Donations are up, programs are succeeding, you got that grant…and you go home feeling great. Donations are down, the program is failing, you didn’t get that grant…and you go home feeling frustrated or sad.Sound familiar?
What if I told you that you can escape the roller coaster (up when the organization is up, down when the organization is down) and without needing to reach Zen enlightenment?
Jolina Karen thinks this is possible; in fact, she’s lived it. I had the great fortune of hearing Jolina speak last week at a conference for women small business owners. Jolina has a holistic healing practice in Colorado and is the co-founder of the Quantum Loving Institute. She holds a variety of certifications in healing arts and has worked with clients around the world.
When Jolina stepped in front of the 200 savvy business women in attendance, she accurately described this attachment we all share – our emotions being ruled by the minute-to-minute success or failure of our businesses.
What then, did she say was the secret weapon to break the cycle? Love.
Before you roll your eyes at another touchy-feely-platitude (as many of us did in that room) – allow Jolina to continue.
She described love as a force, an energy (and as the daughter of a PhD in Astrophysics she did this quite intelligently). And she described how to unleash the energy onto your organization:
“Love is a grounded state of appreciation in which you see something for what it is. During our peaks and valleys we need to focus on what’s important in our life and how the business fulfills that…We need to bring our attention back to the business and understand what we are not paying attention to. Unconditional love is gratitude for what is.”
What I loved about Jolina’s description is that this wasn’t about happy talk – seeing the ‘bright side’ and willing it all to a better place. This isn’t a “put it out there and they will come”. This is about loving your organization for exactly what it is right now.
Do you love your donor database or do you constantly wish it was bigger? Do you love the administrative tasks or do you dream of the day when someone else can do it? Do feel gratitude for the mission you have the opportunity to pursue…or do you constantly think about all the aspects of the mission you are not achieving?
Check yourself. If the slow economy, the challenges we’ve all been facing and the disappointment have started to take root in your heart – rip it out. Get rid of it. Don’t wait for the day when donations are where you think they should be, where staff is at the number you want it to be, to feel grateful and happy. Wherever you are sitting reading this blog, find a centered place of appreciation and love it for what it is right now.
If you feel a change…consider bringing this into your organization as well. You might begin team meetings by asking, “What did you guys love about your work this week?” See what takes shape.
If Jolina is right, the energy love unleashes into your world will be a powerful force.
- Katie Taft, CEO of InsideGOOD
0 comments:
Post a Comment