5 Questions To Effectively Know Your Business Is In Alignment

Think about your car being out of alignment; feeling wobbly, unstable, and chaotic. Now, compare that to when it is in alignment; feeling smooth, steady, and stable.

If you wake up feeling like something is off, you're not motivated or excited about your day, you feel disconnected, tired, and uninspired; it may be time to check your energetic alignment.

Today, we're going over 5 simple questions that you can ask yourself to ensure that you are in alignment with this business, idea, or even relationship.

Yes, these 5 questions you're going to ask yourself are going to make sure that you're in alignment with anything that life throws at you, business-related or not.

Let's dive in!

Knowing When You're Out of Alignment

Okay, as I mentioned before, if your car is out of alignment it's pulling to the left, it's pulling to the right, it's wobbling, it's not fun. It's a really annoying experience more than anything. And it's pretty obvious when you're driving a car. But it's not as obvious when it's actually with you and your energy.

When you're feeling off, it means that something is off; you're out of alignment.

When you finally get a car aligned, you go from that wobbly sensation to being smooth, confident, coasting. The same thing is true when it comes to business/work. The same is true for relationships (family, friends, kids, etc.) Whatever it is, there's something off and you're feeling resistance. When you're in alignment, there's no resistance.

When you're in alignment, you go from feeling a push energy to experiencing a pull energy. And that pull energy is so much easier, smoother, and way more efficient.

My question for you is:

• Are you feeling off?
• Are you tired and burnt out?
• Is it hard for you to get out of bed and work toward your goals?
• Are you lacking motivation?

These are all signs that you're out of alignment and need to make some adjustments.

The 5-Point Test

So let's get into the five-point alignment test, which is simply just 5 questions you ask yourself.

And you can ask yourself these questions at a stoplight, in the line for groceries, in the car, etc. Anytime, anywhere. All you need to do is understand the questions, the meaning behind them, and how it relates to you what it is you're working on.

Question #1: Does It Give Me Life?

Does this idea that you have really give you life? Does it excite you? 

One of my favorite quotes is by Howard Thurman where he said,

"Don't do what you think the world needs, do what makes you come alive. What the world needs are more people who have come alive."

Now when we're talking about a business idea, you want to be in full alignment with that business. Whether you have an established business or you're just starting out, you want to make sure that this thing makes you come alive. It excites you from the inside out.

Where most people go wrong is they come up with ideas or just listen to other people's opinions of what they "should" do while never really think about this question, "Does it make me come alive?"

Because if it doesn't excite you, it's going to be so hard. It's that push energy versus the pull energy. When you experience that pull energy, and it makes the work be effortless.

So the first question is, does it give me life? You want a yes to that.

Question #2: Does It Align With My Values?

You can do a lot of different exercises on finding core values, but what I always recommend is to come up with 3-5 major values that really aligned with who you are. When these values align with who you are, they will show in your business as well. Your business is an extension of you.

"Core values" is a big buzzword. We hear all the time that our business should have core values and yet so many people still struggle with understanding what their core values are.

Whether this is your current business model, business idea, maybe you want to make a pivot or you're thinking about where to start, either way, you want to make sure that it aligns with what you value.

Here is a couple of core value examples:

• Family
• Friends
• Freedom
• Independence
• Authenticity
• Courage
• Integrity
• Discipline

It could be that you want to make a certain type of impact, and if you currently have a business and it's not making that type of impact, then that's an out-of-alignment business.

Instead of thinking about "core values", think "your values" and what you value as an individual. As I mentioned before, your business is an extension of you.

John C. Maxwell is known as the godfather of leadership development. You can check out his work here.

I was listening to a podcast with John, where he shared a story of a time he was asked to speak to the members of an organization. John was asked by the CEO to talk about business ethics. 

He replied by saying, "I'd love to come in and speak, but I'm going to talk to them about ethics, that's it. I'm not going to talk about "business ethics", because business ethics are just ethics."

Think about core values as the same thing.

It's not business values versus your personal values. Why not have business values that also match your values? When you understand what you really value, and what's really most important to you, it's going to show in your business. And that's also going to resonate with the right people.

Question #3: Will It Cause Me To Grow?

When it comes to your business idea, does that idea or vision cause you to grow? Or are you just staying stagnant?

With growth, there's life. When you look at nature, everything is always growing and the universe is constantly expanding. It's literally in your nature to constantly be growing, and you want that to show in your business.

If you notice that you're staying stagnate, explore the idea of how you could continue to grow.

Question #4: Am I Willing To Pay The Price For My Dream?

Your business, the result that you want to bring forth, that's a dream that you have. It's a vision that you have of the future, and then the business is really going to solve that problem As a business owner, you are a problem solver. And the better you get at solving bigger problems, the more money you can make and the more reward that there is.

With all that success and growth, there's going to be a lot of discomfort along the way. But it's a good discomfort. It's like growing pains, it's necessary. And with discomfort and more responsibility, you're going to have to make certain kinds of sacrifices and learn how to say NO to a lot of other things when you are growing.

That's why this question is in here, "Am I willing to pay the price for this dream?" Because as you grow, you're going to have to say NO to that old version of you, and those old things that don't align with who you are now and what you're growing into.

Click here and learn 5 effective ways to say NO.

Question #5: Does This Have Good In It For Others?

Now, this is a big one. Does this business, this idea that you have, really support people?

You can have good intentions, and you should, but is this thing really supporting people? Does it really have good in it for other people? Is it really helping other people expand and grow in some way?

When you know that your business has extreme goodness for other people, and it's really supporting them, that is going to give you so much energy and motivation to just keep pushing forward. Because you know that it's supporting people in a positive way.

Conclusion

So when you look at these 5 questions, you want to answer yes to every single one of them.

1. Does it give me life?
2. Does it align with what I value?
3. What is it going to cause me to grow?
4. Am I willing to pay the price and make necessary sacrifices for this dream?
5. Does it have good in it for other people?

When you can answer these questions with a confident YES, you're going to have way more discipline, way more motivation, and the journey is not going to feel so hard. That way you won't feel you have to push so much because this dream/vision is in full alignment with you and what you're working towards.