What Are You Engaged In?

I talk so much about how our businesses, especially as entrepreneurs, are catalysts for our personal growth. I have learned and practiced many skills in my business that have shaped the values I extend into other areas of my life. Today, I'm going to share one with you.

In the early days of my business, I was so worried about doing it wrong and failing. It always felt there was a lot on the line. This pressure lead me to place more stock in other people's opinions than in my own inner wisdom. Essentially, I was outsourcing my intuition to those I felt knew more than me, had deeper expertise, or more experience. And while it IS important to have a team of advisors to draw on, when I let everyone else's advice trump my own intuition and preferences, I created a company that was successful on the outside but not quite satisfying for me on a personal level. Over time, I learned to listen to my inner knowing and I gave myself permission to make business decisions from this place.

In my personal life, I'm currently getting ready for the birth of my second child (she's coming in June!).

At the beginning of the pregnancy, I was going to a western OBGYN doctor, affiliated with a big hospital here in LA, and who had a celebrity following (he has delivered Angelina and Brad's babies, so he's a bit of a legend).

I knew I was in excellent hands, but in our 6-minute appointments and with the changing covid protocols, I wasn't having the experience I longed for this second pregnancy. I wanted to be more present and feel more cared for, and I envisioned a delivery that honored the sacredness of the experience more than I had with my first son in a hospital. So, I found a midwife and decided on a home birth. I knew this would require more participation, time, and effort from me than simply showing up for regular 6-minute appointments. I also knew that many people around me, that I loved and respected, felt I was choosing wrong, that I should go the "safer" and more "conventional" path of a hospital birth.

Making this decision, where a lot IS on the line, wasn't easy, but it was certainly easier because I've had so many instances in my business to practice prioritizing myself and listening to my intuition above other people.

The payoff, I've noticed, is that when I make decisions from this place, all of the effort that comes afterward feels more doable, because it is aligned. The hard work doesn't feel so hard, and the reward is a life that feels like it really belongs to me.

In our lives and businesses, we choose what we engage in.

It reminds me of something Cheryl Strayed said on a writing retreat I attended in the Redwood Forest. She said, "We build our lives based on what we choose to engage with."

What are you engaging with lately? Is there anywhere you are outsourcing your intuition?

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