Entrepreneurs are constantly bombarded with tasks, deadlines, and the endless minutia of a growing business. This can result in a frantic, anxiety-laden way of being and a feeling of always being on the verge of falling behind. Mindfulness is staying in tune with thoughts and the physical being and consistently recalibrating, making adjustments that keep one on an even, calmly productive keel.
While many associate mindfulness with meditation, it is more of a habit of re-situating responses that can be practiced throughout the day. Ideally, it involves finding a quiet, undisturbed space and sitting in a comfortable, straight-backed position, eyes closed. If time and space are not allowed, it can be as simple as taking 10 deep breaths in one’s office chair.
The emphasis is on elemental aspects of being, such as breathing, pulse, and thoughts arising from that day’s deadlines and stress points. Being fully present in the moment allows a more profound awareness of surroundings to seep in. One takes up and acknowledges thoughts and feelings that inevitably arise, then returns to focusing on still breathing and letting such thoughts pass.
This practice lowers the heart rate and blood pressure and allows a sense of clarity to take hold. The brain takes a rest from frustrating problems and the overuse of analytical and problem-solving functions related to the job.
On stressful days, this return to a neutral baseline can help prevent a sense of being overwhelmed from setting in. This is particularly important for those forging their path in business: a University of California, San Francisco, study found that one in three entrepreneurs experience the symptoms of clinical depression. Mindfulness practice has also decreased cortisol levels and enhanced the brain’s grey matter, associated with elevated information-processing capacities.
Mindfulness has another vital function in segmenting the working day in ways that present a work-life balance and set personal and job-related boundaries. It can be scheduled to encourage a return to distraction-free existence at just the moment when distractions are likely to pile up. For example, after arriving at the office, a few minutes of mindful breath work at the start of the working day helps set intentions for the following productive hours. It can calm the mind before an important meeting and create a blank slate for collaborative discussion. It may also provide a moment of reflection, taking stock toward the end of the workday and setting intentions and priorities substantially different from work for the rest of the day and evening.
Mindfulness practice is uniquely suited to entrepreneurs, who tend to be people who feel compelled to actualize passions and goals and strike out in independent directions. By taking time to set daily intentions, one gets in synch with deeper desires and objectives and encourages a creative flow of thinking and action that can lead to new perspectives and potential breakthroughs.
With a mindful orientation, one may take a seemingly intractable problem and look at it from a different perspective, recalibrating and rechanneling energy to attack the issue with renewed purpose, energy, and clarity. In the long term, such a practice hones one’s inner focus and helps develop an internal voice that would otherwise be lost in the frantic bustle of the working day.
