Businesslike Sentence

Businesslike sentence is a phrase that can be seen in two different ways. Firstly, it is a string of words that are professional, clear and sincere. What a businesslike sentence used to mean for me was the other meaning; that sentence that infers imprisonment. “Sentenced” (as punishment?) to work in a businesslike manner.

I was a free-child of the 70s. I was usually covered in mud, I was a hippy in the 80s and 90s either at Glastonbury (usually covered in mud!), or raves beneath the arches whilst at art school in London. I was ethical and serious in the noughties, focused on personal development and conscious of my impact on the environment. Never did I imagine that as business owner I could feel anything other than ‘sentenced’.  In business I would be sentenced to overheated offices and to suit-wearing and to endlessly boring meetings with other boring suit-wearing individuals. In business I would be sentenced to stale air and stale protocols and stale ideas of what was possible. In business I would be sentenced to adhering to the way businesses have always been.

What I had no notion of was the fact that starting a business was my antidote to my Businesslike Sentence. By starting my business I was freeing myself of all of that duty-bound, stale, beholden-ness. I was freeing myself to be me! I enjoyed being in business so very much, that in the beginning I thought I must be doing it wrong. I had a serious case of imposter syndrome and feared either being rumbled or falling flat on my face with everyone pointing and saying ‘we told you so’! My work place is magic and despite being two miles from the city centre looks out over green as far as the eye can see. The meetings I have with colleagues, practitioners and mentors are endlessly inspiring, enjoyable and humor-filled. The ideas and knowledge being shared are generous, wise and quick-thinking. Most importantly I have autonomy. I have the autonomy to change something that does not work on a whim. I have the autonomy to implement a new idea based on intuition. I have the autonomy to design it my way because I can cope with the consequences and it is my responsibility and thus it is my choice.

So, by imposing this businesslike sentence upon myself I have awarded myself the chance to risk and play. I have freed myself to experiment and share, to network and laugh. I have liberated myself to forge my own path in the business world. I have opened the gates to collaborations with those individuals who both inspire me and nudge me to grow myself.

Being businesslike is no sentence to me today. Businesslike equals freedom and agility, it equal authenticity and delight, and it equals Purposeful professional development.

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