As an indie shop owner, do you committedly utilize New Age strategies to enhance your business? Do you spend time stating affirmations, setting intentions, visualizing success as you stare at vision boards hanging over your desk? Has it worked consistently, or do you sometimes slam against a brick wall, circling back to traditional business approaches dejectedly?
Decades ago, when I formally embarked on my exploration of spirituality and metaphysics, I dove headlong into all that New Age philosophy championed. As a confused, frustrated young adult, I desperately wanted this unconventional understanding of life to be true to its claims. Devoting myself whole-heartedly to its techniques, my goals were to manifest all my desires, fixing my less-than-ideal existence.
Battling my innate skeptical mind, my longing to believe these optimistic dogmas won out. Since these enlightening, eclectic teachings sprang from ancient esoteric doctrines made palatable for a new generation of seekers, I trusted them.
Years later when I opened my shop, I utilized every suggested practice, simultaneously presenting them in my spiritually based, transformational courses.
Following the ascribed methods to a tee, sometimes I achieved results and sometimes I didn’t. My shop would struggle along no matter how many affirmations I stated. (Confession: I felt like a failure, especially observing others’ successful manifestations. I judged myself harshly. Did I not follow directions correctly?). Figuring I wasn’t alone, my new mission arrived: Discovering why some techniques don’t always work. Here are some:
#1 Universal Truths
New Age spirituality presents many universal truths that are widely accepted in most disciplines. Core tenets such as “everything happens for a reason” and “it’s all good” are true, empowering, and offer comfort during challenging times, but make sure to blend those truths with feeling your natural human emotions so they don’t get suppressed and stuck.
Recognize and acknowledge your fears and concerns while simultaneously knowing that those statements are truths.
#2 Manifestation
The “Law of Attraction” is a recurrent focus in New Age spirituality. The basic premise is: What you focus on, you attract, so stay focused on possibilities. This encourages positive thinking and goal-setting clarity.
Since this removes the natural desire to blame others or life when something doesn’t happen, self-criticism and guilt can be natural byproducts when something doesn’t manifest. That can be more destructive than constructive.
Spend time delving inside to understand why something didn’t manifest. Was there a subconscious belief convincing that you didn’t deserve? Or a spiritual lesson you needed to learn? Was fear or ego involved?
Remember: On a higher consciousness level, you’ve chosen every aspect of your life. It takes patience to see and understand why. And yes… everything does happen for a reason.
#3 Awakening Evolution
New Age spirituality reminds us that humans are evolving into higher states of consciousness. This global evolution is reconnecting us with our divinity, eventually establishing peace on earth.
This is inspiring and gives hope to the future of humanity. If this is part of your path, don’t get caught up feeling superior to those not as “evolved,” or feel anxious as to whether you’re evolving correctly and fast enough.
Awakening is usually an ongoing, gradual journey, peeling off layers, leading to subtle shifts. It’s not a race. Letting go of attachments to the physical world, rising above survival consciousness, takes dedicated work. Plus, having a non-attached attitude as a business owner involved with selling physical things can be challenging.
Evolution is about being mindful of your triggers and lessons as well as the beauty in everyday experiences. Everything that happens is designed to awaken you, but only if you notice it.
Compare it to the consistent, day-to-day transactions going on in your shop versus a blow-out sale. Yes, the numbers might be higher, but it’s the steady selling that adds up at the end of the year.
#4 Like Attracts Like
New Age doctrines claim that maintaining a positive, grateful attitude will attract positive experiences. Yes, optimism is beneficial, but beware of “toxic positivity” – suppressing, bypassing or invalidating emotions or fears because they don’t fit into that positive box (AKA faking it).
Those feelings and thoughts are not saboteurs; they simply need to be felt, understood, and completed. Embracing emotions prevents them from running havoc inside you, often coming out inappropriately and in reactive ways.
#5 Reflected Vibes
New Age confirms that everything, including thoughts and emotions, carries vibrational frequencies. Higher frequencies equal positivity and enlightenment; lower frequencies are negativity and fear-based survival consciousness.
While this perspective can inspire mindfulness and self-awareness, it can also encourage judging others based on their perceived vibrational level. This attitude promotes avoiding and struggling against those “low vibe” situations, another route to stress.
Buttons show a magnifying mirror of something you’re denying about yourself. Needing to run from something you judge as low vibe, just means there’s something you don’t want to see or admit about yourself.
Recognizing what’s being reflected can shift a low vibe into a high vibe instantly. That can certainly assist during employee and/or customer conflicts. In other words, so-called low vibes are your best teachers!
New Age spirituality emphasizes healing, releasing traumas, forgiving, gratefulness and making peace with your past to move forward. This idea is crucial since holding onto the past keeps you stuck and disempowered, both in life and in business. Find a method that helps you do that.
Keep in mind that, like constantly changing your displays, you are not a project needing relentless fixing. It’s equally important to adopt self-acceptance, wherever you are on your journey, even with those so-called imperfections. You deserve to be a conscious, empowered, and purposeful business owner. Know that the Universe wants that for you as well.
The post Five Secrets to Apply New Age Ideas Successfully appeared first on Retailing Insight Magazine.
