What does it look like to be “aligned” in your business? Yup, I’m tackling another buzzword today.
Alignment usually means that everything in your business is working well and operating like a well-oiled machine. On top of that, everything we are doing feels good to us! That last bit is a little more difficult to define, so of course, we’re going to dig into it:
Soul-deep alignment
What does it feel like when you have alignment in your soul, alignment in your gut, and in your body? It’s not a tangible thing, but it’s best described as a sense of peace knowing that you are in the right place. You are doing what you are meant to be doing.
Strategically speaking, we can be aligned in our business and it can grow and be making money, but it really is only half of it. But here’s the real questions we should be asking:
Does the work that you’re doing light you up?
Does it excite you?
Does it energize you?
Does it empower you?
Believe it or not, you can absolutely grow a business that you don’t love completely.
Comfort and familiarity
There is a difference between comfort and familiarity and being in alignment. Some people may feel like they are in alignment because what they are doing feels good – it feels comfortable. It’s easy to label that as alignment, but it’s very possible you are just so deep into your comfort zone that you don’t even realize that you are operating your business from a place of safety – and NOT because it’s really what you truly want.
The Question:
If you’re immediately rejecting the idea that the “alignment” you feel is simply your comfort zone, I want you to ask yourself this powerful question:
What would my business look like if I was operating at a 15 out of 10? Think about all the different facets of your business and answer that question for each one.
Scary Thoughts
Embracing what true alignment actually looks like will exponentially grow what already exists in your business.We often stay in our comfort zone because we’re scared of rocking the boat. We’re scared of switching things up, and we convince ourselves that we are in alignment.
Admitting to yourself that you want something more, or something different is scary.
Once you admit to yourself that you want something different – and then you don’t take action on it, that becomes even more painful.
True alignment in your business starts with getting clarity on what you want, admitting what you want, owning what you want, and then comes the actions you need to take.
The Work / Life connection
Experiencing true alignment in your business may require you to examine each area of your life as well. If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you already understand that personal growth is a huge factor in growing your business.
Business growth and alignment can start to expand and bleed over into the personal areas of your life. It forces you to look at all these different compartments. I will argue that if you are unwilling to take a hard look at your personal life and find alignment there, it will be almost impossible to reach alignment in your business.
There are others who may argue that keeping business and life separate is the way to go, but I want to challenge you to think of it differently. Your business is a part of you. It’s not “just a job”. Separating the two can just create more chaos.
Which brings us back to the word of the day: Alignment. I want you to be aligned in all of these parts of your life, and not compartmentalize them.
Alignment: The anti-comfort zone
Alignment isn’t measured by your comfort level. Thoughts and feelings are not facts, and they are often riddled with our need to stay safe and comfortable.
That’s right. If you are comfortable, if you are not pushing a little bit past your edges, are you really growing? And if you are not growing, can you really be in alignment? Can you really be operating at your highest level?
You are either growing as a person or you are not. You’re either growing your business or it’s slowly declining. You’re either watering your relationships or they’re withering.
Reaching the finish line
Alignment doesn’t have a finish line. When you are dedicated to growth, you will always be peeling back layers. Personally, this is one of the most wonderful parts of being alive: Being able to continue to grow and improve. We are capable of far more than we realize.If true business alignment is what you crave and you’re ready to make lots of money operating within your genius, I want you to check out Grow Business and Marketing Academy. Here’s where we start in this program: We look at your vision and get crystal clear on your goals and dreams and then we work toward creating your reality. Questions? DM or email me!
