Almost three years ago I shared my first insights about spiritual minded entrepreneurship in an article “The Zen of BEing before doing”. This article was the start of an unbelievably rewarding journey for me. I literally thought I had it all figured out then, boy was I in for a ride, and still am !

What exactly is a spiritual minded entrepreneur? First let’s examine the word entrepreneur. We see entrepreneurs as brilliant business founders running a successful startup. And yes that’s part of being an entrepreneur, but I would like to extend the definition of entrepreneur to anyone ready to take responsibility for his life’s journey by acknowledging his 100% responsibility for the meaning he gives to life’s events.

Here is an example to explain: Two couples of best friends going to war. Two of the four men die during battle. One of the survivors, upon his return, starts drinking and slides into depression: he is unable to come to terms with the fact that he survived and his best friend died. The other survivor lives a happy and fulfilled life after returning home, as he had decided that he had a holy responsibility towards his dead best friend to live a full life for both of them. Same story, completely different outcome. Why? The one man took responsibility for the meaning he gave to his loss, the other one did not. I challenge you to check in with yourself and take a good look at where you did or did not take responsibility for the meaning you give to events happening in your life.

As the holocaust survivor Victor Frankl said: «When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.» I call women and men with this attitude entrepreneurs of life.

Now that we have established what an entrepreneur is, let us look into the ominous and weighty term “spirituality”.

Let me suggest a definition: “Spirituality is the quest for a deeper understanding and connection, transcending the physical and ordinary. It explores life’s purpose, the soul’s journey, and the divine. Rooted in beliefs, practices and experiences, it offers comfort and guidance. A bridge between the known and the incomprehensible, spirituality illuminates the heart and mind of those who choose to have faith.”

For centuries we’ve been taught that spirituality equates religion. To shatter this dogma I would like to quote Gregg Braden, Author of the book ”The God Code” who says: “First there was spirituality, then there was religion”.

Spirituality takes care of peoples deeper needs, religion creates the process to take control over these to take control over these needs..

To say it with my words: “Spirituality takes care of peoples deeper needs, religion creates the process to take control over these needs.” Once again it is on us to take 100% responsibility, this time for our spiritual journey.

Let us now put the terms spirituality and entrepreneur together, but let’s first define who is not a spiritual minded entrepreneur.

The one: who puts profit before ethics, who lacks authenticity, who misses out on the opportunity to grow personally.

Already in 2019, 200 top US CEOs signed a memorandum declaring that striving for shareholder value alone isn’t good enough anymore.

They declared that their future focus lies on a number of broader values, among them:

–  Investing in employees, compensating them fairly, help them to develop new skills for a rapidly changing world and foster diversity and inclusion, dignity and respect.

–  Dealing fairly and ethically with business partners.

–  Supporting the communities in which they work, through protecting the people and the environment by embracing sustainable practices.

This sounds like a great start, but it is not enough to be a spiritual minded entrepreneur, or as I like to call them a “zentrapreneur”.

A zentrapreneur creates on the basis of a pure (greater than himself) Intention, he nurtures his own and others innate Inspiration and manifests divine Impact beyond his wildest dreams.

To be continued…