Why I Love My Soul-Centered, Heart-Driven, Lifestyle-Led Creative Business
I’ve been feeling a whole lot of gratitude this year for my business and creative life.
In the midst of all the hustle, sweat, and tears it can take sometimes to build your own sustainable creative livelihood, sometimes it’s good to just take a minute to sit back and embrace the joy that this journey brings with it along the way.
You may be wondering why I think of my work as a soul-centered, heart-driven, lifestyle-led creative business. Here’s why:
Soul-centered: My business and creative career is very much rooted in my intuition and fulfilling my soul on a deeper level - in a way that money and external achievements alone cannot. Courtney Carver of Be More With Less sums it perfectly in this post here. To quote:
I realized that the best part of my work is that it is soul-centered. What I mean by that is I trust myself to know what’s best for my business. I don’t ignore what I know in the name of making more money, growing faster, or pleasing someone else.
It’s not always easy, but it’s the simplest, most rewarding way to do business. It means, I don’t say yes when my heart says no. A soul-centered business gives me the confidence to try things when I don’t know if they will work, the clarity to know the difference between helpful critisim and negative feedback and the strength to know when to let go.
Working from a soul-centered place allows me to notice when I’m working too much, or working in a way that isn’t supporting health and love in my life. When that’s happening I can change course quickly instead of waiting for a breakdown
Heart-driven: One of the things that fuels the energy and motivation behind my business is how much I truly care about being of service to the awesome clients I’m crazy grateful to be able to work with each week. Running a heart-driven business gives me the permission and space to be vulnerable, open, and build meaningful connections along the way. To me, running a heart-driven business means being able to do work I love that is bigger than just myself and my own needs along the way.
Lifestyle-led: A few months back I shared a post on What it Looks Like When You’re Building A Lifestyle Business and to quote:
A lifestyle business is built upon the vision that the business serves and enables the life its owner wants to live.
Months later, I feel exactly the same in my approach to building my business around my life instead of the other way around. Having a creative career that gives me the freedom to live a life that is meaningful and fulfilling is something I’m crazy grateful for every single day.
And here are some of the reasons why I love my soul-centered, heart-driven, lifestyle-led creative business so much:
1. I have the freedom and space to create, dream, grow, and explore
One of my favourite things about running my own business is how much it’s challenged and enabled my own personal growth along the way - while my business grows I grow, and while I grow my business grows, and it’s now in this awesome place where I truly believe the growth of each is fuelling the other along the way. The different ways my creativity manifests throughout my business is so fulfilling, and having the space to dream big and explore new ideas and possibilities keeps me excited and motivated as I go.
2. I’m able to live my life on my own terms
This is probably one of the best parts of being your own boss - the freedom to live your life on your own terms. I’m in charge of my own schedule, I don’t need to ask anyone’s permission if I need to take a sick day, I can take time off throughout the year whenever I want to, I can wake up when I want to, and I can work from wherever I want to in whatever I want to (most of time it’s on the sofa in yoga pants).
3. I can prioritise my health and self-care as much as I do my business growth and revenue
As I shared more in this post, one of the main reasons I started my own business is because I wanted the space and freedom to take care of my health along the way. Being able to prioritise my own self-care and health as much as I do my business means more to me than words can say - the fact that my business has played a huge part in my recovery and has enabled me to live a whole and meaningful life alongside my illness is what motivates me to keep going every single day.
4. I spend my days encouraging and supporting other women
Spending a big chunk of my week in coaching calls with my clients, listening to their stories, fears, and dreams, encouraging and guiding them in their creative journeys, and seeing their growth, development, and confidence grow along the way is something I’m crazy grateful for every single day. Seeing other women thrive, and learning from them and building meaningful connections all over the world is the most fulfilling part of my work.
5. My life and my work are in complete alignment in a messy and wonderful way
My business supports my life, and my life supports my business. My business enables me to do meaningful work, pay my bills, and find fulfillment with my creativity, and alongside that it enables me to live a life that is true to my values along the way. They’ve blended together in a messy but wonderful way and it fills me with so much joy every single day.
Here’s my question to you: what do you love about your creative work and business right now? What joy is your creative life bringing with it along the way?
We’re always striving for more and aching to get to the next milestone, but today I want to challenge both you and I to take a minute to embrace the joy our creative life has already brought our way - no matter what stage we’re at in our journey. There are always new challenges, struggles, and obstacles to be faced in our creative journeys, but I’ve found that holding onto the joy we’ve already found can keep us going even when times get tough.
Let me know in the comments below or over on Twitter - what are you enjoying about your creative work and life right now?
Every Sunday I send thoughtful insights to my community through Weekly Letters. If you're not already on the list, you can sign up below to receive this weekends letter straight to your inbox.