I hope that you are either reading this from a computer on the beach, or that you’ll be off to a barbeque as soon as you’re finished. What? You have work to do? You can’t turn off thoughts of goals that you have yet to accomplish and projects that are due next week (or tomorrow).
As an entrepreneur, you should expect to have a constant stream of thoughts circulating through your mind. And, not just thoughts about beautiful trees and what you want for dinner — thoughts about your next moves in changing the world. But, just because this is normal does not mean that it is good for you.
I want you to consider making one of your daily goals to turn off your mind for a few hours. Actually free your mind from business thoughts. Free your mind from all thoughts.
It is in our nature to be slightly (or highly) unsatisfied with the conditions of the world. We are here to fix things, make systems run more smoothly and teach new concepts to the rest of the world. So, when we take a break, we often become more aware of how imperfect current systems are, and that forces us back to work. This is a stressful cycle that will eventually take years off of our lives.
We talk a lot about the importance of stress management and making sure to set aside time for ourselves. But, how many of us are still hashing out the daily grind in our minds while we are supposed to be relaxing? Our society does not teach us that it is okay to relax. We are taught that we must work quickly and study hard. We are taught that if we want to make something of ourselves, we cannot fall behind the competition. And, we are constantly being reminded of the competition.
Some of us actually need to be taught how to free our minds. I know, because I am one of those people. Other cultures that value meditation may actually have something to teach us. But, even studying yoga won’t help if you can’t let go. If you really have a problem quieting your thoughts, to the point where it causes you stress and affects your overall mood – you can consider starting slowly with some meditation exercises. Beginning meditation usually encourages you to focus on one particular thought or object in your mind (a whole lot better than a thousand, huh?).
Whether its yoga class or nature walks – the only way to clear our minds is to give ourselves a chance to do it. That means that it will need to become a part of your routine. It sounds ironic, but practice makes perfect in this as well. You will find that you become more relaxed and calm over time.
Turn off your thoughts and your mind will open even more.
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Exactly. We have to practice letting go of our minds. Not forcing anything. Just letting the mind wander and absorb effortlessly. This is hard, but it’s liberating.
you can’t turn it off, once you’ve turned it on…
it’s like a cop, for example, once someone has trained to be a cop – wherever they go (for the rest of their life), they have this german shepherd-like awareness, if you will, about their surroundings and the people in it.
same goes for entrepreneurs, well i can’t speak for all, but in my case…wherever i go, i see things for what they’re worth – it’s oppertunities/potential or lack thereof.
We need to maintain a balance between material and spiritual life. We should not forget that all our endeavours in entreprenership is in pursuit of satisfying our spirits and a move towards contentment. But the irony is contentment and entrepreneurship does not go hand in hand. The moment we are contented with what we have or whatever we have achieved, thats the death of entrepreneuship.
The thing which matters most is to dissociate oneself from being overtly over attached with things, and be aware of the daily happenings, and look at it from a spectators perspective.
We do live in complete irony don’t we? I know exactly what you’re talking about Lawrence. Last night my husband and I went for coffee — and instead of gazing into each other’s eyes, we re-vamped the price list on our napkin. We couldn’t help it. We saw problems and felt the need to fix them. Then, my husband explained to the manager how charging 50 cents more for a small latte and 5 cents less for a large would command more profit. We cannot and should not be satisfied with our business life (as long as we remain entrepreneurs) but we must learn to separate ourselves from that part of our life — so that we can be satisfied in love relationships, friendships and within our own selves. Achieving balance and peace is definitely an endeavor in itself.