Living An Authentic Business

By Lisa Cherney

Did you ever get the feeling that something is just not right?  Your business is going along fine, but something is missing? This is where I am right now.  We go about our everyday lives and think that things are OK.  We go, go, go, and do, do, do. Then one day we wake up and realize that something is off.  That is what happened to me.  It’s the beginning of a New Year and I’m supposed to be all geared up.  I’m supposed to have clear goals and know what the plan is.  And instead I have decided to stay put for now.  I have decided to be still.  I have decided to rest in all that I accomplished last year, and see what happens.  You see, in order for me to create goals I have to have the clarity about what feels good, what would bring me more joy and more fulfillment.  But right now I don’t have that clarity because I feel a bit overwhelmed.  Yep folks, I feel overwhelmed.  It’s like coming out of the I-have-it-all-together closet.  And boy, am I relieved!

My Goal is to Pause

Pausing things helps me connect to my true authentic business.  In fact, my current pause has already helped me see that part of a twist in my new path is to teach folks how to create an authentic business for themselves! (Funny, huh?)  What does that mean, you ask.  Well, it means that the outside matches the inside.  It means you only do what you really want to do.  It means you feel like you are pretty much the same person at home and at work.  That you can actually say, “I feel overwhelmed” and that still gets respect from the people around you. And if they get turned-off, or think you are not strong or not “together,” then they are not a match for you.  Wow, what a revelation that is! 

Ideal Clients [Vendors, Partners, etc.]

In past articles we’ve talked about defining your Ideal Clients and attracting them.  This authenticity stuff takes it to a new level.  We need to focus on speaking our truth instead of saying the “right” thing.  Saying “no” if something doesn’t feel right.  As entrepreneurs we have the power to create whatever kind of business we want.  That includes working with people that we have fun with, that respect us, and make us look forward to our day. 

In the spirit of creating a more authentic business, here is how I am defining and taking my Ideal Client (vendor, partner, colleague) to the next level:

When I am working with them I feel:

-         Comfortable telling them that I am having a bad day.

-         At ease hugging them instead of shaking hands.

-         Secure saying that I need to postpone a deadline (if there’s flexibility). 

-         At ease taking Friday afternoons off or extended vacations.  They respect the need for balance and wholeness.

-         Confident that I don’t need to dress professional for them to respect me.

-         Valued for my talent and deserving of my fees.

Focusing On “Want” Instead of “Should”

This also means that my business doesn’t need to look like everyone else’s.  It means that I do what I “want” to do, not what I think I “should” do (or what I’ve always done).  That’s where this “staying put for now” thing comes in for me. We all go to plenty of seminars on how things should be done to make the big bucks, or fulfill our dreams, or be successful, or blah, blah, blah.  And I now know that my business needs to, above all, feel good to me no matter what.  I need to be happy when I wake up in the morning.  I need to be excited about the day.  I need to be looking forward to coaching my clients or receiving their phone calls.  This means that when I get that tight feeling in my chest, or headaches, or sick, or if I have thoughts nearly everyday about taking a vacation that something is wrong!  And creating more work won’t fix it. (Read that last sentence again, it’s an important one.) These kinds of uncomfortable feelings mean that I am not living an authentic business.  I am not trusting that my intuition will guide me to a business full of passion and prosperity.  

What do you need to do, or NOT do this year in order to have more joy?  What would bring you more peace in your life?  Help you breath deeper and smile more often?  These are the questions that I am asking myself and I thought that some of you out there might be needing to ask yourselves too.  Your internal compass will guide you to creating an authentic business. Look inside, you have all the answers.