MEDITATION IN BUSINESS: IT WORKS!

In a frenetic, noisy and obsessive world, the ability to disengaging from the hurly burly can prove invaluable, most particularly when we are trying to find inspiration to fire our inner motivation. In my own experience I found that the ability to be able to step back and observe events in the moment, with a certain detachment from negative emotions, is as potent a skill, especially in business. 

Meditation comes in many forms and is not the intention to discuss here techniques or philosophies: there is bountiful information on this subject both online and in print - the important thing is to cast off preconceptions and take a look.

At a bare minimum, meditation it can have very straightforward applications for the busiest of schedules, in fact the busier and more stressful life gets, the more essential it is to develop such skills. This fact has been embraced by a number of corporations including Apple, Google, Nike and HBO to name but a few.

SO, WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS THAT MEDITATION CAN OFFER? 

THE MONKEY MIND

We all experience this: the incessant inner dialogue that occupies our minds for much of our day - a constant flow of thoughts tumbling like lottery balls, with no beginning, middle or end. So how can our thought process, so congested, be expected to work effectively for us? Surely, if we are able to quieten the chatter there can be greater benefits for us than allowing it to carry on. 
     Even a brief period of contemplation each day is a good start – it’s just a matter of engaging with the present moment when time is set aside for being alone with ourselves. Like all skills, excluding all unnecessary thoughts does take practice, but in learning to do so benefits can be felt from the beginning. Of course the relaxation can be reward enough but there’s far more than that:

CLARITY

With a calm and uncluttered mind comes clarity and with it determination, as we see what needs to be done whether we are beginning to set goals or in need of reinforcing our resolve after a difficult day. When we tame the internal chatter we find, in its place, calm and simplicity - what better state is there for making good decisions?

FOCUS

With the mind thus soothed we will also find it far less likely that we shall be knocked off our course by distractions. We refocus on the priorities and goals we set ourselves. We can rediscover those emotions that inspired us when we first decided upon a course of action and so launch ourselves, refreshed, into making a reality of our dreams.

CONTROL

We take control of our thoughts because if we do not do it then someone else will try do it for us abdicating our free will, albeit subconsciously, and following the agenda of others. Alternatively we drift on autopilot leaving our most important decisions to instincts, emotions, and learned reactions. If our own hands are on the steering wheel, however, we can be sure of our ideas, as our thoughts are stripped back to their bare essentials. There is no waste, just the burning desire to carry through the goals we have set.

CONNECTION

Meditation connects us directly to the very core of ourselves, our essence - in other words, the things that really make us tick. Nothing is more important as we cannot be truly happy or feel fulfilment if we are not at one with our core values.

And regular meditation can do all this? Of course not, but it helps us to do it. All meditation does is give us the choices, and in this life, clear choice is a precious resource available to us all, we just have to 'dig' a little.

Alan Keyse is a fully qualified Business and Life Coach who now applies his 30 years of experience as a sales executive to coaching Emotional Intelligence to business leaders, executives, managers and their staff either in one-to-one sessions, in groups, or speaking to larger audiences. 

Alan Keyse

keysforliving.org

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