Something that has been hard not to notice is that the world is looking for a fresh start – a more tolerant, open and sustainable approach.
There are different ways to look at the current situation:
We’ve gone too far, the planet won’t recover from our excess
OR we can take a look at the Bright Side:
Changes are happening NOW! This is the time for new ideas to thrive, create inspiration and move things around.
Are you ready to join the movement?
With the start of the new decade, the need for more consciousness in our life and most certainly in our companies has never been as strong. 2020 is bringing the fresh energy to make changes and inspire us all to be the leaders the world needs right now.
The magic is that in 10 years a lot can be accomplished… IF we put the right intentions to our actions.
As entrepreneurs and business owners we have the ability to make a positive impact on the industry and our communities.
Reconciling our personal and business life
High expectations, poor human connections and trust, low flexibility, high stress, tight deadlines. Sounds familiar? Did you know that two-thirds of employees have experienced burnout at work? That’s two persons out of three. Take a quick look around you, it might be you or one of your family members, but it sure is right around us.
We spent most of our life working or at the very least at the work place. To be exact, we spend on average 90,000 hours at work over our lifetime. The way we spend our days is building our life hour by hour. We have this tendency to consider our job as a separate thing from our “real life” to make ourselves feel better. The truth is we can’t wrap our mind around the idea that “this” is our life, that being in front of a computer all day, working for someone else, not enjoying what we do is our life. So we separate ourselves from our work life and find justifications that work isn’t meant to be enjoyable anyway.
Let’s be honest though. With 90,000 hours at work, 5 days a week, 8 to 9 hours a day on average… Work is pretty much our life. It sure isn’t the only thing that is part of our life, but it is a pretty substantial part of it.
So let’s ask ourselves and be intentional here:
How do we want ourselves and the people around us to live their life? Not understanding what they are doing, hating those 8 hours a day OR feeling useful, purposeful and joyful?
It is our choice to be intentional with our values and respect them at our workplace too.
As leaders, we have the influence to create a workplace that promotes integrity, values and optimal conditions to thrive during those 90,000 hours of our life.
“Sounds great but my business needs to be making money in order to be successful!”
GREAT NEWS!
Being conscious and sustainable can be profitable too!
It can actually help you to be more successful in the long term. Conscious and purpose-driven companies will make money while making a positive impact, create better relationships with employees, as well as increase and build greater customer loyalty.
FIND YOUR PURPOSE: WHY ARE YOU HERE?
It comes down to one very important question:
Why are you in business? What is your vision and your purpose? How do you want to contribute to the world?
Your business cannot and will not be successful in the long term if your only mission is simply to make money. It wasn’t back then and it is most certainly not going to be the case today.
Let it be for you, for your employees and for your customers. With no real mission and purpose, no one is winning the game. If making money is your only goal, your life, your employees’ life and your customers’ life will be greatly affected by this lack of purpose and meaning.
So what is it that you want to do? We’re not in this world for no reason. We are all so different with different gifts and skills and there is a reason for that. So what’s your gift that you want to share with your community? What can you embrace and turn into a profitable company? Because yes, it certainly can and will be profitable.
When you are embracing your genius, abundance will come to you.
If you are already in business but you feel stuck in a rut, this is the perfect time to analyze your current situation. If your business doesn’t bring you that joy and energy anymore, maybe you didn’t have a strong purpose to start with or maybe it just changed over time and it’s perfectly fine. Let’s use the energy of the start of this new decade to step in our purpose and shift the energy around.
ACTIONS: WHAT DO YOU DO DAILY?
Great intentions are an awesome start but it needs to immediately be followed up with actions. It’s not just about the talk. That’s why greenwashing has been such a big deal and why customers don’t always trust so-called conscious or green companies because they do not embrace their vision and values in ALL aspects of their business.
Integrity is key here. Being honest and respecting our moral principles at all times is important. This means honoring your values in both your professional and personal life. It also means offering a workplace that is aligned with the employees values so they can feel more aligned, connected and not feeling like they have to compromise themselves.
Which values do you embrace daily? Are you and your employees all acting together to fulfill this mission? Are you being a contribution to the world?
What are you producing and how are you in a practical way running your company? Are you aware of everything that is going on? Do you know the actual impact your production is having on the environment? This new decade it’s time to open our eyes and see the truth so we can work with it. Let’s stop hiding because we can’t handle the truth. There is always a solution and the solution will be based on the choices that we are making DAILY.
SHARE & COMMUNICATE ABOUT YOUR PURPOSE
The best part?
When you are in full alignment and integrity, communicating about your company is FUN!
You get to open up the door of your projects and be proud about what you are doing. This doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. It means that you are being honest and actually trying and making improvements each day.
With your employees, this means that your management team must be on board so they can communicate to their teams and help each employee to wholly embrace your values and purpose.
For your customers – this is GOLD! This is a great way to connect with your audience. People are desperately looking for authenticity. As a leader, you are an influencer and you get to positively inspire your community.
This is your choice. Choose to benefit both human beings and the environment and to work in alignment with your values and purpose.
There are so many amazing projects and ideas out there that our communities need to hear about. Together, let’s discover and strengthen your purpose and let’s share your message to the world because it needs to hear it!
I'd love to hear from you. Let's connect ☀
Yasmine Grignard
Visionary & Founder of Share Your Bright Side | shareyourbrightside@gmail.com