It took a good friend of mine a long time to figure out why I don’t usually meet for coffee in the middle of the week. “But you have all the freedom in the world! You are independent and manage your own time, aren’t you?”
So yes! I have all the freedom in the world but… also all the responsibility! People usually associate freedom to “do what I want” and remove a burden, but true freedom, which is to fulfill our deepest longing, always involves responsibility. So, if you have chosen to be independent in order to have freedom, you should remember that the greater the freedom, the greater the responsibility. As a result, the size of the responsibility equals the length of the list of tasks that require handling and execution, long before we reached the pleasure and satisfaction that is why we even opened our business.
In addition, most people (and especially women!) Add to the “business list” also a “family list” that includes payments, shopping, repairs, appointments to the dentist, parent meetings… In short, an endless list.
And the truth is, there is nothing more disheartening than living with a ” TO DO” list, as one list ends another begins.
But here comes the golden rule that changes the whole picture: before we ask “what” should be done, one should understand “why?” We have to do it! In other words, we should have a dream, a vision! Because once we have a clear “why?”, it will give us the strength for all the “what” we will have to do (and for all the difficulties and frustrations that await anyone who wants to fulfill a dream in this world).
Simon Sink, reveals during an incredible TED talk, this simple but powerful model that explains why Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers (who were the first to build a plane with an engine and the capacity to fly a human inside it), Were successful while their competitors failed. His conclusion is that all organizations, and inspiring leaders have a very powerful and clear “why?” From which all the (“what”) actions derive. And by the way Their “why?” was never just to “make money”. Steve Jobs (the founder of Apple) had a vision, the Wright brothers had a passion, and it was not for nothing that Martin Luther King’s famous speech was called “I Have a Dream” and not “I Have a Plan”.
I think that if we don’t have a clear “why?” behind our business, then why get up in the morning and invest the soul without knowing when we will reap the rewards, it is better to be an employee.
But if we have a vision and a passion for what we do, then the chance is worth the risk.
If we have a dream, people will work with us in blood and sweat to make that dream come true, regardless of the monetary return.
And if we know “why?” We are in this world, what is our mission and how can we make this world better and more beautiful – than the whole universe will help us to fulfill our will.
And what is the “why?” Of ALMA INSPIRA? The love of God in me and my deep desire to help each person discover his highest destiny and realize his unique and original potential. From it comes the “what”, which are all the various programs we develop.
“Gym for Life” is the first step in the ALMA INSPIRA curriculum and for those who own a small business (with a big vision) it can be beneficial in many ways:
First of all, the knowledge and exercises will lead each person clearly to the answer whether what he is doing is really his desire (and then worth investing!) Or whether he does not really want this business (he has no “why?”) And he is actually in it out of constraints, fears or a desire to please others.
Second, he will learn to be connected to his goal so that no external difficulty, or inner emotion will move him away from it.
Maintain his health and emotional balance despite stressful situations.
Integrate the spouse and children into the career and understand that in our families, too, we must follow the golden rule.
Walt Disney once said a clever sentence: “If you can dream it, you can do it.” And he meant exactly that: first focus on “why?” And then you can do all the “what”.
