Love, Tenacity, Leadership and Resiliency
Recently, my daughter, Serena, showed her first pig, Eeyore, at a small local fair nearby. Serena is an animal lover and dreams about becoming a veterinarian.
She begged for her own pig for over a year. When she got her pig, she happily declared, “I have a piggy!” Only she didn’t know what she was in for with Eeyore. He was much more stubborn than your average pig to train for the fair.
While watching Serena learn how to train and handle her pig, I saw love, tenacity, leadership and resiliency in action. These are some of the essential ingredients we also need as heart-based business owners. What are some ways to activate these traits even more? Read on to find out . . .
Love
Even though Eeyore ran the opposite direction, sat down on the job and kept breaking out of the makeshift wash station at bath time, Serena never stopped loving him. She knew this was only one aspect of Eeyore and task at hand. She would bend down close to him, reassure him while patting and scrubbing him, showing how she was there for him.
As a transformational business owner, love of what you do is required to keep you going when things get challenging in your business. Love is also the conduit for true transformation to happen in your life and to facilitate change in the lives of your clients. Even when your clients meet resistance, get triggered and sometimes even make it about you, love prevails and trumps fear in all of its forms and expressions. Your job is to be responsible to your clients to do your part of providing the tools and services you’ve promised them. It is also to hold them accountable to do their part and for them to be responsible for themselves. This is love in action.
To help you more deeply activate the healing power of Love, ask your Angels, “What can I appreciate about this situation or client?” or “How can I bring more Love alive in this interaction?”
Tenacity
Serena repeatedly took the steps needed to train Eeyore, even when it wasn’t convenient, didn’t seem like it was working, it got messy and it wasn’t fun. Even though in the moment of frustrations it wasn’t apparent, her work actually paid off in the show ring, where it mattered.
The same holds true in your business. Taking even small, consistent steps (or what I call baby steps) count up in your business. This consistent action pays off in the end with your ability to reach the people you are here to serve and also add to your bottom line. And even when it gets ‘messy’ with clients or you have things to do for your business that aren’t fun, if you stay with it, it will become apparent how what you do makes a difference.
To expand the energy of tenacity, ask your Angels. “What can I do to help me move my business forward today?”
Leadership
Even though Eeyore wasn’t interested in being lead and would rather root up the yard and eat dirt, Serena’s gentle prodding (and sometimes coaxing with marshmallows) kept him on track. He was getting the exercise and guidance he needed to participate in the show. Serena kept track of the vision for Eeyore and didn’t sway from it. She kept bringing him back towards it.
Leadership of yourself, your time, your business, with your business boundaries (and policies) and even in the relationship with your clients, colleagues and referral partners is a necessary ingredient for a successful business. You may see an even bigger vision of what’s possible for your clients than they do. You may need to create the space for them to step into it, supporting them to reach their ultimate goal, even when they are scared, doubting themselves and throwing roadblocks in their own path.
To activate your heart-centered leadership more deeply, ask your Angels, “How can I show up as the most empowering and empowered version of myself and be of the highest service in this situation?”
Resiliency
The day of the show Eeyore refused to go into the show ring. Right before the show, on the way to the ring, he squealed, then turned around and started to run. When Serena tried to block him, he didn’t let her stop him. Instead, Eeyore put his snout between Serena’s legs, picked her up on his back and took her for a ride, where she almost landed on her face on the barn floor. (Thank goodness her uncle intercepted her!) Serena didn’t let that stop her. With a little help, we got her pig into the show ring. She managed to quickly regain her poise. Serena led her pig around the ring as if she had done it all her life. This experience taught Serena a lot about herself. Serena showed up as a winner in her attitude, leadership, tenacity and love. And this time, Eeyore cooperated!
When your best laid plans for your business or client interactions go south, you need to regroup and bounce back quickly. You learn so much about yourself when you are faced with a challenge. When you make a mis-take, it’s an opportunity for a re-take or another try, not an opportunity to be hard on yourself. It’s not what happens to you, but how you recover that determines your outcome and happiness level. And that’s true success in business and life!
To activate resiliency, ask your Angels, “What can I do now that will put me in a positive direction?”
After asking the above energy (and Angel) invoking questions, stay curious. Observe what shows up for you. Let me know how you do with this by posting your comment to the blog below . . .
Enjoy!
Blessings, Tami