The Business Paradigm
What is ‘business’ really all about and why has it gone ‘wrong’?
‘Business’ is a term which has many people confused. There are many different ideas about what a business actually IS, what it does and how it operates.
The problem arises because there are so many different forms and functions of ‘business’. They range from ‘micro’ one person operations to multi-billion global corporations employing many thousands of people. The media and ‘popular culture’ tend to lump these all together under the one heading – ‘business’.
But there are businesses who employ people and those who don’t, there are businesses which make vast profits for their owners and those which provide a subsistence income supporting individuals doing something they love to do.
I once ran a scuba diving school (business). It never made a ‘profit’ but it paid for my diving, not a cheap sport, for over ten years.
In fact, the vast majority of businesses worldwide are owned and operated by one or just a few people – often a ‘family business’. A concept which has developed from a centuries old culture of families and individuals ‘making a living’ from some resource or skill. There were no ‘businesses’ and no distinction made between business, or ‘work’, and lifestyle. It was just what people ‘did’ in their way of life. There was no concept of ‘work – life balance, their ‘business’ was their way of life and for many people all over the world it still is.
All these ‘small’ businesses, some of which may generate significant incomes, are effectively decentralised. Although they pay taxes to the ‘powers that be’ and attempts are made to control them, they don’t ‘report’ to any central organisation.
But for perhaps 600 years and well before the Industrial Revolution, things have been changing. Businesses have grown in size and become far less personal. An early example was the massive and seemingly all powerful ‘East India Company’ who effectively became the first global corporation and a self-governing entity even to the extent of sponsoring and carrying out military operations in the era of colonial expansion, a development of the earlier independent ‘privateers’ or state approved pirates. A long way from your local butcher, baker, and candlestick maker, now replaced by supermarkets and energy companies.
The idea of separating business/work from ‘life’ began to grow. Big businesses or ‘corporates’ became more and more powerful and independent of state governments through operating in several different countries. Indeed, some corporate global businesses are larger than some nations, both in terms of the money they circulate, and the numbers of people involved.
It was though, the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century when the ‘plan of life’ really changed. Up until then the four domains of life, one of them being ‘what we do’ were more integrated. What happened was people were enticed to stop working for themselves but to work for someone else – to exchange their time, skills, knowledge and expertise for money and importantly, although most didn’t realise it (and still don’t), giving up control of a large portion of their lives.
What people ‘did’ in their lives was no longer for themselves, building their own lifestyle, but for others in the form of a ‘company’ building the owners’ lifestyles.
In this way ‘work’ – what we do – became centralised in these companies both large and small (or ‘medium sized’ whatever that means!). What they did was no longer decentralised, managed and controlled in their own homes or local environment but collected together in centralised corporate organisations both privately and state owned, the latter exemplified by the vast ‘collective farms’ of the Soviet Union.
This centralisation of ‘business’ has led to even more control and is a source of confusion and the belief businesses are ‘rich’. Some are, but most, however large they might be must keep a close eye on their centralised economics to stay in operation The problem is though vast resources are being accrued in some large global corporates whilst bot the people and the state struggle to find the means to survive. Money itself is being centralised.
At present there is little we can do in this overarching control system. We have to return to a more decentralised society and next time I’ll explain how this might happen.
What Is The Freedom Academy?
The Freedom Academy provides coaching, therapy, and learning. We have lots of resources you can use and will be holding many evets you can attend. Our learning and coaching programmes span three levels: ‘Learning’ (the basics), ‘Development’ (advanced level) and ‘Transformation’ (the ‘graduate’ level). In other words, the ‘what’, the ‘why’, and the ‘how’ of life.
You can join on a ‘one-off’ basis taking one programme at a time, or you can become a member when you’ll get a set of programmes and resources available to you depending on your level. Even when you just register for free you get access to parts of the Academy.
Our mission is to free you from the constraints of the third dimension and introduce you to what you can achieve in the fourth and fifth and beyond. We’d love to have you on board.
What is ‘Lab Analysis’ – Words which Change Minds?
You’ve heard the expression ‘it only takes a few seconds to make a first impression’ -well most recent research put it at about 7 seconds. How do you know you’re making the ‘right’ impression in such a brief moment?
Now with most people those first 7 seconds aren’t cast in stone, they are likely to change their opinion of you as time goes on but wouldn’t it be a good idea to make sure you do get off to a good start when you meet new people?
Language and Behaviour (LaB) Analysis can do this for you, and it doesn’t take long. A few minutes ‘interview’ with a qualified practitioner will do it and you’ll get a detailed follow up report o how people you meet are likely to form an opinion of you. Once you know this you can adjust how you interact with people.
LaB Analysis was created by Shelle Rose Charvet and is widely used in recruitment and selection. It also has some revealing insights on how we buy and how we react to the sales process, vital knowledge if you are engaged in this activity.
Four By Forward
Learn how to ‘measure’ your life over the four domains of Self, Others, Doing and Having. Measure your progress in achieving whatever you want to Be, Do and Have. Our ‘Four by Forward’ programme is the way.
Reboot your mind – Set your Intentions for the next 12 months
Treat your brain to a ‘spa-day’. Rebalance and reboot the four domains of life. This is an intensive, structured and focussed four hour session where we examine everything in detail – where you are, where you want to go and how you can get there. I help you make decisions about your next steps, choices, and visions. I’ll follow up with you with a short coaching session after a month and three months.
Check out your Akashic Record
Have you checked out your Akashic Record? There may be something in a previous existence holding you back or inhibiting your progress. You can read them yourself, but you need to know how, and you don’t always get the truth as your conscious mind may interfere. I can do this for you and provide an extensive report together with any measures you may need to take.
VisionPower – your three year vision
Work through the 9-part ‘Vision Power’ programme over a few weeks using the workbook and audio guides to develop your personal vision for the next three years. This is a comprehensive programme and asks you a lot of ‘difficult’ questions. Each part will need careful consideration and shouldn’t be rushed. To help you there’s a short coaching session following each of the nine workbooks.