Many people hesitate to mix work and spirituality – but to me they are one and the same. To operate without leveraging one or the other is to deny one or the other’s existence. There’s no denying that we bring who ‘WE’ are (our spirit) to ‘WHAT’ we do (work). I do not claim to have always been this way, but I have known from my ‘early life’ teachers (thanks Mom and Dad) that becoming ‘whole’ in all aspects of my life would be literal. My own journey has been one of perfect teaching, for me, about becoming whole and using holistic approaches.
My mother was and is a model of attending to health, and is a progressive and determined student of learning and personal growth. My father taught me about traditional ways of working and the success hard work and dedication can achieve. You can see the unified blend here. In addition to this, I recently learned about the role two dear family friends played in my life: Mary and Anne, dedicated business and household partners for 45 years, planted seeds early on – seeds of entrepreneurship, art, following your passion, growth and evolution, Native American spirituality and the medicine wheel.
I was “set-up” to explore the extremes of personal and professional/business growth. Learning a holistic approach to both, and then using this approach to help evolve people, businesses and the consciousness of the planet is my purpose.
It makes sense to me that you do not have to compromise your spiritual integrity to meet the bottom line. Indeed the reality is, holding integrity leads to your greatest success – including financial success. Being someone you are not, is not the kind of success I guide clients toward. There is an idea that only ruthless, driven, or single-minded individuals become talented and wealthy. I believe this is limited thinking and not in the highest good. I help people in gaining personal confidence that reflects who you and and becomes integral to how you work.
It has been a challenge for me to stay committed to a holistic approach to my work. I kept finding myself encountering 20 foot walls – boundaries saying we don’t go into “sensitive” personal areas – in both the corporate work world and in the entrepreneurial work world. On the flip side, it’s been hard to imagine how personal growth applies to business: it’s seen as “woo-woo” or too “far out” to apply. Now, when I see and hear these reservations from colleagues and clients, I smile knowing the peek-a-boo game they are playing between two supposedly separate worlds.
Most of us separate personal and professional out of habit. How do you reasonably combine the two without spending oodles of money on hokey shysters?!? It’s simple. Problems arise only when we trust others to know what’s best for ourselves, rather than trusting ourselves. When we begin to really trust our inner wisdom, we can practically combine the personal and professional.
The separation of personal and professional/work/business is simply an illusion. Real transformation and change happens when we confidently and actively engage spirit in all areas of our lives. You want practical, solid, bottom-line results? Engage spirit in change and work.
The result of us continuing the separation between personal and professional is people who are “successful” in business while at the same time they are:
- unhappy with who they’ve become,
- have little time with their families,
- have difficulty maintaining their energy and passion for work,
- get confused about next steps for their business and themselves,
- get overwhelmed with all they have to do,
- are in a persistent state of not having enough time, money, resources,
- end up behaving out of integrity even to the point of illegal activity,
- have forgotten what they are good at and what they love,
- have no idea what they want,
- and so on.
While there are non-personal solutions to all of the above, none would get to the heart of the matter: people are losing sight of who they are, and who they are becoming. And this is bad for family life and business.
My philosophy is to combine who I am with what I do. My clients are attracted to my services mainly because of who I am as a person and what I stand for. My business reflects holistic strategies that are effective in business and life – jointly as one.
After spending 1999-2004+ honing my coaching skills, I have brought back the consulting skills I developed during 1992-2000. Unlike my work in the 90’s, I am now committed to using holistic approaches. I am now able to offer personal, professional and business transformation using the same or similar processes and tools in each area. Start with personal development and what you learn will apply directly to your professional or business development. Start with business or professional development and you’ll learn what is required from your personal growth and evolution. The processes and tools I provide are simple solutions for the complex challenges you face.
I believe that the reason it took me a while to bridge the gap between personal and professional/business growth, was because I and others didn’t know how it could be done – and I had a ways to go to trust my inner wisdom. I also believe that in becoming a leader and teacher of holistic business and life strategies, I needed to understand what my personal, business and corporate clients were experiencing: a “been there done that” offering is important to me!
Now, I am proud and happy to say that I have the holistic approaches to offer that do bridge the gap between personal and professional/business. I’ve seen the results personally (a radical shift from lots to very little struggle) and professionally (a 700% increase in income over the last 12 months). There is definitely more to learn about holistic strategies … but the foundation exists and we’ll learn as we go. As my Dad taught me, it’s all about being able to get things done. And I’ve seen the results – for my self and with many, many clients – and I’m more than a little tickled. Its fun, it’s powerful, it’s evolutionary, and it works.
Being who you are and trusting your inner wisdom – is what leads to your greatest success!
