With the recent advent of 24/7 technology, it has become increasingly prevalent in our society for our minds to be going a million miles an hour.
This is particularly true for those of us who are entrepreneurs–especially if you run (or at least market) your business online.
(And who doesn’t, these days?)
Our use of technology and sensory input is growing faster than our mental aptitude can handle–resulting in many an overworked business owner feeling wired, distracted, overloaded, and like our brains are on overdrive.
Fortunately, having a daily meditation practice is also coming more and more into the mainstream.
We as a society need the mind-soothing benefits of meditation, and we as entrepreneurs need it even more.
Now, the trouble with this is when you’re used to having a racing mind, meditation can seem daunting at best, or impossible at worst.
If you’re one of those ones who says, “I can’t meditate because I can’t sit still with my thoughts,” you’re one of the ones who need meditation most!
That’s like saying, “I can’t take a shower because I’m too dirty.”
Meditation isn’t something you do because you’re good at it. You do it to improve an inner ability that’s lacking.
But like any skill, you need to start with the baby steps.
That’s why I like the “Five Senses Focus” meditation technique, because it’s so simple and easy to understand.
Many people worry about doing meditation “wrong,” (which, by the way, there’s no such thing). But if that’s a concern, this is the meditation for you because you’ll know if you’re doing it “right.”
Step #1. Find any comfortable place where you won’t be directly spoken to or required to interact
It doesn’t need to be quiet. You don’t even need to close your eyes if you don’t want to (unless it helps).
Step #2. Pick one of the five senses and notice how much you can observe about what you’re experiencing with that sense only.
I like beginning with the sense of sound. You may close your eyes if you wish for this sense, but more importantly is to start to tune in to all of the small sounds you normally tune out when you’re operating at your usual pace.
Whether that’s the hum of the fridge, the breathing of your dog napping nearby, traffic sounds outside, etc.–whatever you can hear, make a note of it. Make it your intention not to miss hearing a thing.
Step #3. Toggle to another sense when you’re ready.
I find that sight and touch typically lend themselves to be able to be more easily noticed, unless you happen to be around something fragrant for smell or are eating/drinking something for taste.
By honing in on one sense at a time, you’re doing these 2 things:
Building awareness
By noticing the mundane things that wouldn’t normally occupy your attention, you’re training your mind to become more attuned to detail.
This can be a fantastic aid to your creativity as an entrepreneur.
I heard it said once that artists are people who just pay more attention to the world around them.
And while not every entrepreneur may consider themselves an entrepreneur, I definitely think that creativity and innovation are hallmarks of the successful entrepreneur and lend themselves and require an artistic mindset.
Choosing one set of thoughts over another
Our thoughts determine our actions, and often the whole direction of our future.
Exercising control over choosing our thoughts–even with something as benign as choosing to pay attention to sounds rather than sights, or vice versa–prepares us to choose our thoughts when the stakes are higher.
When you wake up in the middle of the night, say, worrying about your business, and you want to choose thoughts of hope and success and optimism over those nagging doubts.
Will choosing between those thoughts happen right away, or suddenly become easy?
No, but that’s why meditation is called a “practice.”
The only way to tame the giant, barbed-wire thoughts that get stuck and intertwined in our brains is to start by taming our small, innocuous thoughts.
Give this technique a try, and let us know what you observe!
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