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YOUR BUSINESS IS YOUR MIRROR
by Michele Lisenbury Christensen

You've got some challenges you're trying to handle in your business, right? Everyone does. You want ways to increase business without losing yourself in the process. Ways to balance your work life and your home life. There are a few problems to solve, too. Cash flow problems. Employee problems or problems of how to get it all done yourself.

You're probably even reading this message hoping this has some information to help you figure things out. A new way of thinking. But frequently trying to figure things out is neither necessary nor helpful. Lucky for us, all the wisdom, resources, ideas and solutions we need lie close at hand. No, I'm not going to tell you, to a chorus of angel voices, "your solutions lie within."

Here's the most effective problem-solving secret I know: Your answers are contained within your business. The very business whose problems you're trying to solve is itself the guide who will help you solve them.

See, your business is neither your creation nor is it some external challenge or struggle that you're meant to dominate, control and master. It's not at the whim of the market…like a small boat tossed about on the seas of competition. Your business is not created solely by you and your effort, by the market, or by your customers. Imagine for a moment that your business is a teacher; a self-contained entity with a vitality of its own.

What if our businesses, just like our children, come into being partly from our inspiration, hard work, and vision, but contain their own life force and possess their own purpose, separate from our existence? I think our businesses have two purposes: first, they've come into being to serve the world in a way nothing else could. Second, they've come to guide us, their owners, to know who we are and why we're here. Practical purpose, evolutionary purpose. They go hand in hand.

How does your business guide you toward solutions? It simply reflects back to you everything you bring to it. Everything happening (or not happening) in your business is a reflection of your inner world. Employee challenges. Marketing problems. Cash flow… or the lack of cash flow. A creative dry spell. Feeling stuck at one level while yearning for another. Confusion as to whether your business works for you… or whether you work for it. All these experiences reflect your own inner world. Your business shines these images back to you so you can see them clearly enough to learn from them. When you look at the challenges as reflections, not as external problems, you can enroll your business as your teacher. And when you take its counsel and remodel not only your actions, but your way of being, this teacher can guide you to true greatness. Your path of career success becomes your spiritual path. Your business will thrive as your spirit revels in deeper integration.

PRACTICES FOR WORKING WITH YOUR MIRROR

The following practices have brought about wonderful solutions and growth for my clients and for me. E-mail me and let me know your experiences with them.

Do your best to let go of trying to "solve" or figure out these problems. Then, daily or weekly or monthly, take some quiet time to listen to your business' perspective on these situations.

Until next time, may the light within you illuminate the world around you.

          Blessings,

Michele Lisenbury Christensen
Success and Spirit Coach

© 2005 Michele Lisenbury Christensen. All rights reserved. Feel free to or re-publish, with the following copyright and contact information attached:
"By Michele Lisenbury Christensen, MA, PCC, Success and Spirit Coach. Please visit http://www.successandspirit.com for additional articles, interviews, and resources for creating sustainable success and spiritual connection." (Please make sure the link is live if placed in an e-mail or web page)

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