Why do you need mindfulness to navigate through challenging times as a business leader?
To help you approach times of difficulty in business with mindfulness, we asked fellow business leaders and business professionals this question for their best advice. From manifesting your goals to analyzing business situations, there are several reasons to develop a mindfulness practice with actionable strategies that may help guide you through business challenges for years to come.
Here are 12 reasons why you should start a mindfulness practice:
One way I practice mindfulness is to take deep breaths to keep my body relaxed and settle my busy mind. Breathing exercises are usually one of the best ways I deal with intense stress-inducing moments. You need to be able to step back and remember to take care of your mind and body. I also take regular walks. Not only is it an excellent exercise, but it provides me time to reset and focus at the start and end of each workday.
Henry Babicheknko, Stomadent
Mindfulness helps us stay present. Stress, emotions, and multitasking flood our bodies with adrenaline and cortisol, and decrease our ability to be present to our colleagues. More importantly, we can lose the opportunity to be open to new ideas and possibilities. Mindfulness practices give us the chance to take a breath, ground our actions, and attend to our environment. Just taking a pause can open the door to fresh perspectives, new ideas, and connecting with colleagues. These are key ingredients for innovation.
Stephanie Varnon-Hughes, PhD, The Claremont Core
Mindfulness allows me to be fully present for my team and the work. The best practice for me is to mentally walk through the day from the morning commute (when I drive to work) through each calendar placeholder. By taking a few morning minutes per day to visualize each upcoming meeting or event, I am able to set positive intentions on how I would like them to go. I see the planning and preparation needed, the successful outcomes and execution, and I set my mind up to observe it all unfolding.
Jenn Christie, Markitors
Being a business leader, you need to face different types of challenges. However, you can not simply focus on the solution to that specific problem, as you also need to consider the effects of going with that solution.
Without mindfulness, you may get the direct solution to that problem, but there are high chances that you will turn it into a bigger problem, in a bigger picture. Thus, mindfulness is an important part of navigating through challenging times as a business leader.
Richard Lubicky, RealPeopleSearch
You need mindfulness to navigate through challenging times as a business leader because it can help you stay calm during those times and when there is any type of crisis in the workplace. Mindfulness is also vital to help you stay more present while at work. It can be advantageous both on a professional as well as on a personal level because mindfulness can also help you be less stressed during the workday.
Sarah Pirrie, Healist Naturals
I’ve known a number of leaders and CEOs that have only had one type of job or only worked with one company or industry their entire career. I think that is a detriment to being successful. I believe that sitting in a monolithic career sets CEOs up to be stagnant and not innovative.
To be a successful CEO and entrepreneur, you have to have a wide variety of experiences, education, successes, and failures in order to accumulate all of the skills to identify a strategic moment and have the chutzpah to go for it and try new things. Mindfulness doesn't have to just be about self-care, but rather continuously learning about new things and being a critical thinker.
Nancy Belcher, Winona
Mindfulness will be the key to your success during challenging times. When you work on your mind on a daily basis and turn your negative thoughts into positive thoughts, you, in a sense, start the day on the "right path."
One way you can do this is by starting out your morning by planning out your day in your mind the way you want it to go. Think of the tasks or appointments at hand that you have planned for the day and imagine the way the conversations or meetings will play out in a positive way to benefit the goals you have set forth to accomplish your goals.
Ofir Ventura, Entrepreneur
It’s critical to train your mind to handle stressful times clearly. The more stress you face without the skill to manage it, the more likely you are to make poor decisions, treat people poorly, and likely break under pressure. Our minds are built to handle stress by fleeing it or getting overloaded to the point of confusion or lack of clarity.
However, if you retrain your brain to handle pressure, your decisions and emotions will be far more thoughtful and productive. Often, people think meditation is the only way to practice mindfulness. However, you can choose anything that calms the mind — exercise, sitting in stillness, reading, and practicing gratitude are all ways to increase mindfulness.
Tracy Dias, Sales and Marketing Leader
Mindfulness grounds you during trying times. Having the ability to meditate or have the groundwork mentally to dig in and trust yourself is key to navigating hard times. It is what gets you through it over and over again. We are always going to have challenging times no matter what age we are, having mindfulness to get us through it will keep us afloat.
Riley Burke, Ohza Mimosa
Mindfulness can help you organize and center your thoughts. It can also improve goal-setting and provide a deeper understanding of how to run your business. Mindfulness is also a great way to reduce stress.
James Sun, Beauty Tap
It's important to use mindfulness to stay in the moment as a business owner. Entrepreneurs tend to be very achievement-focused and constantly chase the next goal. Rarely do they take the time to enjoy each moment and feel the reward of the success they have already achieved, which can lead to burnout and exhaustion.
Being mindful reminds you to take each day as it comes and celebrate those small wins, keeping up motivation and productivity in a more sustainable way. By taking the time to enjoy each moment and be present in your business, you can more clearly see the challenging periods for what they are, small dips in a long and varied journey.
Antreas Koutis, Financer
If I did not have mindfulness I would make poor business decisions. I notice when my brain is not in the present moment, I start thinking of every overwhelming thing that is on my mind. Being mindful helps me to focus on only the now and not worry about the future or the past. Mindfulness has helped me to be thankful for what I have now. Mindfulness can be helpful to anyone.
Jimmy Clare, CrazyFitnessGuy
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