MAKING MONEY DOING WHAT YOU LOVE

I’ve been launching my spiritual business, stepping up more, and getting really excited. 

So it took me completely by surprise when a friend said: 

“You’re only in it for the money.” 

I was shocked. This was the kind of moment I’d been subconsciously dreading for a long time.

A little wheel of questions began churning within me…

“Have I sold my soul to do this?” 
“Have I given up something by launching this business?”
“How do I even respond?” 

I had to stop, step back, and assess what she was saying. 

Spiritual entrepreneurs are often of two minds about sharing their gifts. I like to think of this like you have both an inner monk and an inner marketer. The monk and the marketer need to come into balance so that you can thrive in your spiritual business and in your life.

When my friend said this to me, it was like my inner monk came rushing in to counteract the accusation of “oh you’re just a marketer.” But my inner marketer was like, “maybe she’s right.” And they began to spar. First, I wondered how to defend myself. Then I wondered if I should even be defending myself. Because all that really happened, when you look at it, is that somebody said, “blah blah blah,” and made some sounds, and it created a huge shift in my energy. 

When I started to investigate what was going on and really look at this experience for what it was, I found an opening...

I realized that what my friend said wasn’t about me. It was about her. My friend was triggered by the idea of making money through sharing spiritual work. She thought that making money by doing what you love and making money for spiritual work might be bad. 

So, from a more peaceful place, rather than from a raw emotional or defensive place, I told her that what she was trying to say wasn’t landing the way she was meaning for it to land. And that’s when this became a really juicy conversation of connection that was healing to both of us. 

Your Money Triggers: Limiting Beliefs about Money and Worth

Yes, becoming a spiritual entrepreneur will probably trigger your money stuff, and possibly the money stuff of others too. That’s because it will ask you to grow into a whole new way of being and doing in relation to money, finances, and notions of success. And it very well may challenge other people’s limitations when you are moving into a state that is absolutely limitless. 

You are not selling out by being a spiritual entrepreneur, because being spiritual doesn't mean you have to live on a mountain. Spiritual growth comes by saying yes to the challenges of this plane, saying yes to the challenges of practicality, and showing up to serve others who need you right here and right now. Spirit is where you are. Think about how you can influence the world in front of you and think about the fact that a world full of spiritual entrepreneurs offering their gifts joyfully and from the heart sounds like a pretty wonderful world. 

Perhaps you have some limiting beliefs when it comes to making money doing what you love. Don’t worry, you’re not alone in this. Our societal relationship to work and money is confused. There’s so much messaging out there about “just grin and bear it” or “work is drudgery” or “it’s going to take so many hours and so many years to have a sense of freedom.” I mean, there is so much crazy messaging about success out there. And of course, we all have money stories wrapped up in how we have experienced finances throughout our lives. It taps into first chakra fears about survival, which can be really deep. 

Often, limiting beliefs show up as limiting your opportunities. Maybe you’re a chronic intern, maybe you’ve offered your services for free countless times and it actually didn’t feel empowered, or maybe you continued to put yourself at the bottom of the totem pole in the workplace because you felt bad about sharing your gifts and your expertise. Maybe you’ve gotten stuck in the thought of “I don’t want to BOTHER anyone.”  Especially if you’re sensitive and intuitive, you may limit yourself and not see your full value. You may have thoughts like “my art isn't good enough for anyone to buy" or "why would anyone pay me for a reiki session?" 

I’m going to spell it out here and now (and you are probably going to see this from me a bunch because you need to let it become true for you):

YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO MAKE MONEY DOING WHAT YOU LOVE. 

YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO ENJOY YOUR WORK AND YOUR LIFE.  

YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO BE PAID FOR YOUR GIFTS. 

YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO RECEIVE. 

YOU ARE WORTHY. 

As you show up in genuine service to others, you will be held and supported.

Reframe Making Money Doing What You Love: Your Magic Wand for the World

Here’s a question: Why do you want to have money? 

Or How about this... 

Who do you want to have the money in this world?

Wouldn’t it be kind of awesome if the people with the money wanted to make the world a better place, wanted others to have wealth, wanted to see people prosper, grow, heal, positively change?

You can use money as a tool and not let money use you.   

You can own money and not let money own you. 

How? 

You can find peace in the pursuit of making money doing what you love when you can come to the point of being a mindful marketer. Where you can still do all the things you need to do to get your business out and promote it but do it from a place that’s not too forceful or icky or scary or any of the things that you may associate with marketing and money. 

From this place, you know you are creating opportunity. You are creating possibility. Think of it this way, if you had a magic wand which was the solution to a particular set of problems, it would be your responsibility to knock on every door until that problem no longer existed in the world. So look at your spiritual gift as that ability, that magic wand. You owe it to the world to be doing that and sharing it with as many people as you possibly can.

Take some time to chew on this, and what being a mindful marketer might look like for you. We’ll continue to hone in on this topic of mindful marketing and your “money stuff” because it is at the heart of becoming a spiritual entrepreneur. And if you’re wanting to dive in now, there’s a talk all about the monk and the marketer as part of my FREE Spiritual Business Startup Guide.

Looking Your Limiting Beliefs in the Face

 Sometimes on your path, someone shows up for you and they tell you exactly the thing you’ve been afraid of hearing. Maybe you’re afraid of abandoning your monk, and then someone says, “You know what? I think you’re abandoning your monk!” The beauty is that this challenging moment can be an opportunity for expansion into the realization: “Oh, this was designed by spirit to shed light on a mini-insecurity that I have. And you know what? It’s not true. I am staying true to myself in this.”

Spirit is challenging you by checking in with that place. It’s like that last little monster that was hiding under the rock. You can actually just flip the rock over and say, “oh hey, you. Here’s the light.” And funnily enough, something like this might happen five times in a row until finally you can say, “I’m going to look this in the face now.” The nightmare situation happened and now let’s dissolve it. In that dissolution, there will be healing. You will be stronger for it. 

What this challenge with my friend ultimately taught me is that you can be a model for others in rewriting these money values by flipping the money script that actually keeps lightworkers from being able to support their livelihoods. You don’t need to defend yourself when you choose to be yourself. 

Becoming a spiritual entrepreneur will have you investigate and most likely change your relationship to money. Being a spiritual entrepreneur will bring up these tough questions about value, worth, and...yes...the meaning of money itself. Because when you make your vocation a central part of your spiritual practice, no stone in your consciousness will be left unturned. Rather than it being “unspiritual” to have a career or be a marketer, the whole process can be profoundly spiritual both in terms of inner growth and outward impact.

We can be in the world and not of it. 

If you’re stuck or challenged by the topic of making money doing what you love, or you’re looking for a little more guidance on how to transform this limiting belief, join my 21-Day Spiritual Business Challenge and discover some easy ways to get started.