Look Inside Yourself and Find Your Spirit
Do you think about your spirit? You know: the force that drives your protoplasm around; the keeper of your courage; the only thing that's different about identical twins.
Everyone should be conscious of their spirit, but it's essential for entrepreneurs.
In Eternal Echoes, my friend, John O'Donohue, writes about the human spirit that certainly speaks to this entrepreneur: "When you open your heart to discovery you will be called to step outside the comfort barriers within which you have fortified your life. You will be called to risk old views and thoughts; but your spirit loves the danger of growth."
Let's look at some of John's words, from our perspective.
Discovery
As a small business owner you "open your heart to discovery" every day. Sometimes you discover that your vision, hard work and planning have produced a contract with a new customer, a little more profit on the bottom line, and that you just might make it another year.
But sometimes your discoveries are not so pleasant: an employee who doesn't show up, an expensive equipment breakdown, or a missed bid.
Challenging discoveries are no respecter of businesses, large or small. But they hit a small business harder because there are fewer spirits, bodies and assets to absorb the shock.
The key to your success lies in the ability to "open your heart" to discovery. Do you dread problems, or are you open to the possibility that you could turn a challenge into an opportunity? And the answer to that question may depend on how well you discover and use the power of your spirit.
Comfort Barriers
Comfort barriers offer protection, but also hold you back. The same wall that keeps you safe from the world also keeps you from meeting the world.
You may have fewer surprises and dangers inside your comfort barriers, but opportunity is a camper; it likes to be outside. So when you step outside of your comfort barriers and camp out with opportunity, let your spirit come, too.
Growth
O'Donohue says our spirit loves the danger of growth. Sometimes growth can be dangerous. but more often, not growing is the riskier alternative.
You possess the ability to be courageous or to be a weenie. Your spirit sees the possibility of success in the marketplace, while the weenie in you sees the chance of failure. Your spirit says, "let's make something happen," while the weenie in you craves comfort. Knowing how to manage these two forces is crucial to success in small business.
So how do you know when to grow? Listen to your spirit, then leverage that force.
Write this on a rock... Discover your spirit, trust it as a powerful force in you, step outside your barriers and start camping out with opportunity.
Jim Blasingame, Small Business Expert and host of The Small Business Advocate Show
©2008 All Rights Reserved
