Over the past ten days or so I’ve been tuning in to a right brain business tele-summit hosted by Jennifer Lee of Artizan Coaching. Some of the interviews were a bit hippy dippy, new age in nature, others were more practical. While I consider myself a right brain creative thinker, I’m not fluent in the language used by many self described spiritual folks. The minute certain terms are bandied about (ie. centering, the universe, and connecting with your inner source etc) my eyes glaze over and all I hear is Charlie Brown’s teacher – “Whaaa wha wha whaaa”. In spite of that some truths have managed to penetrate my consciousness. I have come away with a life changing paradigm shift.
Generosity and giving were running themes in many of the interviews. I do understand generosity and giving. They are principles that I have been taught since childhood and continue to grow in as an adult and christian. This is where the shift happened. I have always given out of my earnings so this wasn’t a new concept. My old way of doing business was that I sell something and give a percentage of that sale to a charity. But what if I think of my business as a means to give. By putting the giving first my whole perspective is flipped. I want to be able to give a certain amount to some of my favorite charitable organizations using my art work to fund my giving. So then it occurred to me that if I increase my giving percentage from ten to twenty percent my impact is doubled and I can really begin to give away significant amounts. Now I’m excited about my business making a contribution to more than just my personal bank account. Tell me what you think about this way of doing business. Maybe it isn’t an earth shattering revelation for you, but for me it’s truly life changing. Thanks Jennifer.
