'Remember, Mike...live abundantly...know your WHY.'
...said my Reiki therapist after a recent treatment for some joint pain I manage. I never really know how to respond to directives like that, but have come to expect them from her as I trust her intuitive nature as she's working on me. I sort of understood the 'live abundantly' part, but the 'know your WHY' made no sense to me at the time. 'Uhm, OK...see you next week!' was all I could muster up in response, but she knows me well enough to know that I would perseverate on it until the deeper meaning reaches me. In a few short hours, the message led me to think about a business decision I made a few months ago that was not feeling quite 'right' - the decision to retire The Second Cup. But, I couldn't quite connect the 'live abundantly' and 'know your WHY' too clearly just yet.
So, I did a little research to find ways in which 'living abundantly' might manifest in a professional role. Here's what I found that resonated with me as a small business owner: Scarcity is fear-based thinking characterized by an overall sense that there won't ever be enough (clients, opportunities, money, time) which manifests in decisions that limit and constrict potential. (i.e. meeting ,but not exceeding expectations, holding back just in case) Abundance seeks to add value in every interaction we are a part of.Adding value means trying to give someone something they didn't even know they needed, and something they didn't even know they wanted, every time you interact with them. (i.e., give not for the get, but simply for the give....don't hold back, there's always more) With that perspective, the relevance of 'know your WHY' to abundance became clear to me:
I have resumed publishing The Second Cup because I remembered the WHY behind it: It is my value add to my clients, and in a broader sense, to the universe. It is my reflection of abundance thinking in my professional role. Earlier this year, I allowed scarcity thinking to disconnect me from that pretty foundational WHY in my business when I lost site of 'give simply for the give, not the get'.
Simon Sinek ,in his book Start with Why', writes "WHY is the thing that inspires us and those around us...it all starts with WHY'.
Perhaps staying connected to your WHY is one solid way to keep yourself grounded in abundance. Keeping your team focused on their WHY might be the most powerful way to shift from scarcity management to abundant leadership. This week, as Americans celebrate abundance, I challenge you to identify what is your personal version of ' The Second Cup'? What is your value add which you offer to the people you care about, love, serve...or, for that matter, to the universe. How do you show the world 'there is always enough to go around'?
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