.

I guess this may excite me more than others because I'm such a fan of CRM, but it really spoke to me as to what I can emulate in my business relationships. And I know that Spirit is leading each person I meet, helping them be the best they can be. And so I'm always meeting people who are lead by Spirit and expressing that nature, and unique talents and idea. Nice way to get past judgement or measuring someone up.

Just something I thought was worth sharing. Please feel free to comment.

It's tough out there

2006-02-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

It's tough to build a business from scratch. I'd be kidding myself and you too if I told you it was easy. It's freaking hard. I thought I had some clients wanting my services, they did want my services but didn't really want to pay for them. I'm learning the difference between interest and actual ability and interest to hire me.

If you are an entrepreneur of any kind, see if these sound familar:

Fear of no income.
Fear of going nuts before income comes in.
Fear that you'll only have tiny clients who pay you little amounts and that doesn't add up to much.
Desire for a regular paycheck again.
Hope that people would get back to you sooner so you can get started, get paid and such.
And more...

This is how I'm feeling today. The people I was counting as clients ("yes, yes, yes" up front) are now needing to think about the cost and see if they can swing it. Bummer that these clients may not work out and bummer I got all excited and have no idea what will come (and the nagging thought that I've spent time and resources and gotten nothing in return).

It's hard to sit and wait. I've realized I need to turn to Spirit today but it can be hard to climb out of any pit. And this feeling seems like I'm down in a pit. It's easy to feel pitiful (get it? in the pit- ha!), but I know I can push out those thoughts and get active growing my business with other clients and in other ways. And Spirit can help me get focused and let go of the pitiful feelings.

For example, I need to finish the press release I've been drafting and send it to my local paper. I need to be in touch with other publications and try and get noticed. I need to work on my search engine strategy more and put in place my customer/contact database. Since those are a lot more productive than moping around - I better get to it. Later!

Your identity, work and money

2006-02-25T12:40:00.000-08:00

Many people, including myself, often identify themselves with their jobs. Sometimes that is viewed as positive, sometimes as negative. For me it is a good thing, I've always been driven by passion - I have to do work that has meaning for me and that I enjoy.

I've found it a bit rocky to leave a full-time job in favor of exploring new things and ultimately try my hand at entrepreneurship - in terms of my identity. Since I've never been without a full-time paid job since high school it is an odd feeling. I realized how much I identified with work that was paid. You know where you get a check every other week - ah, that was nice.

And at this point I'm still in the early stage of developing my business - and it still doesn't feel fully real. Examining my thought on this, I think it's because the money isn't steady. The things you find in your head! I don't feel as valuable at times because I'm not recognized financially. I have some potential clients but not much that is really strong yet. Is this dumb? Yeah probably, as if my true value comes in dollars and cents. I'd rather identify as a valuable expression of Spirit.

Guess there are millions of people who stress out over jobs, money and life expenses. I know what they are facing - and the ugly suggestions that come to mind. Seems like no one is exempt from fear and doubt, but I do believe Spirit can help here. Just yesterday I was talking with a fellow entrepreneur who said he regularly questions if he should just give up his new business and get a job with regular income. I told him turning to Spirit would help him and he agreed.

I'd say this tension is really just plain old fear. Fear that I won't have the money I need to live, or fear that I'll have to live with reduced expenses (which does feel like a big sacrifice) for a long time. For me it keeps coming back to money. I know my consultancy idea is unique and will be in demand - many others have told me so too. So I know it will pay off, but right now the fear can be powerful and constantly in thought.

What this has made me realize is what else I need to be praying about each day. In previous posts I've talked about my daily prayes for myself and my business. And I surely will continue with that and never let up. When I miss a day it can be tougher. Since I see the correlation, I'm going to stick with the prayer. Hope you do too.

Beating the stress

2006-02-21T08:53:00.000-08:00

Sending clients a first proposal can be stressful. You've worked to understand their needs and then are illustrating the cost and VALUE of what you can offer them (remember I'm a consultant).

And at this point you really like the client and sincerely want to help them improve their business and meet their objectives. So it can be nerve-wracking to send a proposal over or talk cost/value for the first time. Even though most clients don't tell you the potential budget they have, I think often they have something in mind about what is reasonable to them. And I hope that my proposal is right and reasonable and valued by them.

But it can be tough waiting it out, waiting to hear back for approval and/or feedback. I've been stressed by this lately. What came to mind when I was thinking about this part of my work was something I wrote in a previous blog post that Spirit is my business partner. I considered, if that were really true, how could I really get off track or spend time in unfruitful ways. Would Spirit guide anyone in business (or personal ways for that matter) to have them go off track? No, there would be no point in that. I feel Spirit is all good and wants everyone to flourish and grow and learn, etc. So with that foundation, I could let go of some of the worry about my proposals and potential acceptance or rejection.

I can see that each day I am learning and improving my business, my offerings and my relationships with clients and others. So there isn't a big loss but instead growth and learning.

These ideas have helped release the knot in my stomach and just focus on the activity that I need to do moment by moment, as Spirit guides. I find it very helpful to calm the panic or stress and focus that energy on what is right, and good and productive instead. Trying turning around your own thoughts and see what happens. It does a world of good for me.

The power of gratitude

2006-02-14T07:35:00.000-08:00

I've been attending weekly networking sessions where you meet other business people and learn more about them so you can send them referrals and they can send business your way too.

A portion of the meeting is devoted to gratitude - well that is how I see it. Thanking someone for supporting you in some way (i.e. sending you a customer). People give testimonials about each other too. This makes think of the value of gratitude. I love the writings of a great woman named MB Eddy she lived in late 1800s and had profound ideas on Spirit and your relationship to it (check out one of her books here). She wrote "Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have and thus be fitted to receive more."

Think about this. Being grateful actually is an important part of your life and your business. When are grateful we are giving credit to good, to Spirit and are so grateful that we are open to finding our next activity and receive more good into our lives.

This thought dawned on me today and has helped me to be grateful even in the face of what seems like a lean time for business. I have 1 client on hold and 2 I'm hoping to start with soon but they haven't signed a contract yet. But you know what, I'm going to be grateful for them and for other opportunities I have to grow my business and be ready for more good in my business and life.

Thanks Spirit, as always you are good business partner.

Find your energy

2006-02-10T13:34:00.000-08:00

Finding your energy has been a focus of mine lately, finding enough energy for all I need to do. Finding the drive to keep doing even when I'm tired and even when I feel a moment of "oh lord look at all I have to do." I don't have a totally unbalanced life even thought this might sound like it.

I learned in a previous job (at a dot com) even when you work 12 hours a day, the work is still there the next day and that truly you can find a bit more sanity and still be successful.

My energy is low when I have to wake up early and go to networking events. No doubt some of you are "morning people" - not me. Ugh morning. I'm an afternoon person - the perfect time for meetings and productivity. I'm really humming then typically.

How this relates to my blog? So I'm working on greater balance and listening to Spirit to drive all my actions. And know that with Spirit comes energy.

I gotta say I feel pooped right now, Friday at 4:30pm perhaps because I was up at 5:30am (I normally wake at 7am). Funny I buy into this automatic formula (up early = tired very early) when I've seen being tired when I get the same amount of sleep but I just wake earlier. No doubt it's all mental - you feel what you believe. I'm sure you've seen it too. You can make yourself gloomy, happy, sad, etc without much outside influence even.

So join with me as I work on finding more energy and overcoming my hatred of the morning. Especially because I think I'm going to have to be waking up early 2-3 times a week to help fuel my business growth (for networking and other morning meetings). I think this is possible and I have growing motivation (my biz) for making this demonstration, for proving I can live with the energy I need through the whole day.

Love and business

2006-02-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

Or maybe I should say Love in business. I don’t mean love of business; I am being intentional here about my words. I never was able to articulate in my own head the connection between business and love – but I knew it was there. Loving and caring for others is part of a fruitful business and a terrific foundation.

And then my thoughts were articulated by Tim Sanders, Ex-big wig at Yahoo!. His book, “Love is the killer app” is one of my favorite business books – ever. This is a must read for everyone who believes business growth begins from a foundation of respect, understanding, wisdom, gratitude goodness and other such traits (within the organization, with customers, vendors and more). I’d love every business person to read it but I know that won’t happen. This book is about love in business – how it can be discussed, expressed and how amazingly critical it is to success. It’s a must read. Please check it out – it’s a fast read, even entrepreneurs will have time to read it.

I’d love to have you post comments about love in business and hear from anyone who reads this book. Please comment in the blog and share with other readers of this blog.

And if you have a blog on this topic, tell me, we must talk about linking.

Bliss in your work

2006-02-09T07:07:00.000-08:00

Owning your own business has it’s blissful moments. When? I’ve found bliss recently when I’m working with a client and they are so excited about how to grow their business and learn and work together. I just love it. A client told me yesterday how excited they were to get going. Yes! When I was driving away from their office I was beaming and saying “Yes, yes, yes” in the car outloud – it was such a high. After I finished my jubilation I turned to God and gave Her the credit for this beautiful moment and opportunity. It is possible to have bliss – it is tangible.

Perhaps I notice these moments because I’m writing this blog and need material. But I also think of it because I am humbly following Spirit each day. I feel “in touch” with Spirit as I do my work because of expressions of joy and gratitude and all the greatness of Spirit I express. I also feel connected because of my daily preparation for work. I’ve written a bit about that in previous blogs about my prayers. But I do have a morning routine that includes praying about myself and Spirit and that connection. I also pray about my home, marriage, family and work of course. My prayer topics and inspiration is different each day – it is just whatever comes to mind to pray about.

I am so blessed by staying alongside Spirit all day.

Sure there are bumps - like going nuts about being fruitful and growing my business (working at having that happen less by watching my thought and focusing in a productive and good way). When that happens I try to calm down and listen to Spirit and find a higher platform for my thinking. And I know I am continuing to grow to learn and building on the day before (and the inspiration from that). It's a matter of keeping at it - keep connecting to Spirit as much as possible and for sure when you feel disconnected from good.

What else I've been praying about

2006-02-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm also praying to get rid of ideas that have been nagging at me and weighing me down. Thoughts about how I might not be able to make a decent living as a consultant and ideas about my lacking clients, time, and money to make all this fly.

I've always found those destructive ideas need to be kicked out of my thinking and replaced with fresh inspiration from Spirit. If truly my work is governed by Spirit, then I'm aligned with that Supreme Good, that Spiritual Intelligence - and that fuels my right activity. Today I had a great prayer session about that and kicked out fear and replaced it with my natural strength from Spirit.

This really picked me up and helped me get over the burdensome feeling of having your own business (and the insane details with launching a new business - taxes, legal issues and more).

So I'm ready for the new week!

Turned around

2006-02-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

Just an update on the below post. My client has evolved her own idea of the audience for her site and what kind of copy was needed - so that is how she arrived about the comment about my work being too polished. We had a great next meeting and got more onto the same (new) page and are happily moving forward together.

Thank you Spirit at work - literally.

Praying through it all

2006-01-31T09:09:00.000-08:00

So today, I am not so jubliant. Glad I posted that idea on joy yesterday. Today I'm a bit low because a client of mine didn't like my copyediting, she said it was too polished. Gosh - how is that bad? But ok deal with it.

When I first read this comment (via email) I was bummed and disappointed in myself. I wonder if because I know this client personally I didn't go through all the rigor of a normal client inquiry and research session and so I got off track somehow. Not sure that is it but who knows. But this comment bugged me and it felt like failure (something I do not accept very well). My first negative comment. Eeww.

So I realize now that this is another opportunity to pray. An opportunity to orient my business with Spirit. To trust the direction I get from God and open myself up to listening even more intently to Her direction. I can learn to be more humble and do as God directs, listen at each step before I do each step of work, listen to see if that is the right step and the right way to do (what I had in mind). I've found this successful in the past in other work and just need to keep applying that here.

So instead of taking it personally and being upset and trying to convince myself that my work was right, I'm going to stand with the identity of Spirit. I'm going to stand with Spirit as my business parter (and even biz leader) and listen to Her as to how to handle the next steps in this dialogue and how to further edit this website copy and deliver quality work that meets quality standards and client expectations.

Working on your own (read: alone) perhaps it is easier to turn to Spirit (what other option do I have? I can't keep bugging my husband at work). So I will work to stay tuned in, stay connected and I hope to find comfort and refreshment in that companionship so I can lift up my day from the gloom (plus it's raining here right now - darn it) and get back into the joy of doing this work.

Spirit and joy at work

2006-01-30T12:01:00.000-08:00

What I've realized is that working for myself is that I'm really doing what I love. (Yes it helps when it's a sole proprietorship and you decide what business you're going to be in. )

Anyhow what I'm noticing is that there are things that I just love doing - thinking about customers, and how to improve business to serve the customer - the focus of my business. I love sharing what I know, I love sharing my observations, favorite book recommendations and such. I love talking about what I know and have learned - it really gets me jazzed. I mean really. I just light up with joy. When I talk with a client about my services and they 'get it', when I'm writing my other blog (which is focused on my business: Customer Experience Management). I have to tear myself away from just writing - which is odd because I've never liked writing because of all the "rules." (my dear editor friends who laughing at that comment) but now I love it because it is really about sharing what I know. I find joy in that.

And as I thought about what this joy is - it dawned on me - this is the joy Spirit has in store for me because I'm Her expression. And because Spirit naturally includes joy, my work must include the expression of joy - for me, and all I work with. This will be helpful to remember especially when I have to do the bookkeeping and other seeming tedious elements of self-employment :)

So why not have more joy "at work" - it is naturally a part of Spirit's business and I see that as my business too. Just even recognizing the joy in my work feels powerful, makes me feel connected to Spirit. Hopefully for you too.

Praying for your business

2006-01-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

So as a new entrepreneur I'm realizing just how important it is to pray daily for my work and business.

A voice in my head (that I call the larger Spirit or Mind) reminded me to pray about:

1. I'd be guided to do the right activity for that day (so that I'm efficient, aware, alert, flexible, and get the right stuff done)

2. That those I'd be communicating with and working with are rightly motivated and honest and ethical. (This came to me after hearing a lot about how small business can get hurt by those who don't pay bills or may say they want to hire you and after you invest time they pull out, etc.)

This is just the beginning no doubt. But I glad to hear the inspiration and good idea of praying for my work and business as often as I can. If you have ideas on this, please post a comment below. Thanks.

Latest read: Megatrends 2010

2006-01-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

I've recently finished the latest Patricia Aburdene book, Megatrends 2010. (You may be familar with her previous books on trends.)

This book is of relevance to this blog because:
(a) I'm a business owner who wants to stay abreast of trends in the marketplace
(b) One of the trends is spirituality
(c) Another trend is spirituality in the workplace

Just for reasons (b) and (c) above, you should read this book. But if you need more :) ... The book includes great tangible examples of businesses that have flourished when treated with Spirit. Some of the examples are about senior management working with Spirit, others are managers and day to day workers who are making a difference this way.

Patricia is clearly a fan of spirituality at work and is able to speak about it from various perspectives and give good ideas for the reader to consider.

Don't get hung up on her assumptions that may not match yours (in some chapters) - the book is worth the read. The facts speak for themselves, businesses that work with Spirit do grow, improve and change for the better. And I totally agree with that premise.

Spirituality in the small workplace

2006-01-27T10:14:00.000-08:00

The foundation of my blog:

1. I'm an entrepreneur
2. I love spirituality, prayer, God, etc -- and how to make it all practical
3. I want to share ideas about spirituality at work - spirituality and how I apply it to my business and work literally and how me, my business or those I interact with are benefitted.

I imagine this blog will cover all kinds of topics that arise from being a small business owner - like ethics, finances, etc.