Soul Proprietor - How do you want to feel in your business?

In Danielle LaPorte’s groundbreaking book, The Desire Map, she uses this question as a prompt for planning:

How do you want to feel?

While the question may be simple, the results are remarkable: once you are clear on how you want to feel, you can put your energy into crafting a life plan or to-do list that fits you.

I’ve used that process again and again to clarify how I want to operate in my day-to-day life but I’ve also found it to be extremely useful for my business. Here’s why: in business we often assume that we “have to” function in a certain “business-y way”, which may mean putting up with things that make us miserable. Things such as answering the phone at all hours of the day or dealing with that pain-in-the-ass client that always haggles for a deal.

Yes, I’ve been there too. I assumed that this is just “how business is” and that I somehow had to put up with it.

If you do business like that, you’re going to begin to hate your business. Look, we all have to deal with unpleasant situations from time to time, but feeling crappy shouldn’t be a daily vibe. Knowing how you want to feel can help you make decisions that support the way you wish to feel in your business.

For example, I want to feel peaceful. I’m a Libra rising so a calm, Zen-like energy serves me best in both my personal and professional life. When I began to think long and hard about what peaceful might mean in my business, I made changes to support that.

I stopped answering the phone and let clients know that they needed to reach me via email. This eliminated phone tag, gave me a paper trail, and saved me from dealing with people who wanted a “free sample to see if I was any good.”

I quit doing tarot parties. I’m an introvert and prefer one-on-one. Parties made me anxious and I didn’t have any control over whom I would serve. Which sometimes meant getting stuck with a drunk – or worse – at my tarot table.

Eliminating these two things made me feel peaceful. Exactly how I need and deserve to feel in my business.

See how that works?

I cannot tell you how much happier and productive I am.

Take some time out of your day and contemplate how you want to feel in your business. Perhaps you want to feel peaceful too. Or maybe you want to feel secure. Loved. Radiant. Powerful. Capable. Magical. Think about the feelings that you want to experience every time you open your door or turn on your computer. Write that feeling down and paste it on a sticky note where you can see it every day.

Then, take steps to create a business based around that. It may mean a few tough decisions but once you begin to run your business like this, you’re going to be much happier.

Do note you won’t always feel the way you want because business happens. I’m not always peaceful. I get my rage on from time to time too. But it’s rare. Because my business is based on how I want to feel and I make sure that I engineer my biz to keep a good vibe happening 99% of the time.

May your business make you feel as (insert how you want to feel here) possible!

Blessings,

Theresa