THRIVING & MASTERY ...

By Kamila Harkavy

For over 20 years now I've engaged in business as an entrepreneur and regarded this as a key part of my spiritual practice. When I began, I felt something amiss about having my spiritual life separate from the rest of my life- especially from the professional realm. I endeavored to integrate the two and become more transparent. This was enormously vulnerable for me- exponentially so because I was already feeling very vulnerable due to my youth, lack of professional experience AND being a woman in a male-dominated profession (architecture).

Over the years, my businesses and my spiritual practice have become inseparable and seamless as have the other aspects of my life: all integrated into one whole. No longer living a partitioned life feels really good and works so much better too. In my view, this is an aspect of Mastery.

Concerned about regarding your work as spiritual practice? Yes, it's messy and inconvenient at times, but what a growth opportunity! (Second in opportunity only to parenting or marriage.) However, my deep abiding love of the truth outweighs any inconvenience, messiness or pain.

I would have the truth at ANY price! I've been willing to inquire into the truth about myself, my circumstances, my relationships and this has caused me to grow enormously as a person and as a professional. I won't suggest that it's been easy, but it's been completely worth it! This is part of the process of Mastery.

Along the way, one of the many things I wrestled with is self-care. I wasn't raised with any value on self-care. I was raised with a survival ethic: nose to the grindstone, sacrifice, etc. The person or Self was not important. Meeting expectations, productivity, advancement, etc. all were key to survival and thus valued above most everything else: the Self, the family, happiness, enjoying life, etc. Through trial and error, I've come to KNOW wholeheartedly that when we care for ourselves FIRST and put ourselves ahead of work and business, we are not only able to do more, be more productive, do a better job, etc., but also are able to offer our work from a place of fullness, wholeness, love, generosity and service. Being able to do this is key to my soul's purpose. It's not enough for me to be good at what I do and offer something useful to society and the world.

HOW I offer myself and my services is of paramount importance to me and to my soul's purpose. The more I care for my Self, the more I have to give, the more brilliance comes through my work, the more love I experience and clients and colleagues experience. This is part of the Meaning of Life for me. Additionally, I feel this is key to sustainable entrepreneurship and to THRIVING. What does/would self-care look like for you? Are you at your best if you begin your day with meditation, exercise and wholesome food? Allow the time for a real lunch break for healthy fresh food and fresh air? End your work day with enough time to exercise and connect with your partner, family, or friends over the evening meal? What are the limiting beliefs that arise as you read those questions? What do you believe you can have? What do you believe will happen if you do those things?

While those limiting beliefs are very real, I'd like you to know that that they can be eliminated (this is one of the aspects of my work with clients) and that you can actually have MORE as a result of eliminating them and allowing excellent self-care: more productivity, more income, more satisfaction and fulfillment, more energy, more vitality, more sustainability, more THRIVING!

From my perspective, self-care is KEY to sustainability and sustainability is a KEY to thriving. Many people that I know and associate with have a desire to truly thrive! However, I see our culture at a critical crossroads on many levels. Business culture too. Many aspects of our culture are anything but sustainable! I see people, entrepreneurs and corporate professionals alike, burning themselves out, wearing themselves out with insanely long work hours, poor nutrition and self-care, excessive caffeine use, lack of sleep, insufficient community, connection, and renewal. How does your lifestyle rank in terms of sustainability? What adjustments can you make to improve the sustainability of your lifestyle and move towards thriving? Is this important to you? If yes, how will you make this a priority?

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