Right-Brain, Left-Brain: Necessary Balance

Please welcome my brilliant friend Jennifer Lee, bestselling author of The Right Brain Business Plan — a book I recommend regularly to my clients and students — who has written today’s guest post. She is also the creative force behind the 2nd annual Right Brainers in Business Video Summit, which began this week with a presentation by Mark Silver. I am honored to have her here on my blog.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the wise and wonderful Hiro Boga for my Right-Brainers in Business Video Summit that is going on now. You can catch Hiro on Friday, March 2nd as she talks with us about Spirituality in Business and how to bring all of you into your work. (Spoiler alert: I had to break out the tissues because I was so moved by what she shared!)

In my discussion with Hiro and my experience of her presence, I was reminded how important it is to come from a place of wholeness and integration in life and in business.

Im guessing as a creative and spiritual entrepreneur, you may lean more to your right-brain tendencies – emotion, creativity, visuals, color, meaning, and intuition. You may not feel as comfortable with the more left-brain details like structure, data, logic, analysis, and numbers.

And yet to be a successful entrepreneur and to live a full, rich life, we aim for wholeness. Its helpful to have both sides of our brain get along together and to know how to seamless integrate the two.

Below is a right-brain / left-brain assessment that can help you determine your natural tendencies in your business and where you might want to put some additional focus.

Rate each of the following statements on a scale of 1-5. Five means you completely agree and one means you completely disagree.

Left-Brain mind and matter meter:

· I have a plan of action.
· I know my numbers.
· I have information and data to help me track my progress.
· Ive asked myself the tough questions.
· Im taking action in the real work, not just living in my imagination.

Right-Brain heart and soul meter:

· I find meaning in my work.
· Im emotionally connected to my work and Im excited about what I do.
· My business is aligned with my values.
· My business allows me to express my creative vision.
· Im connecting with other people in a meaningful way.

Once you finish rating the statements do some reflection. Are you surprised by your responses? Where might you choose to put your attention now?

Check in with yourself and see which of the lower scoring statements intuitively calls to you. Maybe its an area youve continually struggled with. Or perhaps its a place you want to dig deeper. Ask yourself, what would a 5 look like? Imagine what it would feel like to completely and utterly agree with the statement. How would your business be different? How would you be showing up differently in your business (and life)? What would need to happen to move from your current rating to a 5 or even just one score higher than you are now? Is there someone you can ask for support or guidance? Identify one small step you can take today to move the needle up.

If youre not where you want to be yet, please show yourself plenty of compassion. Being a creative entrepreneur is very much a personal growth journey and every twist and turn along your path is full of valuable learning.

Next see which of the higher scoring statements intuitively calls to you. What does it feel like to be in agreement with that statement? What does it say about you and the work youve been doing? My guess is that theres probably something – whether big or small – to celebrate here, so make sure to acknowledge your gifts and progress. Give yourself a big pat on the back! And ask yourself what can you continue doing and how can you build on those strengths?

Now, if you were to invite in even more abundance, imagine what would be possible if you agreed with that statement at a 10? What would be different for you and your business? Allow yourself to really dream big here and see what that opens up for you. Identify one small step you can take today to move toward that vision.

I invite you to check in with these left and right brain assessments periodically to see where you want to focus your time and energy to be most effective and fulfilled in your creative and spiritual business. And feel free to add your own statements that work for you on your entrepreneurial journey.

For a colorful and fun illustrated version of these assessments, you can download free play sheets from my book The Right-Brain Business Plan.

Jennifer Lee is the founder of Artizen Coaching and the award-winning author of The Right-Brain Business Plan. Her bestselling book has helped thousands of entrepreneurs around the world grow their businesses authentically and creatively. You can find her on Twitter at @artizencoaching.