I rarely write about the spiritual side of business, even though I spend a lot of time thinking about it.
I’ve avoided saying it plainly for years:
Business is a spiritual game that’s played by the soul.
There’s a voice in my head that says, “Don’t stray too far from the business lane. That’s what people expect from you.”
Maybe it comes from the old rule to not talk about politics or religion. But spirituality isn’t religion, at least not the way I experience it.
Most founders I know have a belief in something greater than themselves, even if they don’t call it spiritual.
They’ve heard of the Observer Effect from quantum physics and know their mind is a powerful tool for creation.
They understand that everything is energy vibrating at different frequencies.
What I’ve experienced through meditation is there’s a field that connects this energy.
It’s conscious, loving, and responsive.
I call it Source. Others call it the universe, higher self, or infinite intelligence.
What is the Soul?
The part of us that connects with this energy is what I call the soul.
People use the term all the time, like, “I can feel it in my soul.” But what is it?
Your soul is the essence of who you really are.
It’s the part of you that’s separate from any role you play: founder, partner, parent.
I imagine our soul as a unique expression of Source, in the same way that a wave is a unique expression of the ocean.
That’s how I make sense of it.
I didn’t suddenly realize this. It emerged after decades of deep reading and 30 years of meditation.
Seeing myself as connected to and a part of an infinite energy field leads me to the question:
“What is the purpose of my life?”
I find it strange that for most of my life I was so busy that this question never occurred to me.
I thought it was obvious that the purpose was to get straight As, graduate from a good school, make money, get married and start a business.
But those are roles I played. The student, the founder, the partner.
What is the purpose of it all?
I’ve been living with this question for a long time, and I have some different answers now.
I don’t claim to be right. I only know these answers resonate deeply within me, like I’m remembering something I’ve known before.
The soul desires three primary things:
- To evolve through experience
- To express its unique abilities
- To help others along the way
And it chooses to play various games to accomplish these three things.
The Rules of the Game
When we choose to play a game, naturally we’re choosing obstacles to overcome, whether we know it or not.
After all, if the obstacles weren’t there, you’d already have everything you want from the beginning.
What’s the fun in that? It wouldn’t be much of a game.
The soul of an entrepreneur chooses to play the game of business as one of its games in this lifetime.
It’s not the only game. There’s the game of parenting. The game of recovery. The game of art.
You can play more than one at a time, but in any given season, one of them becomes the main classroom.
When you play the business game it means you sign up to experience obstacles with customers, teams, money, markets, decisions, and competition. To name a few.
Most of the time these obstacles don’t look like fun. They look like problems.
But if you look at it from the perspective of the soul, the meaning changes. Because overcoming obstacles is how you evolve.
You Want to Play
Not everyone wants to play the game of business.
You do.
You’re drawn to it because your soul wants to play it.
Sometimes you might feel unprepared, but the fact that you’re in the game means you have what it takes:
– Vision
– Courage
– Creativity
– Resilience
– Determination
It’s been very freeing to realize the things I desire are what my soul wants to experience in this lifetime.
Treat your desires with reverence, not guilt.
From the soul’s perspective, winning the game of business isn’t measured by revenue, profit, or headcount.
It’s measured by evolution, expression, and service.
Best of all, you get to play a new round every day.
