On Choosing to Connect

I spent two days this week at the Conscious Entrepreneur Summit in lovely Boulder (hosted by Alex Raymond ).

Interestingly, the majority of folks I met were coaches and consultants rather than the scalable business-type entrepreneurs I had expected.

In previous years, I may have made that a problem. I might have viewed others as competition and not wanted to spend time connecting deeply with them, instead focusing on how I could find the people who could become clients.

(It isn't fun to acknowledge the part of me who seeks to get something out of every interaction but he's definitely around.)

This year, though, I came with a different intention than in the past. I wasn't concerned about business at all and instead sought to simply have fun and connect. In fact, I wasn't all that concerned with the content of the speakers, either. I knew I'd get something out of listening but didn't feel a need to take bunches of notes or listen for memorable quotes.

I just showed up to be with others.

Unsurprisingly, I had a much better time than I've had at other events. I felt relaxed and open. People occurred to me as much more friendly, too. And something I've been working toward lately started to happen.

I started to see everyone in the room as teammates. Other coaches weren't competitors. Instead, I could see that we're all working toward the same purpose. That we're all doing our best and stumbling our way through how to do that.

There is no ahead or behind because winning is collective; we're all doing our part and hopefully teaching and learning from each other along the way.

When I interact with the world from that perspective, things feel less heavy and pressure-filled. I feel more permission to breathe and smile, to ask for help and be exactly where I am.

It was a joy to experience that in a room of conscious entrepreneurs. Now the next step is to practice in the real world -- being connection and belonging and choosing to see others as allies.

I can only imagine what might be possible as I and others do it more.

Wanna join?