A fellow astrologer recently asked about earning a living through astrology. Though he doesn’t put it exactly in these words, his question boils down to three things: (1) What I do has value. (2) What I do helps people. (3) What I do is my calling. So why aren’t I making enough money at it?
He isn’t alone. I’ve heard his ponderings echoed many times over among astrologers and in other circles: massage therapists, energy healers, hypnotherapists, even psychotherapists. I know writers, artists and performers who struggle with similar frustrations. Why is this so damn hard?
As I chewed on the question, it struck me that the astrological triumvirate of livelihood was contained in my colleague’s question:
- 2nd House: Do I value what I do? Check.
- 6th House: Are others served well when I do it? Check.
- 10th House: Does it bring me closer to my highest self? Check.
Then why, oh why, are we still toiling behind filing cabinets and cash registers and delivery truck steering wheels just to fill the mewling mouths of our young? Why can’t we free ourselves from the leaden weight of worry, grow light with the shininess of self-realization?
Before I was a full-time astrologer, I was a fundraiser for nonprofit organizations. We asked these same questions, but we said them a little differently — something more like: Do we believe in this program? Does the community benefit from it? Does it help fulfill our mission?
I suppose any supervisor of widget-makers or fast-food restaurant manager could ask the same things, in yet again a different way: Can we get behind this hamburger? Do our customers big-heart it? Are we absolutely the best Yummy-in-my-Tummy Burger we could be?
It boils down to meeting needs in three areas: self-with-a-little-s, others, and Self-with-a-big-S. That last is kinda transcendent.
But as my bosses in the nonprofit sector liked to point out, meeting needs (even everyone’s needs) isn’t always enough. You can’t just educate people about the value of your work and watch them jump on board. They have a million causes to choose from — a million astrologers, massage therapists and energy healers; a million poets, painters and dancers. Six billion hamburgers and counting. Lots and lots and lots of people are already sold on your 6th House (what you do serves them — or could serve them — well). Ninety-nine percent of them don’t care about your 2nd (what you value) or your 10th (what you’re called to do).
So what’s an entrepreneur to do?
I went spelunking around the rest of the chart to figure out what I was missing. Because, yes, my colleague’s question quickly became a question about my own business as well.
And what I came to was this: Entrepreneurship — especially entrepreneurship that’s led by a calling — is way, way, waaay more than how you make your living. It’s more than value and service, more even than marketing. It’s your life and your lifestyle. It’s what you eat and breathe and play and dream. It touches, and proceeds from, and knits into, every single aspect of your everyday, your relationships, your self-conduct, your belief system, your trust in the world (or lack thereof), your internal life.
And that means the whole entire horoscope chart is implicated, from the 1st House to the 12th, and back, and around, and across. To take some simple examples:
- Just because people are helped by what I do (6th House) doesn’t mean they value it (8th House) in the same way I do (2nd House).
- Just because it’s my calling (10th House) doesn’t mean the people I’m closest to (4th House) will automatically support it.
- Just because I have a nice website (1st House) doesn’t mean it’s attracting enough people (5th House) or the right people (11th House).
And so on.
I’ve been running back and forth across the chart with these ideas, trying to ask (and answer, for myself) all the relevant questions about financial success in the land of the business owner, trying to see how they all get caught up in each other, trying to untangle them a bit for your benefit and mine.
There are lots, and lots, and lots of questions that dig deeper than the usual 10 Questions to Ask Before You Quit Your Day Job.
I’m now organizing those questions into a coherent and usable framework that you can use to appraise and tackle your entrepreneurial predicaments. I want to say, “It’s guaranteed to help you!” But I know that’s not enough.
But it will.
So keep your eyes out.
Photo credits: Lemonade stand, Crowd, Chelada
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i feel your pain. my folks run a business too and my mom has been wrestling with many of the same questions. one thing that she has begun to find invaluable is networking. i’m sure you do plenty online, i see you posting the links to other sites you write for and whatnot, but what about “in person” networking? both my parents are involved in networking organizations where they might not be meeting the people that ultimately end up using their services, but they might know someone who is. also, many people that you meet through these things will trade with you, and you have the added advantage of offering a service rather than a product AND living in a location with people who have the money to spend. the state of the economy is trickling down to all professions, so don’t beat yourself up!
anyway, i hope i have said something worthwhile for you here. email me if you want more specific names of organizations. they are nationwide, so i know they have something in your part of the woods.
I love this article – it so explains what most solopreneurs go through. May I share this with my members? I think they’ll laugh out loud like I did!
I’ve been reading a few posts and really and enjoy your writing. I’m just starting up my own xbox blog and only hope that I can write as well and give the reader so much insight.