A Passion for Paleo and Profits (Part 2)

Welcome back to this two-part blog!
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Today, part 2 is focused on profits, which you will discover is essential to your business to support your lifestyle. In 2014, I created and taught a 5-week course called Permission to Profit. It was created for entrepreneurial moms to support them with conscious parenting and profitable business-building. In essence it supports all of us to think that we have permission to profit from everything that we do... not just by making money in our businesses. I want you to look at the things which lift you up. Here are some which come to me immediately:

Beauty
Freedom
Paleo
Passion
Philanthropy
Pleasure
Prosperity
Wellbeing
Wisdom
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All of these elements allow me to experience a life of love, beauty, truth, and liberation... the presence of these elements raise me up. I benefit from these in an energetic sense, and the presence of these also support me in staying the course in my business.

Part 2:  Profits.

We all know profits are essential to our business. And still, we often talk about prosperity and abundance because these are softer, more acceptable, easier to say, and certainly less corporate and less money-hungry-sounding. However, profits will make a huge difference in the short term and in the long term for the wellbeing and sustainability of both you and your business. Therefore, it's worth having this conversation.
 
Because let's be honest... being in business for ourselves can be really hard.

While marketing and selling really well are essential to being profitable, when those were the only elements I focused on, I was not in my wellbeing. I was actually depleting myself more than anything else. That's not only not profitable, it's not sustainable over the long run.

So, let's look at an expanded experience of being profitable.
 
SEVEN ELEMENTS ON THE PATH TO PROFITS IN YOUR BUSINESS
 
Appreciate your business.

This is stance for finding a healthy relationship with your business. Two things:

First. Effort is required. Struggle is optional.

For far too long, the effort I put into my business was an energy of struggle. Most things require effort, but they do not require struggle. When I prepare a meal, there is effort, as it won't prepare itself if I sit on the couch. However, there is no struggle in getting off the couch, going to the kitchen and preparing a meal. Similarly, effort is required for my services to be known in the world. When I don't show up with you here in the online space, you won't know that you might really want what I have to offer you.

Second.  Doubt is also optional.

Like in any healthy relationship, you need to actually know your business and understand what moves it forward. Therefore, knowing that your business is there for you without doubting it all the time is going to serve you well. When you prepare a meal, you don't wonder whether you're going to eat. You just know that you're going to.  The same is true in your business - you show up with your wisdom and innate wellbeing, and do your marketing and selling from this place.

Profit philosophy in practice: You have the power to make healthy choices in and with your business. Be aware of the tasks you choose to focus on and be mindful as to whether these arose from within you or whether you're following a formula not necessarily suited for you. If this particular task turns you off, maybe there is a much more aligned way for you to market your business. While you must market and sell to be in business, it empowers you and enriches your business to market from your wisdom and innate wellbeing.

Do business like a human.

Have you been trying lots of formulas?  Implementing other people's funnel ideas?  Feeling awkward in your marketing? I certainly have at different times throughout the years. Typically, a formula works brilliantly for the person who created it. This problem is that a formula can be very rigid and not allow you to bring you into the equation. So, when you do business like a human first, then you'll be much clearer about which formula works best for you. Then you can choose with care, which strategy to implement because it will already be in alignment with your wisdom and wellbeing. Just like moving in your body you want flow and flexibility, you want to move in your business with flow and flexibility. You want to avoid becoming rigid and machine-like in your marketing and selling.

Profit philosophy in practice: Pick new ways to explore marketing. For quite a while, I felt challenged marketing on FB... I felt like I had to do it a certain way and it felt forced. It felt most unnatural, especially since I tend to be fairly private. Still, I tried different things. In some way, I made myself do it even if I wasn't sure and even when I didn't like it. In taking action anyway, greater clarity arises from within. More of your true nature then percolates to the surface, and you find yourself sharing very naturally from a place of knowing.

Note: Be patient with this transition. If you’ve been rigid in your marketing for too long, it will take time to unwind and to become flexible again. What I believe occurs is that in allowing yourself to be where you are and to discover your own truth and wisdom, you will then be able to implement more traditional marketing on social media based on your new awareness.
 
Value rest and sleep.  Your business needs to rest like you do.

Being busy is like a drug. “No pain, no gain” has become a trophy of strength in our culture. Our society dismisses the notion of true recovery, relaxation and rest. Nighttime is not respected and sleep is condemned as a waste of time. 

Brad Rudner says, “Without sleep, there are no dreams.” We are humans, not machines. All living things have cycles and need rest. Taking from one ebb impacts the flow, and this can only last so long until things start to break down. Don’t just grudgingly approach sleep as a necessity, embrace it as an opportunity to renew and be whole - for you and your business. With the right quantity and quality of rest, you open up doors to push harder when you really need to - including in your marketing. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself burnt out one day, unable to do what you want to.
.. and FYI, this will impact your profits!

Profit philosophy in practice: Build in defined parameters for rest, i.e., pleasure. Instead of fearing that you'll miss out, know from your core that when you keep leaning into your wellbeing, you are going in the right direction.   

Create energy.

As humans, we have an amazing capacity to establish long-term goals. We can build toward something. We can determine outcomes by maintaining focused energy toward these goals. Without ignoring rest and relaxation, rise to the occasion by the sheer will of your consciousness. You have a choice in bringing positivity, hope, gratitude, and a belief that you can make a difference to every situation. Do it. Understanding your power to affect change could be the most profoundly freeing notion in a world where it’s too easy to feel insignificant and at the whims of forces beyond us.

Profit philosophy in practice: Avoid the victim mentality. When you have negative thoughts and feel wronged, push these things away and establish an action plan to improve your situation. Acknowledge you still have breath in your lungs so you can think, speak and act in ways to make your world a better place. Do this regularly and your world will be a better place.
  In business, I invite you to bring pleasure into what you're doing. It can be a mental and physical break in between business tasks or in between business meetings and picking up your children from school. Don't be so scheduled that you can't breathe and all the energies mix together.  That's is not a healthy relationship with yourself, your business or your family. Instead, bring in a dose of pleasure, like relaxing on the couch with a hot cup of tea or coffee and a little treat. You have the choice to include this in your schedule and let go of something else. This is the kind of space which expands your energy, your intuition, and your wisdom. Welcome it and live by it!

Connect on every level.

We are more disconnected from nature and from each other than we have ever been before. We spend more time in front of screens, in mechanized vehicles and protected from the elements than any previous generation did. Therefore, when you connect in business, whether online or in person, don't just collect likes or comments. It's fun to have likes and comments for sure, and yet, do your best to keep the connection meaningful.  Let it be real. Honest. And see if there is something you can offer someone freely. Inquire to understand. This way, you can feed your sense of self for you and the other person.

Profit philosophy in practice: Unplug and actually be present with people. Leave your phone and go for a walk on a trail with a friend. Break out of automation and connect to nature, people, emotions and anything else that feeds you as being part of the living world.
  When you realize that you have the freedom to experience all of life, all the emotions, all the ups and downs, you'll stop having to control circumstances in order to only have the good emotions and the ups.  Just letting go of that will renew your energy, your vitality and your wellbeing. Watch yourself and your business grow!
 
Philanthropy.

I've been drawn to and aware of philanthropy since I was a teenager. I decided then that I would sponsor a child when I had a job that could fund that. And when I did, I went on to sponsor four children over the course of 18 years. Philanthropy is something that offers you an opportunity to give, to connect, to grow, to expand, to love, to be bigger, and for humanity to live through you. After taking a needed break from philanthropic activities - my father founded an NGO in Cambodia, so I really have been around it for a long time - I realized it was a huge missing. What I love about philanthropy is that everyone has something that suits them. While I am not someone who is likely to attend an event to support cancer research or something about pets, I am totally drawn to helping children in developing countries. My heart has always been there.

One day, I receive two invitations in the mail - one for cancer research and the other a charity supporting dogs - and I realized in the moment how perfect it is that we are all drawn to different things - simply because this allows for every organization to be taken care of. I loved that people were taking care of cancer and dogs and that I didn't have to. I get to give my resources to children in poverty. I actually saw the perfection of the Universe to make us so unique that we care and stand for different passions.
And don't you see how absolutely perfect it is that you are in the business that you? It's all connected!

Profits philosophy in practice: Choose with your heart and vote with your resources. You don't have to support everything.  Just what's true for you, and that alone expands your heart, and activates more wisdom in life and business. It all makes a difference.

Note: I don't believe in doing philanthropy out of obligation or should. Do it because you genuinely want to or because you fundamentally believe the experience is good for you and for others, both. And when you need a break, take it. 

Transcend time.

There is a time that is natural for you when it comes to heightened productivity. I tend to love the early morning. Typically, I wake up at 5am or earlier, without an alarm, and I relish this time for myself. More and more, as I follow my intuition, I let go of morning practices and allow myself to be guided to what's next in the moment. It's not a doing thing first. It's a being thing first, followed by the doing of the insights that come through and guide me. I suppose in some way, this is a practice in and of itself... but really, it's all coming from the inside out, rather than the outside in. I have let go of practices that help me control my mind in order to be ok with the day ahead.  Instead, I allow for the guidance and wellbeing to guide me, and I continue to lean towards feeling good about my life and my business.

By choosing to live fully and do business passionately, by embracing the principles laid out above, you can become present in your life and in the world around you. Your business is more alive simply because you can lean back long enough to perceive what's next. You connect.  This way you live and do business with purpose, integrity and meaning. Time bends for you. You accomplish more and are more satisfied by your efforts.

Profit philosophy in practice: Each day, set out with a priority that moves you one step closer to your goal; no laundry lists, just one thing. Get it done, each day, again and again, and you watch your business grow to greatness. Don’t worry about perfection — it’s the process that counts. And after the one thing is done, do the next, and again the next which reveal themselves to you.

I'd love to hear what today's blog has opened up for you. Comment below!
Read Part 1 of Passion for Paleo and Profits here.