Mindfulness is the new buzzword, but evidence suggests that this practice can help you make better decisions, stay calm, improve focus, and better deal with stress. Every entrepreneur can agree that these are attractive benefits.
Here are four ways to incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine:
1. Practice Gratitude
Entrepreneurs are focused on growth and improving their business. Forward thinking is essential to be successful in the business world, but when you’re constantly focused on the future, you have little time to appreciate what you have here and now.
Gratitude journals are a great way to make this practice a part of your routine. Every evening, create a list of everything you are grateful for. Acknowledge and appreciate every item on your list. As you continue this practice, the list will grow longer as you find more things to be grateful for.
Why bother practicing gratitude? Psychology studies have found that people who practice gratitude are more satisfied and happier in their lives.
2. Sweep Out Negativity
Negativity can drag you down, and even lead to failure. Success requires the right mindset and belief that you can accomplish your goals. But every entrepreneur suffers from self-doubt and negative thoughts from time to time.
The key is to turn those negative thoughts into positive ones.
In an interview with Epoch Times, Sam Ovens, entrepreneur, said, “If I have a negative thought, I write it down. Then I reverse engineer, asking myself, ‘Where is this coming from?’ It took me a long time to fix it. But I was able to rewire it all.”
Rewiring his thoughts clearly had an impact. Ovens has made over $10 million as a digital marketing consultant, and now runs a global e-learning business.
Sweeping out negativity clears a path to your goal, and gives you the confidence you need to get there.
3. Focus on Your Purpose
On the road to success, it’s easy to lose focus of your purpose. Many entrepreneurs lose touch with the fire and passion that drove them to this path.
Take the time revisit your purpose and remind yourself of why you sought entrepreneurship in the first place.
Keep in mind that purpose is different from profit. What is the purpose of your business? What do you want to accomplish?
When you started your business, you had a goal in mind. Focus on that goal and purpose to stay grounded and move forward with determination.
4. Be Still and Be in the Moment
As an entrepreneur, you’re always on the go. But if you don’t take the time to be still, be in the moment, and give your mind and body a rest, you’ll soon find yourself running on empty.
Meditation is a great way to accomplish the goal of slowing down and alleviating stress. If you can’t sit down for 20 minutes or an hour to meditate, take just 5-10 minutes to stop what you’re doing, quiet your mind, and be in the moment. Those moments of peace will give you the energy boost you need to get through the rest of the day.
Practicing mindfulness can help you stay focused on your goal as an entrepreneur. Use these four simple tips to bring this practice into your daily routine.
Paying attention is essential for a successful life. Paying close attention to financial deals without getting emotionally involved is a tried and true method for success. Meditation and mindfulness are all about paying attention without emotional involvement. So it is logical that these practices would be beneficial to anyone involved in finance, investment or even household budgeting as well as when making major purchases.
As a psychotherapist, I have worked with many business clients over the years and have taught all of them mindfulness meditation. I have found that the practice of mindfulness meditation makes them more open and able to innovate far better than before they began their mindfulness practices. Every client who meditates also becomes a far better negotiator as well as a convincing spokesperson.
We all know that it is essential to be calm and objective during a negotiation. Being able to ‘read the room’ is also a powerful skill. Meditation will enhance these skills. Practicing meditation on a regular basis before you need these skills is essential though. You cannot become effective at meditation by just thinking about doing it.
Often it is helpful to have some guidance or a teacher when beginning to do meditation. When a teacher is not available or possible I highly recommend the guided meditation training downloads by Jon Shore at http://www.meditation-download.com to most of my clients since they are very effective.
One can argue all day about the effectiveness of meditation or mindfulness or one can try it and see for oneself. I usually recommend the second option.