Meditation & Productivity
“All successful entrepreneurs do this…”
No, they don’t. Don’t be hoodwinked by catchy headlines.
That said, many entrepreneurs do this. And by this, I mean meditation.
I’ve interviewed over 300 musicians, executives, entrepreneurs, and marketers, and have found this to be a surprising commonality among many. Admittedly, I didn’t have the opportunity to ask all of them about meditation.
But is there a cause-and-effect relationship between meditation and success?
Some people I’ve interviewed, like serial entrepreneur Andy Seth, seem to think so. But not necessarily in the way you might think. Meditation doesn’t magnetically and automagically attract to you everything you want. It may have benefits beyond what we can see with the eyes, but I don’t have enough evidence to suggest that it’s a miracle worker of any sort.
What’s important to know is that success in one’s endeavors, especially in business dealings, often requires level headedness. Decisions must be made in the face of trying, urgent circumstances. Meditation is known to calm the mind and make you less reactive to outside circumstances. Which is, admittedly, a superpower in business.
While there are different types of meditation out there – and it’s well worth experimenting until you find practices that work for you – I have found that almost all meditations have this in common, that they revolve around sitting quietly and focusing on your breathing or a mantra. Most practices also involve closing your eyes, but not all. Assuming your practice fits this definition, you can leave the finer details until after meditation has become ingrained habit.
My observation is that many people think they are supposed to have an awakening or transcendent spiritual experience after each meditation session. Sure, these things can and have happened. Just ask Dr. Joe Dispenza. For most, though, it’s a gradual process. Years and decades of meditation lead to compounding benefits. You can’t enjoy these benefits without first making it your practice.
So, unless your practice is spiritually focused, you are better off concentrating on the nuts and bolts of meditation than trying to work out the perfect practice to trigger a euphoric mental state or kundalini experience[1]. I know people who’ve had kundalini awakenings, and I believe I’ve come awful close myself. But as I understand it, it’s not something to mess with.
There is no such thing as a perfect routine. As with anything, it’s about what works for you. Some people meditate for five minutes multiple times throughout the day. Others meditate for 20 minutes at the start and end of their workday. If I get around to meditating 15 to 20 minutes once per day, I consider it a win.
More to the point, meditation boasts dozens if not hundreds of benefits.
Mayo Clinic says meditation can:
- Increase self-awareness.
- Help you gain a new perspective on stressful situations.
- Build skills to manage your stress.
- Help you focus on the present.
- Reduce negative emotions.
- Increase imagination and creativity.
- Increase patience and tolerance.
- Lower resting heart rate.
- Lower resting blood pressure.
- Improve sleep quality.
- Help you manage symptoms of a variety of conditions, including sleep problems, anxiety, depression, heart disease, and more.
Mayo Clinic obviously aren’t believers in magic, and neither am I, but let me emphasize – I know for a fact that meditation can offer so much more.
So, what’s the connection between meditation and productivity (you almost thought I was going to skate on by the topic entirely, didn’t you)?
Headspace (a popular meditation app) sums it up nicely in an article titled Meditation for Productivity:
- Meditation can improve cognitive and emotional processing, working memory, and skilled decision making.
- Meditation can declutter your thoughts and sharpen your concentration, which can help you stay on task for longer.
- Meditation reduces stress, which prevents us from performing at our best.
- Meditation results in a calm and serene state that’s conducive to focus.
Try it for yourself and see what happens.
[1] A powerful spiritual experience avid meditation practitioners and yogis generally spend years preparing for. Well understood in spiritual circles, lesser known to the Western world.
Disclaimer: This post does not constitute health advice.
There’s more available in the Productivity, Performance & Profits Blackbook.
