Find Your Spirit And Find Success
Do you think much about your spirit? You know -- the force that drives your protoplasm around. It's the keeper of your courage, wisdom, and humanity; the only thing that's different about identical twins.
Everyone should be conscious of their spirit, but for small business owners, it's essential. Because whether we realize it or not, our spirit is the part of us that entrepreneurs must be able to depend upon.
In Eternal Echoes, John O'Donohue wrote a passage 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 take a look at some of John's words, from our perspective.
Discovery
Small business owners "open their hearts to discovery" every day. Sometimes we discover that our vision, hard work, and planning have produced a contract with a new customer, a little more profit on the bottom line, and the belief that we just might make it.
But sometimes our discoveries are not so pleasant -- like 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 bodies and assets to absorb the shock.
The key to our success lies in the ability to "open our hearts" to discovery. Do we dread problems, or are we open to the possibility that any challenge can actually become an opportunity? And the answer to that question may depend on how well we discover and use the power of our spirit.
Comfort Barriers
Comfort barriers offer protection, but they also hold us back. The same wall that keeps us safe from the world also keeps us from the world.
We will have fewer surprises and dangers inside our comfort barriers. But opportunity is a camper; it likes to be outside. We can step outside of our comfort barriers and camp out with opportunity, if we know where to find our courage.
Growth
John says your spirit loves the danger of growth. Sometimes growth can be dangerous, but more often, not growing is the riskier alternative.
At once, each of us possesses the ability to be courageous or to be a weenie. Our spirit sees the possibility of success in the marketplace, while the weenie in us sees the chance of failure.
Our spirit says, "let's make something happen," while the weenie in us 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
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