How do you talk about money?
During the conscious business retreat we talked about money, a topic that especially the British don't like touching upon.
But the way the world goes, we cannot do without it.
Food has to be put on the table, and other needs have to be met by money.
Being a conscious business owner, a change maker, a person doing things differently, is not easy.
How do you marry having a conscious business with money?
I realised at the start of the event that I want to have a heart-centred business, in which I work with ease and joy while serving the highest good.
I also realised that I have real issues with talking about money, putting a price to the value I bring to people and asking for fair pay.
Without going down the psychoanalysis route, money is a very emotional topic for many, it is connected to our feelings of self-worth and it is influenced by the way it was discussed and experienced while growing up.
And working in sustainability, or in other fields in which you help others, it is almost an expectation that you either work for free or don't charge as much as you would if you were selling Rolexes.
When you face a difficult topic to talk about, it is worth to try and bring to the surface why you find it so difficult to deal with.
What emotional attachment do you have with that topic?
Where does that come from?
And because feelings can be shifted by thoughts, can you change that narrative about money (or any difficult topic) to a more helpful one like, for instance, that abundance means you can afford to be more generous and give back to your community or the causes you believe in?
In general, exploring the emotional attachment we have with difficult conversation topics can help us process them differently and re-write the stories we subconsciously associate with them, change the language we use when we talk about them and, as a consequence, change our feelings and actions.
This article was originally written for the Green Gorilla weekly newsletter. If you liked it, subscribe to receive more articles like this and learn how to communicate sustainability better, how to be more productive without selling your soul to the work devil, and how to make an impact in the world. Here is the link: https://newsletter.thegreengorilla.co.uk/