Key point: Meditation is becoming a mainstream practice among business leaders. What happens in meditation is that the speedy mind begins to slow down and things begin to settle, like the mud sinking to the bottom of a puddle of water when it is left undisturbed. When this settling has occurred, a clear understanding of the way things work in the mind takes place. Make time to meditate. It is a proven and vital aspect for personal development.
My web site manager, John King at Highwaters Media, emphasized the importance of meditation in his life and he tipped me to the muddy water metaphor. I think it’s a very powerful way of describing the benefits of meditation. Some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs/public figures, like Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey, the late Steve Jobs, have publicly discussed the importance of meditation in their daily routine. The Huffington Post recently reported that 32 percent of entrepreneurs are now meditating for introspection and goal seeking to set up personal and business improvement.
In 2007, Fortune magazine reported about a crowd of Harvard Business School alums gathered at their reunion to hear networking expert Keith Ferrazzi speak about the importance of meditation. It was rather avant-garde for mainstream, western business leaders to focus on the value of meditation. The irony of that presentation was the man whose book is Never Eat Alone credited much of his success to alone time. He spends ten days every year at a silent meditation retreat. Nowadays every executive seems to have a career coach and my understanding is that many of the most successful coaches insist on their clients making some form of meditation a daily ritual.
Character move:
- Where are you on applying the principle of stillness to allow the muddy water to settle?
- If you like the idea of it but aren’t enacting some form of daily meditation, even for a few minutes, you are missing the benefits that have been widely used in many cultures for thousands of years. I know that I have much room for improvement here. Not having time is an unacceptable excuse.
- Explore what mediation principles and techniques are used by people you admire. Try what would work for you.
- Like most things we practice regarding The Character Triangle, start slowly and bit by bit it becomes a habit and part of our development process. (I have been using Dr. Wayne Dyer’s Wishes Fulfilled meditation CD and I like it). It is pretty elementary by zen master standards but it works for me at this point in my meditation practice.
- Read the following sample and practical guide from Leo Babauta’s popular blog zenhabits, “How to Meditate Daily.”
Meditation in The Triangle,
Lorne