One of the harder decisions I’ve seen folks face is when they are trying to choose between a full time position or building their business.
You can, of course, do both, but it’s hard. Many people take that on temporarily, holding on to a full time job to pay the bills while working on their business before work, after work, (and sometimes during work. Shhh, don’t tell.)
An even more difficult situation is when you have a business that you love, but is not yet developed enough to support you financially, and at the same time you have a job opportunity doing something you would love to do. A job that, if your business wasn’t in the picture, you would just jump at and be grateful.
Right here, right now let me be completely clear: having your own business is not inherently better than having a job. There are pros and cons to both.
How do you make a decision like this, when so much is at stake? If you opt for your business, but then it doesn’t really flourish, you’ll have missed out on what could have been a dream job. Or, if you take the job, no matter how good it is, you’ll be locked into an employer’s schedule, without the freedom of having a business.
Here are some questions and thoughts to bring to your heart, if this is something you’re facing.
First: There are no bad choices here. Sometimes we’re granted a moment to stand at a fork in our life, when both paths lead in wonderful directions. They are different, sometimes very different, to be sure. So you can lean in to the fact that you can’t really mess this one up.
Really take that in. Let your body relax into this sensation that it’s not a life-or-death, succeed-or-fail kind of choice. It’s much more of a, which kind of wonderful adventure do you want to go on?
Second: Does one of them represent your past, and the other your future? Sometimes a dream job will rise up because you’ve had a lot of experience in an area. But, it’s from your past and when you look out into the future, you realize that that’s no longer who you are, that you are shedding a certain part of your life.
You probably will need to grieve letting go of that aspect of yourself as you step into the future.
And, it may not be the job. Sometimes the business could represent your past, because maybe you’ve been self-employed in a certain way for many years, and going into a job represents a very different way of being, something new that is growing in you.
So the choice may not be this versus that, but the past versus the future.
Third: Does only one contains your gift? This is related to the second question above. Sometimes you’re stepping into a new skill, a new identity, a deeper calling. Will the job allow you to develop and express this new gift growing in you, or can that only be accessed through your business?
And, to throw in a further complication, do you have to step into this new gift full time? Meaning, if you take a job that is otherwise an amazing wonderful thing, but without expressing this new identity, could you find ways to use your new, growing gift that don’t have to be monetized? Volunteer opportunities? Gift-giving in community, knowing your financial needs are already taken care of?
Fourth: Does it have to be either/or? Would it be okay to develop your business more slowly while you work a dream job? Is there space and flexibility in the job to allow you to continue developing your business more slowly, to get it to the point where the choice is a real one, between a job and a financially profitable business?
Fifth: What if it wasn’t a choice? Many of the times I’ve made a choice at a fork in my life, going in one direction rather than another, it wasn’t really a choice. At least not on the level of “do I want chocolate or cherry?”
Those moments when I listen deeply to my heart, I often find that I’m being placed on a certain path, rather than choosing. This is different than a collapse of spirit, or just “going with the flow.” Sometimes it can feel like going against the flow, but with the certainty in my heart that I’m supposed to be paddling rather than just floating.
Do you feel one path or another in your heart, as if you are being placed on it, and that feeling has been obscured by fears and worries?
Sixth: What happens when you take the time to live into both paths? Sometimes we can’t tell the path until we start to walk it. With big decisions like this one, I might take a day, or several days, and live my life having chosen one of the paths. Then, take another day or several days, and live my life as if I had chosen the other path.
Then, I notice what was true for me in each decision. Sometimes it becomes obvious immediately that one path is the right one, and the other one isn’t. Other times, it takes a little while to really get what the two realities mean, and where my heart is.
Ultimately, I want you to trust your own heart. The important thing is that you are happy, and that you are able to express who you are and the gifts that have been placed deep in your being.
If you face a choice of this magnitude, may the guidance be made clear for you!
With love,
Mark Silver, M. Div.
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every act of business can be an act of love.
All new this year: The Heart of Your Business course
Once per year we offer our 9 week program, The Heart of Your Business. It’s a powerful journey that helps you have a healthy relationship with business in general, and with your own business in particular. Even more, it helps you understand exactly what your business will need to succeed, and what commitment is being asked of you.
This year we’re upping the production values tremendously. We’re reshooting the teaching materials to be more concise, and the live classes will be beautifully produced.
It starts the end of June, with a bonus class on Sovereignty in your business June 1 for those who register in May. All priced at pay-from-the-heart.
