Meditation isn't as Useless as it Sounds... Surprisingly

Hi Steemians! @mazzle here.

A few months ago, I took on a business coach to help me grow my business and help me develop personally as a business owner. If you haven't read my previous posts about my struggles as a business owner take a look at the posts I've linked to at the bottom of this one.

I met with my business coach today and had a very blunt discussion about everything that I need to desperately do to get my business operating properly by the end of the financial year. He said that the next few months will be incredibly stressful, but that I'd be fine. And then let me know that just last week, he'd seen his business's revenue drop by 60% in the space of one week, all resulting from a single complaint. My comment to him was how the hell are you still so relaxed and his comment surprised me.

He said that he had started practicing meditation every morning for about 30 minutes and had discovered that, while his problems don't simply vanish or become any less severe, meditating allowed him to manage the stress better, have a much clearer understanding of his workload, and actually increased his work output throughout the day.

This surprised me. As a scientist, I generally have a naturally skeptical mind when it comes to things that sound so airy fairy. But my coach is an intelligent person, and quite a successful business owner. So I naturally believed what he told me and thought I'd apply it to my day as well.

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So, for the last couple of days, I've been learning about meditation and practicing meditating. And, as much as I hate to admit it, it's been helpful.

There are a few different types of meditation. The one recommended to entrepreneurs and / or business owners is called Open Monitoring Meditation. This method of meditation is the practice of observing whatever thoughts pass through your mind during the process of meditation. You essentially let go of any judgement or attachment to the thoughts passing through your mind. This encourages a lack of reaction to thoughts that would normally trigger an emotional reaction, which allows you to develop the ability to have more control over reactions in your every day life.

There is also guided meditation where you have a teacher or guide that instructs you in what to focus on, or when to allow time for open monitoring. This is a form of meditation for beginners as it requires no research or practice before starting. This is actually where I started, I simply downloaded a meditation app from the iTunes store (there are many to choose from - check out Headspace as a starting point) and start from there. I still use the app as a guide but will be working on my own before long.

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So far, I've found meditation useful for simply gaining a greater clarity as to how I should tackle my day without the usual scattered feeling that I normally feel when rushing about trying to get everything done. I also find that I am more controlled in my discussions with staff, and they seem to be responding better to this behaviour. So overall, meditation seems to be improving my daily life.

I'll update with my progress as I get better at the practice, but I definitely recommend giving it a shot.

I hope this information helps!

Some Previous Posts About My Experience in Business
When You Think You're An Entrepreneur But Realise You're Just A Noob
Are You Happy?
When You Decide To Turn A Donkey Into A Stallion