Brush-hogging an acre of your business

At White Hawk, the ecovillage we live in, we’re about to start a 1-2 acre hazlenut grove project. The location we picked is currently full of goldenrod and some other brush. It’s land that hasn’t been used for human purposes in quite some time, and it’s in the process of turning from a field into brushland on it’s way to becoming forest.

In order to plant hazlenuts, we have to brushhog, which is basically mowing it all down.

This past weekend I was out in the tall grass with some stakes and flags measuring out a square acre of 208’ x 208’. And as I was doing it, I was feeling some sadness at cutting down all that was currently growing here. The goldenrod and honeysuckle and autumn olive bushes are beautiful. You can’t eat ‘em like you can hazlenuts (although goldenrod makes a wonderful tea, good for seasonal allergies), but still really beautiful.

I mention all of this because recently some participants in our programs were expressing some sadness and fear at how their lives will change if their businesses become more successful. There will be free time lost, among other things.

This loss is a real grief, and I have faced it in business as well as while standing in the middle of acres of goldenrod. It’s worth it to be conscious about this grief, so it doesn’t undermine you in developing your business. You want your business to thrive, I know! But the loss… the loss…

Let me explain the four intuitive pieces of the puzzle that let you move forward while honoring your heart and your needs.

There are four steps to facing this grief in a way that doesn’t sabotage your own development.

The first step: Maintain your wild land. While it’s true that we’re going to clear up to 2 acres for hazlenuts, we’re in the middle of 120 acres. As a community we have a commitment and care to maintaining a certain amount of the property as wild.

In your life, it’s good to have a commitment to maintaining a certain amount as wild and unscheduled. When you start to really work on your business, and things start to pop, it can be tempting to schedule things in whenever. A client wants to see you Saturday morning, okay! Wednesday night, okay! Sunday noon, okay! If you keep that up you’ll be working 7 days a week, with no wild, unscheduled time in your life.

So now, commit to maintaining the wild.

The second step: Ask permission. For the land, I’m asking permission in my heart, in prayer, to make these changes. I want to ask and listen to what my heart tells me, what the land tells me about what feels right. Sometimes there can be subtle changes your intuition can tell you that can help support everyone involved, including the land.

For your business, and for your life, and for your loved ones and friends and community, it’s good to ask permission. I don’t mean literally asking everyone you know if it’s okay for you to take this time, but to ask in your heart for the permission to make the change, to give up the time.

Sometimes we feel like we’re being run by “shoulds” and “have-to’s.” By taking the time to ask, you can notice what is okay, and what maybe isn’t. “Ah, I was going to give up all of my weekday time, and I realize that I don’t have permission from my own heart, my own life-force, from the Divine, to give up my Wednesday mornings. That oasis in the middle of the “work week” is a bit of wild that I need to maintain to help me breathe.”

The third step: Grieve the loss. There may still be wild fields on our property, but there’s no denying that the view out our west windows is going to change in a big way. I don’t want to run over that grief just thinking happy thoughts. I’ll miss the goldenrod.

You may want to say goodbye to certain freedoms or unscheduled time, as you give that time, consciously and with free will, to the project of developing your business. Rituals, journaling, or just simple intentions and prayers and thoughts and grief, can be really healthy ways of being with the reality of your loss.

The fourth step: Lean into the vision. Hazlenuts! I’m going to help a local tree enthusiast at Twisted Tree Farm, help plant hazlenuts, so I can learn from him. I’m going to see lots and lots of hazlenuts actually growing in a field!

I’ll be able to transfer that vision to our own acre. The goldenrod may be gone, but hazlenuts, baby! Interplanted with berries and other wonderful plants. Maybe a chicken coop back there. I can see benches and hammocks for enjoying the grove. And a few years from now, lots and lots of delicious hazlenuts!

Your business, when it thrives, will be full of wonderful people you love interacting with, your financial situation will change in wonderful ways, and you’ll feel well-used, giving your gifts and expressing your creativity. Hard work will be involved, but it will be good, honest work, that feels great.

You don’t have to do what our culture has so often done: just charge forward, roughshod, pushing through in a rush to somehow “get there.” Instead, you can be mindful and caring, and maintain some of the wild, as you do.

I’m so curious, what comes up for you as you read through these four steps?

My friend and colleague Dabney Alix interviewed me as part of her roundtable On the Shoulders of Giants monthly interview series. The topic was: The Spiritual Challenge of Opening to Abundance in a Dysfunctional Economy. Dabney is doing great work, and the conversation she and I had was deep and honest.

You can get it here: http://www.dabneyalix.com/shouldersofgiants/

Small Group Coaching with Steve

Steve Mattus, our Director of Education and Community Manager, has become a close friend of mine over these past years. He and I work closely together in guiding Heart of Business, and his skill and wisdom as a coach, as a healer, and as someone experienced in small business development is incredible.

And the guy has one of the biggest hearts ever.

He’s been working with clients, doing amazing work with them, and now he’s starting a small coaching group. If you’re interested, there are only 6 spots. I recommend it highly:

Steve’s small coaching group

p.s. Do you need to dive deep, get the jewels from your own heart, and then take them out into the world?

Please join me and a small group of compassionate, heart-centered business owners for a business-changing, heart-healing retreat this November. The Heart Sessions will be a deep dive, with a combination of spiritual practice, deep listening, and business strategy and coaching.

The delicious food and the amazingly gorgeous country-side that is upstate New York provide just the nourishment your heart and body needs to do this work.

For details click here: The Heart Sessions November Retreat with Mark

Unsure what you need?

Get a free Readiness Assessment which includes a personal reply from us.

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Heart of Business Community Update

As a community member, here’s quick access to resources and conversation!

It’s a new month and so we have a new Monthly Business Focus – Getting Help in Your Business.

This month is an opportunity to explore how to trust other people to do things your business needs. Go here now Monthly Business Focus and dig in!

In our Facebook group yet?

In our Facebook group, here are some discussions happening right now:

• This past Blog Post Friday has some interesting projects and ideas to share.  Check out what your fellow Community members are doing these days!  
• Celebration Monday has reflective and moving celebrations to witness and share.  Jump on over to the Community now and join in the conversation!

These are just 2 of the many discussions happening every day in our active, compassionate group! Don’t yet have access? Click here. 
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