The “energy” behind everything is real!…even in business. Especially in business.
Either you’re aware of it, or you’re not.
What do I mean by energy? It’s the vibe, the intention, the underlying motive behind any business person.
“Good energy out,” or “bad energy out.”
In 2020, we saw the energy of fear and uncertainty being amplified on a global scale. We saw shaming and guilt-tripping thrown in… all of which are unhealthy energies to play in, especially if you’re in business.
As a creative act, business by its nature brings value to the world. We are here to serve humanity. Unless you’re a predatory marketer, your business is about uplifting, freeing people, making their life experiences more meaningful, healthier, more disciplined, or whatever your chosen adjective(s) are.
This year, I’ve found that four keys are critical to staying “energetically healthy” in business:
Attitude, Boundaries, Giving, and Savings.
Let’s explore each one.
1. Attitude
You have zero control over the outside world. Admit this, and go free.
Although you can influence people in your network, you cannot and should not try to “control” other human beings in any way. That’s one of the most unhealthy and dysfunctional aspirations anyone could ever have (as we have seen played out this year).
A positive, solid attitude comes from controlling yourself, which is the starting point of motivating, educating, and inspiring (MEI’ing) other people.
Controlling your own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors is difficult, but you can do it. Think: discipline, making good choices, refraining from what’s unhealthy, letting go of bullsh#t thoughts. THAT is the stuff that creates a great attitude.
If you believe, “There’s no way I can (insert verb here — thrive, succeed, build my fortune, overcome this, etc.), then you’ve already defeated yourself mentally. Anything you do from that place won’t work — or at least, it won’t work in a satisfying way — if you don’t put yourself in a good attitude daily, hourly.
Put yourself in a good attitude through whatever means necessary.
This also relates to setting your intention for the day:
“What am I going to spend my life energy on today?” “Who or what am I going to ‘worship’ today, and will that lead me closer or further away to having an energetically healthy business?”
2. Boundaries
As business owners, we need to set boundaries on anything that seeks to condition us into something we’re not… and anything that pulls our focus away from serving humanity and profiting.
A boundary is a fence, a bubble, a line you draw around something, so that unhealthy or inappropriate things cannot come in and cause disruption.
It’s mostly energetic in nature, although it can also be physical.
Every time you silence your phone and put it in the next room, you’re setting a boundary on unsolicited calls, texts, and noises, so that you can focus on your work.
Every time you log out of social media, you’re setting a boundary on what other people think is important, so you can focus on your life.
Healthy boundaries will look different for every business person.
You can set boundaries on:
- Clients who might not be a perfect-fit for what you offer (by minimizing your time with them, or not working with them at all — trust your intuition)
- The emails that come into your inbox (create folders and filters for low-priority newsletters)
- The material you “study” religiously (choose to study that which makes you greater and better at what you do)
- Spiritual warfare (ignore biased “news” and the “agenda” to control and destroy humanity, and remember God is in control, not man)
- Social media (reduce your time spent looking at the general news feed, and focus on posting your content only)
- Specific people on social media (if your energy dips when you look at their stuff, stop looking)
- Anything that robs your focus
- Ideas that creep into your thinking that lead you off track
- Random haters who obviously don’t appreciate the work you do (bye Felicia)
On a practical level, if you’re a business owner you should be setting aside a percentage of all your earnings to put into a tax savings account. You can set a boundary on yourself by saying, “I will never borrow or touch that money for anything else, other than to pay taxes.”
In terms of clients, you can set boundaries on their emotional “stuff.” If a client brings you inappropriate drama or emotions (e.g., blames you, guilt-trips you, takes no responsibility for their own outcomes, etc.), you can set a boundary on that. If they repeatedly don’t honor the boundary, you can stop working with them after your contract is complete.
Boundaries are a good correction tool to use if something is severely out of wack in your business. When an issue is taking up too much time or energy, and is draining you, that’s a sign that you need to set a boundary.
3. Giving
Giving and being a generous person is at the core of being a good human being (as opposed to a shitty human being who takes, takes, takes).
Businesses are here to give. If you’re using The Anti-Marketing Manifesto to grow your business, then you’re definitely here to be a giver.
We give our expertise, our skills, our creations, our insights, our focus, our best thinking, our best mood and energy, and our attention to things. That’s the starting point.
Beware of over-giving. Over-giving is when we give to others, while failing to take care of ourselves in the process. That shows up as shunning our daily workouts, not getting enough sleep, or turning to fake food to sooth an emotional issue or upset, instead of addressing that emotion directly.
Over-giving can come from saying “yes” when we know it’s healthier to say “no.”
Giving ties closely to our attitude and energy. “What is the energy I’m projecting outward today?”
When you’re on a call with a potential client, what are you giving them underneath the surface or in between the lines? (Relaxed energy or desperate energy? Calm grounded energy, or nervousness? Deep listening, or shallow “Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh”s? Curiosity, or an agenda?)
In building your email list or growing your network, what are you giving to people who discover you? A free 2-page cheat sheet that serves as a useful reference? A free course or webinar you put together? A free 20-minute call (which is really “20 minutes of you listening closely to them and furiously taking notes”?)
What is the effect that your giving has on others? Do they love it? Do they not care about it? Do they attack you for it? The feedback shows you how effective you are at giving.
4. Savings
Every business needs savings, i.e., money saved in the bank that you use for no purpose other than to take care of unexpected emergencies.
It became glaringly obvious in 2020 which businesses had zero savings and went under quickly.
The purpose of savings is practical and intangible. On a practical level, it lets you pay bills on time even if you have zero revenue coming in. On an intangible level, it just feels good knowing you have money saved in your bank account.
Having savings calms the nervous system.
It also reflects how much discipline you have (which goes to back to attitude — and your ability to control yourself). Saving money means you’re not spending it, you’re not investing it. You’re holding onto it. That money isn’t “just sitting in an account,” it’s doing something healthy: it’s giving you a “buffer” to life. It’s acting like insurance for when “shit happens.” It’s not being wasted by sitting there. It’s serving a purpose.
I encourage you to use fun adjectives or descriptions for your savings account, or for your savings goal:
“My goal is to have an embarrassingly large savings account.” Whatever that means to you.
“My goal is to start by saving $1000 in my dignity fund.”
“My goal is to have a year’s worth of expenses saved up, so I can say FU to anyone I need to.”
“Never again will I not be able to pay my rent, or any bill on time. This savings account is my ‘Never Again’ fund.”
On my recent marketing tips interview with The Projector Movement (in Human Design), I told Projectors to “have some savings.” It’s a simple idea, but so healthy. For some people, this is a radical idea that they’ve never considered before. For others, it’s an obvious habit because they grew up saving money. Where are you on that spectrum?
Did you know that many businesses don’t have ANY savings at all? And they’re just winging it month to month, surviving off whatever revenue they bring in, burning through their money? One or two bad months, and they’re out of business. Not a good plan.
To recap: Attitude, Boundaries, Giving, and Savings.
These four “must-haves” will help you maintain an energetically healthy business.
Need help applying any of these to your unique business? Reach out to me to schedule a 20-minute chat.
Michelle Lopez Boggs is a copywriter, copywriting mentor, and author of "The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout." She's helped her clients sell millions of dollars' worth of products and services online by using the MEI(S) principle — motivate, educate, and inspire, and sell. 