Page 3 - Jan Feb 2015

The Wave
Letter From The Editor
Iam a born entrepreneur. I am a serial entrepreneur. It’s in my blood, it’s in my family history, it’s all over my astrological chart. I have been a successful business owner for over 30 years. And, up until now, being an entrepreneur was killing me. I did all the marketing, all customer service, all the accounting and taxes, and for one business in which I produced products, I did a lot of the production and oversaw contractors for the rest. I did all the shipping, supply sourcing and ordering.
Superwoman? No. Unwise Woman, yes. Are you familiar with Unwise Woman? She thinks she is Super Woman. She believes she MUST do it all herself. She “can’t afford” to pay for anyone to help her. No one else can market her business like she can. There are a myriad other reason why Unwise Woman does what she does. But in the end, all that matters is that she is exhausted and burnt out. Whether she is making a fortune or a pittance for her efforts, the price she is paying to be an entrepreneur is too high.
Myths and Misplaced Priorities
The prevailing business paradigm, for employees as well as employers, promotes the belief that we must work as hard and as long as we can if we expect to be successful. If we “slack off ”, even for a few hours every other year, we’ll be left in the dust, fail, miss the big deal, screw up, not be as profitable as we could be . . . the list of disasters that could occur if we take a day off is endless.
But this paradigm leads, inevitably, to disaster. It leaves us drained, burnt out, focusing on all the wrong things in life, and, in the end, unfulfilled.
The Shift
I have come to believe that Collaboration and Self Care are the watchwords for all entrepreneurs and business owners. But in order to collaborate with others and take care of ourselves in the midst of “so much to do” every day, the first thing we business owners must do is TRUST. We must trust that when we take care of ourselves, (rest, relax, eat right, take time to get emotionally recharged), and allow our employees to do the same, our business will not fall apart. In fact, the space we allow when we take a break for ourselves is the place where and when The Divine can do its marvelous work and create miracles on our behalf.
This requires a momentous shift in
our thinking. We must eschew the
old paradigm of overwork and self-
sacrifice that, in the end, does not serve
us. We must learn to trust that when we take care of ourselves, everything else will fall into place.
Another way to create miracles is through collaboration. This requires a big shift in thinking, as well. To fully collaborate in the world, we must give up the view that we have “competitors”, and see those around us, even so-called “competitive” businesses, as potential collaborators. As Karen Halseth and Aimèe Lyndon- Adams, our new Spirit in Business columnists say, we are better together.
Karen and Aimèe are great business coaches and mentors,
and tremendous collaborators. In future issues of The Wave,
they will be collaborating with us to teach and spread a new business paradigm that includes Self Care, developing alliances, collaboration, and trusting in the process of allowing space for the Divine to do its marvelous work in our lives.
We also welcome a new food columnist, Kathy Sanchez, who will be sharing her experiences preparing delicious meals using local, seasonally available ingredients. She, along with our other Culinary Arts contributors, including Raw Foods expert Audrey Fontaine, will collaborate with us to support us in developing healthy eating habits.
Like so much in life, this is a process rather then a goal we can quickly reach. I am still learning, practicing, and growing in this new paradigm. But every time I release and trust, wonderful, miraculous things occur. To quote from the wonderful musical “Flower Drum Song”, miracles are happening every day!
I invite you to join me and all the gifted healers and metaphysicians who have given of their time and talent to fill these pages with their wisdom and knowledge, to shift our way of thinking and learn a new, more productive and successful way of being in the world!
March/April 2015
The Wave 3