Living in the Richness of the Moment – Part 6: Count Your Entrepreneural Riches
In the first post of this series, I suggested that Coming to Your Senses was a great way to begin the wellness-enhancing practice of Living in the Richness of the Moment. But you’ve read 4 additional posts in the series since then, and you’re beyond beginning…so today, in post #6, you’ll learn to turbo-charge your practice of Living in the Richness of the Moment.
And true to form, being willing to heed my turbo-charged advice means that you’ll be revving down, not revving up.
Get Set
So before you read any further, go ahead and grab a pen and paper, or open a clean document on your desktop. This post contains an invitation to do a bit of writing…right smack here in the beginning. Take a minute now and get things ready.
Okay, here we go.
Suppose I told you that there are riches within your entrepreneurial business that you haven’t even noticed. And suppose I further told you that noticing those riches would contribute to your overall wellness. Chances are you would ask me to point those treasures out to you. “Where are they?” you could be asking.
Challenge
Well, since you are there and I am here, sitting at my desk, and I like to encourage exploration…how about undertaking a challenge right where you are? Let me turn the question right back your way and ask you:
Can you identify (and make a list of) 50 things, right now, that are present in your business, that you have not recently (or ever) stopped to count as riches?
If you dare…
Grab that sheet of paper, or your keyboard, and compose that list. Do so as an exercise in expanding your mind. Do so as an exercise in expanding your heart. Don’t just think about it, write the list. Ready? Go!
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A phenomenon you might notice
If you’re reading through the whole post before you get started, here’s what you’re likely to notice once you actually start the exercise. When you begin, it’s common that the first 10 items on your list will come out of your brain quite quickly. The next batch, a bit more slowly.
But after listing about 35-40 items (if that many), pens tend to come off the page, or fingers off the keyboard, faces scrunch into frowns, and shoulders begin to shrug. You might have noticed the same thing if you’ve done this already. We just run out of things to list.
Time for a reminder
This is when I remind myself (and I’ll remind you here too) of a statement that I once heard Bob Proctor mention in his Goal Achiever® CD series. (btw I’m not an affiliate, though I probably should be, I talk about it so much.)
Paraphrasing here, Bob reminds his listeners that we don’t just set goals in order to achieve the things that the goals describe. He said that we set goals for who we will become in the process of achieving them.
Then I let the words sink in. I remind myself (and you too) that the same is true about our businesses…we don’t just run our businesses for the financial results they yield, we engage in our businesses for who we become by engaging in our businesses.
I’ll get quiet again and let that sink in as you re-read it.
Turbo charge the exercise
So at the point in the writing exercise where I run out of entrepreneurial riches to put down on my list, I ask myself (and I ask you now):
– what riches WITHIN YOU have shown up while you have been engaged in your business?
Sure, in workshops I frequently get blank stares for a while. Usually, I remain quiet. Undoubtedly, after a moment of awkward silence, someone will suddenly blurt out: “Oh. You mean like how I am much more PATIENT (or HONEST or ORGANIZED or COURAGEOUS) since I have been running this business?
And I smile.
Slowly, the lists fill. (Yup, yours will too.)
And often, years later, clients will tell me how that one simple exercise helped them live in the richness of the entrepreneurial moment and even rekindle their passion for their businesses. For some people, including me, this exercise is one of the things I do to complete the last day of work each quarter.
Taking the time to notice the details of everyday existence often brings us into a place of both wonder and gratitude. There is a way I soften when I notice things anew — doing so in a spirit of simple observation and appreciation fills my heart. Likewise, when I slow down to appreciate and give gratitude, I also find myself in a receptive, humble and softer stance.
Take time to enter both states today – simply noticing things anew as well as giving gratitude. Doing so can become a daily practice. Doing so will help you live in the richness of the moment.
Let us know what you discover.
Table of contents for Living in the Richness of the Moment™
1. Living in the Richness of the Moment: Come to Your Senses
2. Living in the Richness of the Moment: What’s Important?
3. Living in the Richness of the Moment: Slow Down to the Speed of Life
4. Living in the Richness of the Moment: Do Less
5. Living in the Richness of the Moment: Trust the Process of Life
