“Stop saying ‘business!’ Just DELETE it.”
This message was given in an intuitive reading. Apparently, my spirit guides were rather insistent.
The idea is startling.
If this thing I do to offer my services isn’t a “business,” then what would it be?
I just had a stimulating conversation with Esther Lemmens in which we explored her way of “getting paid to be me.”
And I heard these words come out of my mouth:
What if it’s not “business” anymore?
What if this exchange of value and energy is a story?
Or a living entity?
What if we don’t need “offers” or “marketing,” but instead we connect to the people we’re here to serve through creative self-expression?
There’s so much conditioned thinking about sales, marketing, niches, customer avatar, branding.
When we try to alter the current model, it’s like putting lipstick on a pig. We can dress it up in pearls and a pretty frock, but it’s still a pig.
(No offense to my brilliant and beautiful porcine friends.)
If the idea of “business” and “marketing” feels HEAVY, what would make it light?
Business could be:
- A game
- An animal
- A tapestry
- A work of art
- An experiment
- A conversation
- An adventure
- A love story
This isn’t just semantics. At least, not for me.
There’s so much about business that conditions us to think transactionally.
Business As Usual is about making money.
But what if it could be about CREATING? And the value exchange needn’t be measured by profit alone?
What if we threw out the rules and reinvented it as something else?
I was taught that if you’re uninspired (or disgusted) by the idea of marketing your business, it means you have “money blocks” and “issues” keeping you from success.
Phooey.
I enjoy making money and have done so in business for decades.
I’m craving an entirely different way of giving and receiving value…something that Business As Usual likely doesn’t recognize.
Here’s what doing “business” your way means to me:
- Honoring yourself and your desires FIRST. Before the client, the practicalities or how things are “supposed” to be done.
- Adopting and adapting the strategies that suit and tossing the rest.
- Giving yourself permission for relentless self-expression.
- Experimenting, testing and playing your way into new projects and ventures.
- Following your inner wisdom before the opinions of experts or peers.
Magic happens when we show up fresh with something as if it’s the very first time.
Curiosity. Wonder. Possibilities.
Without those stories about what a business is or isn’t…
…it’s a blank canvas upon which you can paint anything.
This isn’t a path for everyone. We’re bound to stumble and fumble our way along.
But the thrill of discovering something new, the triumph of creating something that’s never been done before, and even the reality of possible failure makes it all the sweeter.
Would you rather live your life as an imitation of someone else’s?
Or attempt one that’s overflowing with the essence of you?
I’d love to know what you think about these crazy ramblings.
If you’d like to discover your way of creating deep impact and true wealth on YOUR terms, I would be thrilled to help. Connect with me here.
Yours in creative play,
Steph
P.S. Damn, it feels edgy to share this publicly! I’m not saying we should toss it all out…but what if we did?
Or at least gave ourselves permission to ditch all our THINKING about it and simply try something?
