This morning I have been thinking into how a business grows and flows organically (as opposed to the push and hustle which, to be absolutely honest, does nothing for me... or not quite nothing - every time I bump into it, it helps me clarify and define what I do not want to be or do! Maybe I am just stubbornly oppositional but I have so much more success and happiness when I go my own way... which brings me back to thinking about what that way really is.)

So you guys won't be surprised when I trot out a metaphor, will you :P

Have you ever thought of your business as a tree?

There are the roots reaching deep, exploring, anchoring you into the real world. I see these as my professional qualifications, my years of study, my ongoing learning, spreading out in so many directions, providing me with nutrients / new thoughts, knowledge and experience, personal and professional development, hard challenges... the little thin tendrils that work their way through tiny crevices in the rocky shelves of limiting belief and subconscious patterning, finding deep fertile soil underneath, thickening and spreading until the rocks are cracked and pushed aside... not eliminated, for I don't believe we ever really get rid of our doubts and fears and blocks... they just become less important to us, we develop paths around them, stop giving them attention and we no longer hold us back. (The alternative is not to do the deep work on yourself, not to constantly seek out new learning, to accept the limits of the rock shelf of limitation and spread your roots out in a flat shallow mat... these are the trees that fall when the storms come...)

Then there is the trunk, the solid support of structures and processes.

The thick protective bark of your legals and commitment to professional responsibility. The vascular bundles of your financial processes keeping the resources flowing smoothly. The supportive structure of the cambium - your workflow systems, how you do things consistently and efficiently. The heartwood of your why, your core strength that keeps you upright.

Then the leaves, your marketing, unfurling in the sunlight of public attention, of visibility. Giving and receiving value in an equal exchange.

Then the gorgeous flowers of connection...

and the fruit of paying clients.

Each element so important, an integral part of the whole. Each needing attention. I have been racing between roots and leaves, flowers and fruit lately, and my trunk is a little neglected. I am going to take some time today to work on my finances, my filing, my planning and the structures I need to be strong, to survive and to thrive.

How about you? Does this metaphor speak to you? Which part of your business will you be growing organically through your focused attention this week? How healthy is your tree feeling?

How I can help

Come on over to my Business Serenity Facebook Group and join in the discussion about how to grow beautiful, brave businesses that are a blessing to the world!