The Accelerated Path to Personal Development

When people ask me what I consider entrepreneurial business, one of the definitions I use most often is that it's the accelerated path to personal development (on steroids). It is impossible to have a business, much less a soul-driven business that is your purpose manifest in the world, and not grow as a person. Here are five of the milestones of personal development that you may recognize yourself in random order (and if you haven't had them yet, keep an eye out!).

1. Know what you know. In order to optimize the expression of who you are in the world through your business, you have to "know what you know". That is, you must access and utilize what your "gut" tell you - no one else can do it for you. It is the only true decision-making process that you need, if you're doing it right.

2. Speak your truth. What's true isn't necessarily a truth... think about that one. For example, while today is nice, it may not be tomorrow, but the sun will rise today and the sun will rise tomorrow - that's the difference. Truth doesn't change. Be expressive and compassionate in honestly saying what needs to be said.

3. Personal power. Tapping into and making decisions from your personal power source requires you to develop an inner relationship with that source. If you're tapped in, you're tuned in... and that's the clearest path to showing up more effectively in the world.

4. Master priorities management. There isn't really such a thing as time management, because time marches on - it doesn't really respond to commands. But you can, and must, determine what's urgent (the '911'-types), what's important (essential but patiently waiting for you), and the non-essential (why bother?). If you aren't working the "critical inch" of your business, your business isn't working for you.

5. Distill to the essence. Everything you do matters - everything. And the way you do it does as well...make sure that you are focusing on the core activities, relationships and spirit of what's vital for you to feel good about your work AND your life.

While there are many other milestones for personal development as a result of doing soul-driven business, these five are central themes that I've discovered over the course of the last decade in working with entrepreneurs. If you're doing each of them consistently, your business is showing it... and if not, you've got some good accelerated growth opportunities waiting for you!