The Spiritual Side of Entrepreneurship

When I started my business almost twenty years ago self-employed was a term considered a tad more professional than freelancer. Entrepreneur was barely in the lexicon. It wasn’t even that I intentionally set out to start a business per se. It was more like fleeing for my life – jumping ship from the corporate freighter into my own dinghy named freedom.

These days I’m called a solopreneur, which Urban Dictionary defines as an entrepreneur who works alone, “solo,” running their business single-handedly. They might have contractors for hire yet have full responsibility for the running of their business.

We have clients, yes, or we wouldn’t be in business and our business is to serve. Working for myself means that I am the boss of me. I have the choice to be the conscious, nurturing, supportive leader who challenges me in healthy ways or the other kind that no one wants to work for. I am concerned for my employee’s – again, that’s me –  mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

Over the years I have come to see similarities between being a conscious entrepreneur and spiritual practice. I would go so far as to say that conscious entrepreneurship is a spiritual practice.

Here are some spiritual parallels we can create for ourselves in our business in order to ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­personally develop and make a greater contribution:

Faith – First and foremost, we have to have faith in ourselves to be successful. In our gifts, talents, resources, experience, inner calling, higher purpose, vision, intuition, inner guidance, gut instincts, and our ability to manifest what we need. I personally have faith in what I call “the Mystery” – that helps me creatively contribute to the greater good. This is my experience and by no means a requirement or true for everyone. I have faith that I am being guided in my work and my job is to listen.

Community – Many of us work alone, a lot. The physical proximity of working with others is not a given. Introverts don’t have as much of an issue with this, extroverts more so. We have to cultivate our own community and support systems. Genuine connection with others is important. A place we can tell the truth, seek wise counsel and ask for help, essential. We have to be proactive to create it in a meaningful way for ourselves.

Ceremony and ritual – Honoring rites of passage, achieving milestones, celebrating successes, and grieving endings are necessary to attend to. It’s important to celebrate, appreciate, acknowledge, and treat ourselves well. Give yourself a bonus! Planning rituals into our day gives us structure – morning meditation, lunch away from your desk, breaks during the day, going for a walk, and celebrating with time off. An intentional close to the day – especially if you work from home, signals the transition from work to relaxation and playtime.

Contemplation and reflection – Unplug and go on your own retreat, even if it’s in your back yard or local park. Take time away for renewal. Reflect on where you are in your business, where you want to be – professionally and personally – and whether you’re doing the work you really want to be doing. Are you contributing in ways that are meaningful, challenge you, and bring you joy? If not, what’s missing? What action can you take to start creating more of what you envision for yourself?

Prayer – I’m going out on a limb here to say few pray more than the self-employed. Whether it’s to a higher power or the great unknown, we pray to get the work, keep the work, and get paid for the work. We pray that clients will still like us when we move in a new direction or raise our rates. We pray to not become bag ladies/men and end up homeless. We pray for strong economies and not to be usurped by up-and-comers or new technologies.

Gratitude – A subset of prayer, I’ve learned over the years to be as grateful for the disappointments as the good. Some of the biggest learning has come from the things that didn’t go my way. Having survived two recessions, two significant career pivots, and cancer, I know in my bones that I will always land on my feet. For that I am profoundly grateful.

Choose your own Sabbath – Some may believe that taking a regular day of rest when you work for yourself is akin to professional suicide. It is a scarcity model to think we have to be available 24/7/365 unless you’re running a crisis center of some kind which most of us aren’t. I am better in every way when I take time off. Schedule vacations and hold that time sacred. It is a rare exception for me to work on Fridays. Mornings are prime writing time for me so I may do some of that on weekends. I make up for it by getting a massage, going to the beach or a matinee during the week. Set limits on work time, create dedicated me time, family time, and social time.

Compassion and forgiveness – When we slip up, practice self-compassion and forgiveness. When we spin out or get scared, course correct. In Wendy Palmer’s Leadership Embodiment work, she teaches: “the power is in the recovery.” Come back to center. Come back to yourself. Always come back to yourself.

Practice, practice, practice.  We work and practice our craft. We stumble, fall, get back up, and keep going. We continue to learn, grow, develop wisdom and mastery through practice.

All spiritual traditions have some form of practice. Practice will always bring us back to our humanity, innate creativity, and to ourselves.