I work with my clients on getting passionate and inspired by who they are and what they offer. They recognize at a core level why their work matters.
We look at this by identifying their Intuitive Genius – the stuff they do better than most anyone, that they do so naturally they often say, “but can’t everybody do that?”
Next we look at their Unique Perception. The view of life that they are uniquely positioned to perceive.
When their business is designed around their Unique Perception… when it is solving a problem that they see so clearly in their minds eye that they can’t imagine doing anything other than working toward that solution… it is going to hold their attention for a long time. Long enough to make it profitable. Long enough to have a lot of fun along the way.
But, here’s what happens sometimes with service-based entrepreneurs who want to make a difference in the world. They become attached to their vision, rather than committed.
They believe so strongly that everyone should see it their way, and get on board with their mission, that they become righteous or indignant when people don’t automatically get on board. In this place of attachment, there is no freedom.
Sales conversations feel more like an attempt to convince someone of something they don’t want to be convinced of. The seller becomes a preacher of the rightness of the service.
Money goals become measures of your rightness, rather than simply measures of business success.
I like to use the description of attachment as a hand trying to clutch the sand on the beach to take it home. When you clutch tightly, no sand will remain… there is no space for it. Commitment, on the other hand, is like an open, cupped hand, full of sand. You might lose a little on the way, and you are OK with that. The bulk of the sand will stay in your hand.
The work you do matters. It matters tremendously to your ideal client. It will change their lives, and by ripple effect it will change the lives of those around them. You have to hold that thought as TRUTH in your mind and heart as that will inspire you to get out of bed and go make it happen. But it may not (and really should not) matter to everyone.
You cannot grip too tightly to the idea that everybody needs what you offer, or you go from committed to attached, and there is no longer “space” for your ideal clients to come in. Attached energy repels everybody. (Except maybe the really needy clients who want to attach to you!)
Know how much it matters, but don’t get attached… that is another aspect of running your business from your sweet spot!