FROM GROWTH TO CONTRIBUTION

Scaling Your Business and Having Positive Impact

Every successful business owner has experienced the thrill of growth - that adrenaline-fueled climb from a fledgling start-up to a thriving enterprise. It's a journey fraught with challenges and victories, late nights, and moments of unbridled joy. But once you've reached the summit, once you've made it...what comes next?

Let me introduce you to what I call the "Growth to Contribution" model. It's a powerful paradigm shift, an alternative way of looking at success that transcends revenue graphs and profit margins. It's about taking that entrepreneurial energy that drove your business growth and channeling it into a wider, more meaningful arena.

Sound intriguing? Let's unpack it a little more.

Stewardship vs. Ownership

Let's start by making a key distinction: the difference between 'stewardship' and 'ownership.' The owner says, "This is mine!" while the steward says, "I'm responsible for this." Feel the difference? It's a game-changer.

As a business owner, you've spent years fostering growth, pouring your heart and soul (and money) into building something truly remarkable. And kudos to you, it's a mammoth achievement and not for the faint at heart! But moving from a mindset of ownership to one of stewardship can create a profound shift in how you view your success and wealth.

When we view ourselves as stewards rather than owners, our perspective on wealth (and the world around us) changes. It stops being something to accumulate for its own sake, or status, and instead becomes a resource we can use to make a difference - for our families, our communities, and the causes that matter most to us.

Growing Your Business, Paying It Forward

The strategies in my book Leave It Better: A Financial Blueprint provide a gateway to moving from growth to contribution.

It's not about taking a chunk of your profits and just donating it (though that's admirable too) but rather about intertwining your growth and contribution strategies. Together, we will cultivate a financial ecosystem where growth fuels contribution and vice versa.

But, you might be thinking, "Sounds great in theory, but does it actually work?" I provide examples of how it has worked for my clients in the book, but for brevity's sake I won't include them here. That being said, These individuals aren't just successful business owners/entrepreneurs; they're pioneers of the Growth to Contribution model. They've shown that it's possible to build successful businesses while contributing significantly to the greater good, creating a generational legacy that goes above and beyond assets left behind.

And here's the exciting part - they're not alone. This model is accessible to any business owner who has the vision to see beyond the confines of their balance sheet, to view wealth not as a possession, but as a resource for positive impact.

Toxicity of Wealth

Now, let's tackle a touchy subject, something I've come to call the "Toxicity of Wealth". As much as we'd like to believe otherwise, hoarding wealth can actually have a negative impact, not just on our society, but on our personal well-being too. I can think of more stories than I’d like to admit of super successful entrepreneurs that had more wealth than could be spent in 5 lifetimes…yet, when their head hit the pillow, they felt miserable and often alone. A lot of us tend to judge wealthy people if they complain of such things, "poor you and all that money, what have you got to be upset about?"...but to quote P Diddy, with "mo' money" comes "mo' problems."

I like to use the analogy of money as a river, if you’ll indulge me a little bit. A flowing waterway that nourishes the ecosystem, supports life and is a dynamic, living thing. But what happens when we dam that river? It stops flowing. The water becomes stagnant and, over time, can turn toxic. More importantly, the flourishing ecosystem downstream begins to wilt and decay.

The same principle applies to wealth. When we amass more than we need and hold onto it tightly, it can stagnate and even become a burden. There's a deep, often subconscious, level of toxicity that comes with hoarding wealth, and “damming the river”. And when we break that dam and allow wealth to flow, nourishing the ecosystems around us, it brings a sense of fulfillment and joy that just piling up the money can never provide.

As Humanitarian and author Lynn Twist once said, "Sufficiency isn't two steps up from poverty or one step short of abundance. It isn't a measure of barely enough or more than enough. Sufficiency isn't an amount at all. It is an experience, a context we generate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough and that we are enough."

Actionable Wealth

But here's the thing - you don't have to give away all your money. This isn't a call for asceticism, giving up your wealth and possessions. It's a call for meaningful and intentional stewardship of your wealth. It's about learning strategies that allow you to make the most of what you've earned and direct it in ways that resonate with your values and goals for the future.

Let's say you're not quite there yet. You're still in the growth phase of your journey. That's perfectly okay! Most people are. But even at this stage, you can start aligning your personal economy with your values and more meaningful endeavors. As you build wealth, and eventually reach a point where your needs, and those of your family, are satisfied, you'll already be equipped with the understandings, perspectives, and tools needed to level up.

We're not talking about charity in the traditional sense. We're talking about meaningful contribution, about shaping your legacy in ways that align with your values. It's about using your hard-earned wealth to make a difference - in your family, in your community, in the world. It's about making the shift from growth to contribution, from ownership to stewardship.

So what's the bottom line for you?

Now that you know this, you have three main choices: 1) Take the information you've read here and go it alone in figuring out how to design and implement a plan of action and self growth to imbed more meaning into your personal economy 2) Enlist a teacher/coach/guide to help you navigate that journey 3) Do nothing and see how things end up.

If the second choice seems most fitting, let's connect to see if/how I can support this first step towards a more fulfilling & meaningful, not to mention profitable way of operating.???? Find a day & time that work for you and let's explore!????