Of course, there are probably dozens of reasons you could point to....



- serve others

- contribute to the greater good

- meet a need that's not being met

- grow your financial well-being

- express your purpose

- prove to the world that you can

Wait - whoa - what was that last one? Take another look...

That's right. Although most people wouldn't admit it (even if they were conscious of it), there is often a hidden motivation that accompanies our most altruistic intentions. The desire to prove that we are enough.

Where does it come from?

Often, it comes from early childhood conclusions. Something happens, and you make your conclusions and assumptions about what it means. Maybe you have an older sibling, and were always trying to measure up (that's me). Or, you were an older sibling, and were always trying to recapture the attention you felt you lost when the little squirt was born (that's my older brother).

Of course, it doesn't have to be the result of a sibling relationship, or even anything "negative" at all that kicked off your pattern. Perhaps you were recognized positively for doing well in a school play, or sports event, and somehow you got it wired up that in order to get love and attention, you had to keep performing. And that conclusion has been running you ever since.

Great. Now what?

When you become aware of a previously-hidden intention, chances are pretty high that it casts a shadow over your day, and you'd like to be able to get rid of it. Because trying to serve two masters (your desire to work for both "higher" and "lower" reasons) can really throw you off your groove, toss your productivity in the toilet, and cost you significant amounts of time.

There are, of course, lots of ways to clean your intentions. One of the simplest ways is to take some time to feel the drive you have to do great things with your business. And as you do, let yourself be open to feeling both the altruistic intentions, and the ones that do it to prove something.

Then, once you're feeling that "yeah, then I'll be seen as x" intention, ask yourself, "And what if that didn't happen? What if I didn't get that payoff?"

That will show you the deficiency you're trying to compensate for; the conclusion you came to as a kid that you're trying to avoid, deny, or negate.

And once you see that, what's going to heal it?

Perspective. No, not your perspective; Divine Perspective. If you could have dealt with this, you would have, long ago.

The only way to truly free yourself of those old conclusions is to go beyond the level of thinking you were at when you thought it (yes, echoes of that famous Einstein quote, "The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.").

Once you can see more than what you saw before, the old conclusions will no longer have such a grip on you.

How?

The best way I've found is to engage your sense of connection, i.e. through awakening your heart's connection to the Divine. Alone, you can only see what you can see. But together with a Higher Perspective, you can see everything you need to.

This can happen through heart-centered meditation (like the Remembrance), by connecting to your heart and feeling the greater, universal presence your heart is naturally connected to. If you're an "inner wisdom" person, then finding that still center within where you hear that wise, connected voice, is key.

However you get there, get there. And when you're there, ask to be shown what you couldn't see before that you need to see.

Example:

When I feel why I'm in business, I get a list of reasons, such as service to others, service to the earth and the Divine, family and financial well-being, etc. And, I feel a place that says, "People will look at me and think I'm great." (Whoops!)

So I ask myself, "And what if that didn't happen? What if I didn't get that payoff?" And what I feel is a strong sense of aloneness, and lack of love. That there isn't love in this world for me. (Bingo!)

Then, I connect in my heart, and feel the loving presence I've come to recognize as the Divine. And, I ask, "What do I need to see that I haven't seen before?"

And the answer that comes back to me is that this intention is trying to make it so I don't have to be needy of Divine support; that I can be self-sustaining, sufficient, and powerful in myself. But my heart knows (and it gets reinforced pretty quickly, doing this process) that I'm just human, and without Divine support, I'd be toast.

With that realization comes great relief, relaxation, and a lessening of the desire to prove anything about who I am through my work. What I hear is, "You are what you are because you've been made to be that - and no amount of your doing is going to increase, or decrease, that."

Pretty sweet stuff. In one moment, I'm both sufficient (just because I'm me), and utterly not sufficient, because it's the Divine support that makes it all happen through me... not little ol' me, on my own.

And, what does that do for my business? By clearing up the illusions in my intentions for being in business, it helps me realize that I don't have to do it alone, that I am supported, and I can work from a much greater place of freedom and ease.