What does mindfulness have to do with my business?

Running a company mindfully means getting crystal clear about not only what you’re trying to achieve but why and for whom.  When you can do this, answers to big questions are evident and planning and decision making become much easier.  You can reach your goals infinitely faster.

As a CFO, I’m a very logical and analytical person – no woo woo here.  I started studying mindfulness in 2010 to help me get clarity about where I wanted my life to go.  What is mindfulness?  Basically, it’s slowing down enough to notice all the little things inside and around you without judgment.  While this sounds simple, it can be difficult in the world today.

One of the core principles of mindfulness is getting very clear about your values.  What are the three to five most important things to you in life?  These are the kinds of things that won’t change much over a lifetime.  If you’re wondering what a ‘core value’ is, do a quick online search for ‘list of core values.’ Your values are critical to your happiness and success.

What is success?

The quest for success is ingrained in you.  From the time you could walk, your parents wanted you to be successful in all that you do.  As an adult, you took on that responsibility.

Unfortunately, the success that others want for you probably isn’t the success you want for yourself.  But you were never aware that the two could be different, so you pushed for the success that meant that you were one of the best at doing what a ton of other people were doing.

Then you wondered why it wasn’t all that fulfilling; why getting to the top didn’t bring the joy and happiness that others told you to expect.

The reason is, with this type of success, you’re just like everybody else.  And while society teaches that being different is bad, your soul wants to be unique and show what’s so awesome about you, just the way you are.

There’s a myth that striving to be the “best” leads to a little nirvana.  It rarely does.  Instead of trying to play that game with too many others, the secret is to be so uniquely “You” in all that you do that there is no competition.  You’re the only one – like no other.  Now, instead of striving and competing to be better but still just like everyone else, you’re free to be who you were meant to be.

You get to define your own version of success that aligns with your values.  You can follow your own path – one that works for you.  You don’t have to be like the companies on Shark Tank and run your company like you think you’re “supposed to.”  You have the freedom to do things your own way and achieve your own version of success.

Maybe success for you is growing your company quickly and selling it for lots of money.  Or maybe it’s growing it organically and slowly enough so that you can spend plenty of quality time with your friends and family.  Or maybe it’s having your company be just big enough to support a simple lifestyle where you’re happy.

The path forward

I frequently speak with entrepreneurs and business leaders who feel that they have to follow someone else’s rules and achieve a pre-defined version of success.  Rarely do they stop to ask if it’s what they truly want and how it will impact all aspects of their lives.

They’ll get closer to their goals only to find that the business isn’t doing as well as it could, and they’re not enjoying the process.  They feel that they must be doing something wrong, not following the correct path.  Why aren’t things turning out the way they should?

This is where I can help.

I understand that “life” and “work” can’t be separated, especially for entrepreneurs and business leaders.  The concepts have to work together.

In my decades of working with a variety of businesses from startup to hundreds of millions in revenue, I’ve learned how important it is to align your business with your values and your “why.”  I’ve learned how to step back from the details of the business and focus on the big picture and the key drivers.

By getting clear about what matters, I have helped owners make better decisions, scale their businesses more rapidly and with greater confidence, and better understand their long-term financial outlook.

To find out how I can help you and your company, get in touch with me via the contact form below.

If you would like to learn more about mindfulness, head over to Simple Mindfulness, the site I created over a decade ago to help others learn how they can take simple steps to incorporate mindfulness into all aspects of their lives to be a little happier.

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