Co-creation Archives - Sacred Business

{Interview} Business In The Slow Lane

February 21, 2019 by Natalie Kent

Here I am with the Queen of #QuietMarketing and one of our #SaplingMembers, Dani Gardner, for a chat about business with less tech, more nature and sustainable results!

I really admire Dani for breaking the mould of business/marketing/social media in the fast lane as she mentors other entrepreneurs to take the slow road to success. That’s not an easy thing when every piece of mainstream business propaganda is telling us to hurry up!

She herself is an example of what’s possible to create from more presence and less hustle.

Dani works 4 days per week and practices Sabbath, a full 24 hours total downtime each week – that means no internet and no reading!

Check Dani’s work out over here: https://www.danigardner.com

She also has a blog on Sabbath for business if you’re thinking of taking a leaf out of her book: https://www.danigardner.com/blog/keeping-sabbath

Here’s to Slow Business!

Why Slow Business Wins The Race

July 10, 2017 by Natalie Kent

For the last three years, I’ve been travelling around the natural wonders of Australia, in and out of wi-fi so I can build my business whilst maintaining my connection with nature. So much of what I teach is inspired by the success of our natural world, specifically how we can grow in harmony with all of creation, without sacrificing our health, relationships or our planet. It all begins with pace…

You may have heard of the emerging ‘slow business’ movement, which some progressive organisations and even well-known technology companies are adopting by choice. It urges people to reduce the pervasive fast pace of our economy and instead reap the rewards of organic growth. I call it living in ‘Earth time’.

Mind time versus Earth time

Our economy has been created largely from the mind, driven by the ego’s need to feel secure, overriding our innate sense of natural rhythm and timing. When the mind tries to control timing, life moves too quickly for our bodies and our environment to keep up with. It pushes us to create more and more, without looking square on at the side effects of maintaining such a high level of growth.

‘Mind time’ has yielded technologies that we as humans can barely keep up with, it’s left local communities without natural resources, people with permanently high blood pressure, and eroded intimacy in relationships. All because ‘there isn’t enough time’.

Living from the mind alone has resulted in much noise and distraction from what really matters: co-creating with each other and our planet from peace, not fear.

What’s more, we are so conditioned in our society for ‘overnight success’ – we only see the pinnacle of people’s work when it’s in the spotlight of (social) media. When we watch an athlete win a medal at the Olympics, we are not privy to personal, financial and physical sacrifices over many years that made it happen. We take it for granted and worse, become programmed into thinking ‘that’s all it takes, I can do that’. We’re only evaluating what we see. In my view, underlying all true success is slow progress.

The Rise of the ‘Business Ecosystem’

April 27, 2017 by Natalie Kent

You can do everything you’re supposed to do in business and get so far. I know I followed the formula that is espoused by successful solo entrepreneurs.

I got clear on my niche and what I can offer that is distinct in my industry.

I learned how to do online marketing, funnels and all the fun stuff.

I dissolved my ego drives to the point where I could have effective sales conversations without anxiety.

I spent years working through my ‘money issues’ (which were hardly to do with money at all) to deal with my finances with confidence.

Yet after all this, there was still something missing.

I was missing a sense of family, my business family; folks like me who are in business for the same reasons, with similar values. The people who understand me. MY people.

So I started dreaming about not being alone, about being surrounded by other business owners like me for a purpose beyond just making money. And that’s when my idea of a business ecosystem was conceived.

Home is not where you live, it’s where people understand you

As humans, we all yearn to be part of something, to belong, to be surrounded by people who ‘get’ what we’re trying to be and do in life. If you’re doing business differently, it can be hard to find your people amongst all the noise about how you should be making money. It may seem like a necessary inconvenience filtering out the mayhem and paving the way on your own, but I’ve found that it’s more isolating than ever.

Are you flying solo in business? I’ve been a solopreneur for nearly 4 years and I’ve tried joining groups and networks to find others out there with a similar approach to business. But I never quite found what I was looking for, none of them ever ‘stuck’. And I eventually figured out why.
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What Happens When Business Becomes About Fame

March 8, 2017 by Natalie Kent

The ego’s desire for fame and popularity shows up in both sneaky and overt ways. I describe it as a desire to consume more than what you need. Even if you think you’re not motivated by fame, you might be surprised to learn how the fame monster lurks in all corners of our society…

Why are you an entrepreneur? To be rich or famous? Or both?

There are many successful and yet-to-be-successful business owners who want to be of service to people. But are they able to separate their desire to be of service and their desire to make money or to be recognized?

As I mentioned in my previous article, if money becomes the primary driver of your soul work, you’re actually avoiding your true soul work. And when money and survival is involved, it’s very easy to convince ourselves that we’re not in it for the success.

Success for many equals money or fame or both. Sometimes it’s conscious, sometimes it’s hidden deep in the recesses of the ego.

Unfortunately, the way business is delivered and conducted in our world panders to the ego, in fact, ego is what fuels our economy. It’s the reason we see huge marketing launches, greedy corporations, prolific and insidious advertising, and even claims by some businesses that they are ‘here to help us’ (think insurance companies, even hospitals). Are they really? Or are they trying to make money first, and help second? Or in the case of individuals, are they simply trying to be famous?

The drive for fame and/or fortune is a power trip that even shows up in the most spiritual or noble professions.

Let’s look at what has to happen in order for someone to become famous:

They have to have a following of people, masses of people
Masses of people have to divert their attention away from themselves and their own lives to focus on that person
Masses of people have to give their money to this person, either directly or indirectly

What does this create?

A redistribution of resources to a single person and the people who support that person in being famous.

It funnels resources away from many people, to the pockets of a few, and what do these famous people typically do with those resources? They buy more cars, more houses, consume more of everything to justify and even demonstrate the money they are making.

When even one person consumes more than what they need, everybody loses.

If we lived in a different world, where people were self-empowered with a strong sense of their own purpose, we wouldn’t need famous people. However, in our current world, I believe there is still a place for people to be known by many in order to fuel revolution. The difference is what drives them. Are they driven by the need for adoration and power? Or is their fame a consequence of the profound impact of their service to people? Big difference.

Why the Solopreneur Movement Won’t Last

January 17, 2017 by Natalie Kent

As a species, humans started out being dependent on one another for survival. We relied on each other for food, shelter and safety in small communities that were defined by physical locality. It was a necessary arrangement and it was successful at keeping the species going.

Fast forward thousands of years to today.

We now live in boxes, surrounded by fences, drowning in stuff that we own in duplicate to our neighbors. We struggle to keep our patch of land, food on the table and ourselves safe from other humans. We fight over money, we’re unhealthy and we’re lonelier than ever.

So what went wrong?

Separation.

Separation from each other in fear, running from our own shadows, distracting ourselves from our grief with consumerism, technology and busy-ness. We tricked ourselves into becoming independent and free by removing the intrinsic human need we have for true companionship, community and co-creation.

And now we have a new trend of separation in business…

Solopreneurism: Separation disguised as freedom.

The solopreneur was born from prison.