When most people think about mindfulness or meditation, the first image that pops into their mind is some hippie hugging trees or some Eastern monk doing some meditation in a temple. So yeah, in my opinion, if you are a business owner, if you are an entrepreneur, or if you ever dream of becoming one, developing meditative and mindfulness skills is something that will help you dramatically. And today, we’re going to see how.
Mindfulness Skills
Good decision making | First way
The first way mindfulness skills or regularly meditating can help you as a business owner, and in my opinion actually, this reason alone, this way alone is enough of a justification to actually practice those skills.
Even though I know it’s hard. And I know sometimes you don’t find the time to do it. But even if the only positive advantage you are going to get from practicing for spending all this time is, only this one thing, in my opinion, it would be worth it. And this thing is being more clear, having more clarity when it comes to decision making.
As business owners and as entrepreneurs, I believe that making good decisions, deciding on the right path to take action, the right strategy, the right solution to various things is maybe the most important thing we do.
Because even though we can hire smart people to do a lot of the work for us, even though we can automate all the stuff, even though, of course, our product is important, and of course, everything in our business is important for it to succeed, most of the way our business is currently operating is based on our past decision making. And if we make better decisions, we will have a better business.
Both on the strategic decisions front, but also on the day to day decisions. Like will I spend my time with the sales team or with the marketing team? Will I go out and do this campaign or that campaign?
Will I hire a new person or should I actually even cut off some people to find room or better more skillful people to join the team?
So obviously, making good decisions is incredibly important.
But how will mindfulness or meditation help you make better decisions in business?
Well, the number one problem you and I, we all face when we are making decisions in business is that we have a lot one certainty. There is an inherent uncertainty to business. Because we can never actually know what kind of results we will produce taking a certain path or a certain decision. This is just the way it is.
Even if 10 other businesses in our niche have done the same thing and it worked for them, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to work for us. And also, if many other people have tried it and it didn’t work for them, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it cannot work for you.
So what is actually the most important thing when you’re making a decision?
Of course, you have to do the research and you have to find the probability of things working are not working. But the most important thing is being very, very clear.
After working with hundreds of business owners over the years, I can tell you with extreme certainty that the most common reason business owners take bad decisions is not because they’re stupid or because they have not made enough research. It is because their emotions are floating around them. Because something that happened in the morning or yesterday or in the week before [that] is managing them more than their pure logic or more than their pure intention to grow the business.
Maybe an employee disappointed them or maybe just the family name member made something feel like it is not going to work. Being able to put all those thoughts aside, all those emotions aside and simply look at things as they are right now will create a level of clarity that will help you make better decisions in business.
Remove distraction and be productive | Second way
The second way meditating and developing your mindfulness skills can help you in business is by removing distractions and making you more productive.
Every single one of us had the experience of having a really productive day or a really productive couple of hours in which we actually managed to do more and accomplish more than we usually accomplish in a full week or even more than that.
How does that happen?
Well, the reason it happens is because most of us, including myself, we’re having thoughts. We’re having emotions. We’re having distractions. And when we are full with all those emotions, with all those thoughts, we tend to not be focused. We tend to not be productive. We tend to move away from what’s really important and simply spend our time doing things that are practically not as important or that simply someone else can do them instead.
So by spending 10 minutes or something like that meditating in the morning, you can be so much more productive. Simply because you will be so much cleaner. Your body and your soul is going to be so much more clear, so much more focused, and these distractions will simply go away.
Be happy and be positive | Third way
And if we are already discussing lack of baggage or being clear of negative emotions, let’s talk about the third way mindfulness can improve you in your business.
And the third way is that it’s been scientifically proven that practicing mindfulness will make you happier. And when you will be happier, when you will be more happy, more positive, when you will be with this lack of baggage [and] clear of those negative emotions, your aura – and I’m not talking about something spiritual here, I’m talking about something very, very practical – will attract people, will inspire people.
Think about yourself. When you are surrounded with positive people, with happy people, are you more productive?
Are you more inspired?
I think the answer is absolutely ‘yes’. And you want to provide this for your team. You want to be so full of positive energy that your team cannot do anything else but be inspired and motivated to do the best they can.
Focus when its comes to problem solving | Fourth way
The fourth way mindfulness can help you in your business is having laser focus when problem solving. It’s hard. It’s difficult. When you have a problem, when you have a challenging business, oftentimes, it seems like everything is collapsing on your head. And having those skills to focus solely on one thing, this is the skill you’re actually practicing.
When you’re meditating, when you’re practicing mindfulness, then you are able to simply and clearly identify the root problem. And therefore it’s so much easier to find a solution. So practicing mindfulness is so important to promote and to improve your problem solving skills. It’s simply ridiculous not to use it.
Most people think that if they will spend 10 or 20 minutes a day meditating or doing something else, the fact that they will not be working those 20 minutes will create so many problems. But the truth is, those 20 minutes can be so important for your problem solving skills, that is simply amazing.
Super motivated and goal oriented | Fifth way
Let’s go to number five. Busy business owners and busy entrepreneurs like yourself are often super productive, are often super motivated, are very goal oriented. You want your business to succeed. And you will do everything it takes within reason, of course, or within what’s legal, of course, to make your business work.
But oftentimes what will happen is that you will not be able to listen and to be as present for the people around you in your business, in your team, I mean, or maybe even for your clients as you would be if you would be just a bit more relaxed, just a bit less stressed.
So being very busy is a good thing. Being very stressed is actually a very bad thing when it comes to business. Yeah, of course, if you are stressed as the manager, you can put some stress on your employees or something and they might perform better for the short term.
But in the long term, people will perform the best way they can when they feel like their business, or the company they are working for is a place like a home for them. When they feel like the owner of the business is someone who truly cares for them and they will care back.
Of course, it doesn’t mean they will care about your business as much as you do. And it doesn’t mean that they will not leave for another company when the time will come. But it does mean that when they are here, they will give out so much more both practically speaking and also emotionally between each other.
So when you’re practicing mindfulness, when you’re practicing meditation, you’re helping yourself to be more present to the people around you, being able to become a better listener. And being a better listener, as a leader might be one of the most important skills.
Leading business to the right direction | Sixth way
Number six is again, something like number one. In my opinion, if you would only get number six, if you wouldn’t be better at problem solving, if you wouldn’t be more productive, if you wouldn’t be able to make better decisions, if you would only get number six, it would be so much worth it to practice meditation even if it’s hard, even if it’s difficult, even if you don’t know where to start.
And number six is leading the business to the direction that is actually right for you. And of course, most businesses fail. Most businesses will not work, will not grow, will not succeed.
My opinion
But in my opinion, the one thing that couldn’t be worse for your life than starting a business and failing that, actually so many people definitely and so many people learn to live with it and maybe they start a new business or go back to having a job they might like eventually.
The worst thing is actually starting a business making it successful, but making it a place you hate being in. Just like having a job you really hate, but one that pays really well is something that might be or might sound good to people who don’t have such a good job, but it’s actually a very terrible place to be. It’s like a golden cage.
So many entrepreneurs and business owners are creating those cages for themselves in their own businesses by simply doing what’s right for the company.
They’re being pushed forward by their team of managers or employees or by their suppliers or clients or whatever, to provide more services, to grow the business or whatever.
And I’m not saying going the business is something wrong, but you need to learn to navigate your business, not just to the place that’s right for the business, not just the place that’s right for your team, but also to the places that are right for you.
And if you want to be crystal clear on what’s right for you, you would have to actually practice not just listening to other people, but also listening to yourself. And those are one of the things you actually learn when you meditate, when you’re practicing mindfulness, you’re actually learning to listen better for yourself.
And if you want to listen better for yourself while you’re stressed, while you’re managing people, while you’re managing finances, while you’re having this huge business, maybe you even have a family and other things to attend to, then you must spend the time.
You must walk the time and you must develop the skills needed to put all the stress, all the thoughts, all the negative emotions aside for a minute, and be crystal clear on what’s right for you.
