You’d think when you work for yourself that you’d be the
boss? But as you doubtless know, sometimes it doesn’t work
that way.
Sometimes money is the boss, sending you scrambling after
new clients or making your cringe.
Sometimes ego is the boss, leading to agonies of comparison
with others who seem to be doing so much more or so much
better.
Sometimes your clients and customers are the boss, pulling
you off center with their wants and needs.
And sometimes you don’t really know who the boss is; you
just know that you don’t feel like you’re in charge.
It feels lousy, and it stops you from succeeding in every
way that matters to you.
You are meant to be the boss
Whether or not you work for yourself, you are what my friend
Hiro Boga calls a sovereign being. You are meant to be the
boss of your inner world. You are meant to create and
shepherd your life from the inside out.
On many levels, self-employment is all about stepping into
your sovereignty. Materially, it is about being your own
boss, even though we’ve seen it doesn’t always work that
way. Spiritually, it’s about creating a livelihood that’s
congruent with your vision and values. It’s about being
willing to grow and transform day in and day out.
I’d go so far as to say that choosing to work for yourself
is–or can be–a sacred commitment to sovereignty, to ruling
your world from the inside out.
Sovereignty means taking radical responsibility
Being sovereign being responsible for your inner life and
how that manifests externally. In self-employment, that
means showing up for the business side of things as well as
for the work you love.
That’s not easy. (Duh!) Most of the models we have for doing
business come from skewed value systems. They are
exploitive, manipulative, profligate.
If you’re going to step up in your business, you not only
have to learn how to manage and market and sell, you have to
figure out how to do that in alignment with your values.
Pop-spirituality isn’t enough. You can’t just paste words
like “authentic” and “spiritual” onto marketing and call it
alignment. And you can’t just go through the motions of
marketing and call it being responsible.
Sovereignty makes you the boss of you
When you practice sovereignty, you connect with the power to
define and shape your life. In the words of my friend Hiro
Boga writes in “How to Rule Your World from the Inside Out:
The Art of Inner Leadership”:
“Your desires and intentions are aligned with your soul’s
purposes.
“Your various selves are unified so that they work
harmoniously together to help you in your journey to
spiritual growth and evolution.
“You live a consciously creative life, and you partner with
beings in many dimensions to co-create and shape your world.
“You are the Sacred incarnate, you know it, and you act in
accordance with your innermost essence.”
When you do both the inner and outer work of sovereignty in
your business, you experience peace, autonomy, and freedom
no matter what is happening around you. Your choices
activate synchronicity in marvelous ways, and you are
supported by the Universe.
But…
Sovereignty doesn’t make you boss of the world
While there is tremendous power in ruling your inner world,
sovereignty doesn’t make the Universe your ATM. As Hiro
writes:
“[Y]ou have sovereignty over your own life. This means that
everything within your own energy field is your kingdom, and
you are the queen or the king of it. You have responsibility
for your life, and you have the freedom to choose how you
will live.
“This doesn’t mean that you can do or have anything you
want. We live in the world of form, and form is defined and
shaped by limits. We also live in nested ecologies.”
As Hiro explains, sovereignty is a quality of interdependent
being. You cultivate sovereignty by engaging with the slings
and arrows of outrageous fortune as well as the more obvious
blessings of every day life.
Sovereignty is a quality of intentional entrepreneurship
I write a lot about Accidental Entrepreneurs, those of us
who work for ourselves because we love what we do, not
because we always wanted to start a business.
But accidental entrepreneurship must transform if you are to
be a truly sovereign being.
Sovereignty is a quality of the intentional entrepreneur.
Without it, you can’t summon the creative power and
authentic presence required to embody in your business the
change you want to see in the world.
The power to create right livelihood
It takes power to create right livelihood. Not power over,
but, as Hiro calls it, the power of being, which emerges
from your Divinity as well as your physical incarnation.
Sovereignty is the key to accessing and wielding that power
skillfully and consciously.
A bonus for you: An interview with Hiro Boga on ruling your
world from the inside out
Last week I interviewed Hiro on the topic of ruling your
world from the inside out as it relates to self-employment.
You can download that interview at no cost and learn more
about her program, How to Rule Your World from the Inside
Out: The Art of Inner Leadership, by clicking HERE.
Photo by Sascha W. via Flickr
Image Credit: Hiro Boga
Who’s the boss of you? Sovereignty and the intentional entrepreneur
