There are a number of definitions of what spirituality means but essentially, it has to do with the spirit, as in the essence of being human — your soul or your inner life. Having spirituality in your business can be a game-changer in terms of managing challenges and celebrating successes. In this article I will share some excellent tips to help you navigate the two so that you can keep achieving your goals.
What is spirituality?
Spirituality is sometimes connected to religion however, in this context it is about alignment. The quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.
In my practice, clients often struggle with purpose. This purpose they seek is usually attributed to a lack of spirituality in their lives. When you don’t have purpose for everything that you do, it will stifle your progress and leave you feeling unfulfilled.
When you have spirituality in your business, you start to align yourself more fully to your values, your beliefs and ultimately your goals.
How can you apply spirituality in your business?
The first step is to recognise that spirituality in this context is not based on religion. We are talking about aligning yourself with your business goals.
This is often overlooked and then when things start going wrong in your business, it is most likely that your values are not aligned with your mission.
Gratitude in your business
In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways.
Imagine you embody this persona of gratitude. How much better could your business be running? It doesn’t matter if you are working on your own or with a team, you will inevitably come into contact with people. You will definitely come into contact with challenges, frustrations and negative experiences.
What if you were equipped to handle these challenges more easily and keep your business moving along?
What does having spirituality in your business look like?
If this is a new concept to you, it may be tricky to see what having spirituality in your business actually looks like. Here are two examples that you may like to consider:
Making difficult decisions
Every business owner faces a moment in time when it’s easier to not do the right thing than to do the right thing. When you have spirituality in your business, it is much easier to make the right decisions because you are leading from a strong set of values and beliefs. You are less likely to second-guess and instead you raise your intuition.
Improving profits
When you run your company according to a higher principle that goes beyond just making a profit, you end up attracting like-minded employees. These like-minded employees are aligned with the values in your business and therefore will help you achieve your business goals.
When you have a sense of spirituality in your business, you can:
- Make better decisions
- Solve problems more easily
- Build authentic relationships
- Be more productive and prosperous
- Be more creative
- Experience less stress
- Have more fun
- Strike that elusive balance between work and life
As the leader of your business, start by doing this for yourself. Then you can start to apply spirituality principles to your business.
When you do this, as well as being able to manage challenges better, you will also attract the right customers. This will also help you to attract the right employees and the right opportunities.
Examples of using spirituality in your business
Having spirituality in your business can take on many forms so I have compiled a few easy to implement examples for you:
Start and end your personal day with gratitude.
- Write 3 things you are grateful for day and night.
- When you get into the office or start work for the day, consider 3 things that you are grateful for in your business.
- If you have a team, ask everyone each morning to say something that they are grateful for today.
Always celebrate your accomplishments.
So often businesses get excited about a ‘win’ which is celebrated with a few drinks after work but of course that is short lived.
- To celebrate a win using spirituality, gather yourself or your team and ask each other what you are especially proud of from the win. Taking this moment of reflection is essentially training your brain to do more of that the next time.
- Always share your ‘wins’ with like-minded people. When you do this, you align with your spiritual values and they will celebrate and pass on their good energy to you.
Giving back or paying it forward.
Most businesses start with solving a problem and then the financial goals. Having the freedom that you will have, the excitement of doing things your own way is the beauty of having your own business.
However, putting back what you are taking, is a good exchange of energy. It creates a natural flow of money. You can give time or cash but making ‘giving’ a priority not only for you but also as part of your culture will reap benefits.
- When you work with people less fortunate than you, your energy aligns to a more compassionate stance. When you are more compassionate, you will be a better leader as you are managing your ego.
- Having your team be involved from the very beginning of their employment with you in these deeds, will create a stronger like-minded workforce. A set of people who are willing to support your business dreams is more likely to reap results than someone who is deemed greedy.
Puja McClymont is a certified Life Coach supporting ambitious women in senior-level roles, entrepreneurs and high profile individuals to be empowered by who they are and what they want from love, life & work.
To learn more about how Life Coaching can help you enhance your work or personal life and give you some much needed clarity and direction, book a free discovery call here.