Creating a future is not something that most people think about. We typically think of things we want - a house, a relationship, a new car, an education, a vacation etc. but beyond that actually creating a future isn’t encouraged or taught.
Yet if we don't start consciously creating our futures - including the future of our business or even the planet - what we experience now that we don’t desire, will just continue to be what we experience…in the future.
Most people don’t think about the future, they worry about it. Which is not the same thing. They don’t consider the choices that they are making right now and how those will contribute to and create the future that they are actually desire.
Most of us have been encouraged and taught by others to keep it safe and follow the pathways that will give us security, comfort, and certainty in life. Go to school, go to college, get a job, get married, have kids, retire, and die. That’s the safe path.
And business is no different.
Being an entrepreneur, following your dreams, doing what you love - that’s the rogue path. That’s leaving the herd. And that can be very invalidating to those choosing to remain in the herd. And that can cause them to vilify you, in defense of their own choices.
So how do you stay strong and actually create the future you know is possible for you in business? What does it take? Here are 5 ways you can protect and nurture your precious business’s future that deserves to exist.
1. Don’t judge your choices
Judgment kills. Judgment can show up in both positive and negative terms. Watch out for both as each can be equally limiting. Most people only see judgment as a negative thing, but when you’re seeking the positive (and addicted to all it’s forms) it can limit your awareness of what is really going on and possible and thus destroy your chance to have total choice.
Each choice you make is not right or wrong. It’s not going to be better or worse. It’s just a choice and you can always choose again. We are making micro choices all the time and when you become more conscious of what you are choosing, you’ll have awareness of how they are creating your future, but judging them as right or wrong is not awareness. That’s judgment. That kills all creation and forward momentum towards what is actually possible.
You can ask the question, “If I choose this, what will that create in my life in the next 5, 10, 20 years?” and if the energy of that choice matches what you’d like your future to look like. Go for it. If it doesn’t match, ask, “What else could I choose that I haven’t yet considered that would create/contribute to my future?” and get a sense of what else Is possible.
2. Be in a constant state of create - not wait
By continuously choosing - not judging - you’ll be able to create: momentum, more awareness, more choice, more possibility, more contribution, and more of your future you desire in business.
If you find yourself “waiting to choose” - that’s still a choice. So ask the question about and see what that is creating. Is that what you’d like? If not, choose something different.
3. Stop keeping “score”
We’ve been taught to get on the scoreboard, keep score, track scores, and ensure that we are scoring in business! All of this perpetuates judgment. It’s just another form of it. Winning and losing. What if there was no such thing? We are winning and losing to the same degree with every choice. We lose certain things and win others all the time, they are never separated, so trying to avoid one and seek the other is a futile effort.
Just keep choosing what is true and light for you in business based on the future that you would like to bring into existence.
4. Notice if you’ve injected the values, projections, and expectations of others
Sometimes we can buy into the values, projections, and expectations of the ‘herd’ because it’s what everyone else is doing, perpetuating, and perpetrating as true. It’s the safe bet. We’ve only encouraged to follow our own truth until much later on in life, after we’ve already been taught and discouraged to do that. Total hypocrisy.
So how do you know if you’re succumbing to or operating from everyone else’s paradigm/reality in business? Listen to your language. If you’re using words like: should, have to , must, ought to, need to it’s a sign that you’ve injected the values of others and are now filtering your choices through what they expect, project etc.
The only thing you ought to, should, must, do is what is true for you in business. That’s the only way you will find your business in a future that is one you have crafted.
5. Stop thinking that you have the answers
Trying to constantly find, have or figure out the answers is another way we can limit ourselves and our businesses. Answers shut down our neural pathways in our brain. They stop all possibility and are inherently another form of conclusion. They are an endpoint. And they are just another way that we limit ourselves and what is possible in and for the future of our business. If you’re trying to come to the conclusion about whether or not your choices are right or wrong, then you’ll constantly be limited by the judgment, rather than the possibility of what exists.
Seek more awareness, not answers. Keep asking questions to gain awareness, not answers. Awareness gives you insight into what else is possible. Possibilities give you choice. Choice creates.
The future of your business can be bright. Follow the light. Choose what feels light. That’s what’s true for you. And eventually, with every choice you make, you’ll begin to see the fabric of your future weave together.