Putting the heart back into your life & business: principle 1

Week 1 Clarity

My work as a coach/ speaker is all about helping people embrace life and live it from their heart. And that mean all aspects; life, career, relationships and business.

That work led to write my new book Soul Trader – Putting the Heart Back into Your Business (published in the USA today 28 Nov 2012). It was published in the UK last month and received a warm reception/ reviews and has also attracted sales in South East Asia – a part of the world that has taught us much about finding ‘self’ and fulfilment which has long been enterprising.

My goal was and is to remind us that life -and business – is simply about people, exchanging our gifts/talents and the spirit and essence of our interconnectivity. Everything else is an overlay – and much of the overlays are crumbling in various ways across the globe.

All too often we live life from our heads only and hence we lose heart and passion. The book is all about how to follow your heart and business (or indeed career) that you and your customers will love, by following your heart, passion, vision and mission.

So to help celebrate the launch of the book over the next 8 or so week’s I will be sharing a little of the 7 principles which will help you be it that you are at a point of career change, self discovery, starting a business or indeed if you have been in business for some time.They will help you develop, insight, clarity, foresight and help you step ahead and enjoy a more fulfilling life by embracing your own magic. Let’s begin this week with the first and fundamental principle.

Principle 1 Clarity

“Until you are clear nothing will be. Once you are clear everything will be.”

So what’s really important to you in your life, career/business and relationships?
What has been your life journey so far?
What has been your learning so far? And I mean the learning have you actually stopped, listened and applied the learning?
Are you grateful for all that you have seen, achieved, survive and for the gift of life – or are you overlooking these things?
What are your skills, passions, talents and gifts? (write them down – and ask those you know/trust)
Are you following your passion, talents and skills? Until you do you are unlikely to feel motivated and and fulfilled. A cat cannot live as a dog.
Where are you at right now in your life, career / business and relationships?
What are the key opportunities you have and challenges that you face? (write these things down)
What tools, resources and support do you have and what additional ones do you need?
Action: Mindful of your answers to these questions what are the 2-3 priorities? What simple actions could you take to start or progress with these things and who can help you? I warmly encourage you to listen to your heart and follow up as feels true to you …in your own way at your own pace.

It is all very well that you are clear, next we need to look at life from the perspective of those around you, those in your life. Let us call them your customers. If you are business that will actually mean your customers (as well as suppliers, contacts and staff). If you are looking at this through the lens of your own life and career then those customers include those you work for, with and serve as well as the friends, family and connections in your life. We will look at this next week in the second principle: customers.

If you enjoyed this article and found it useful you may well enjoy the Soul Trader – Putting the Heart Back into Your Business. Soul Trader is written by Rasheed Ogunlaru a leading life coach, motivational speaker and business / corporate coach.