We all experience internal chaos from time to time. Such inner turmoil disrupts our focus, peace of mind, and relationship with others. As every ounce of energy is wasted on worrying, analysing, and pre-empting adverse events, it drains our inner power and strength to function constructively in our daily business life.
Buddha often asks his disciples to question – where is the mind? And suggest finding it and returning it to the Presence moment (Now).
As a business owner and entrepreneur, you must develop a solid and stable inner strength to transgress your internal disputes.
Business is a kind of war: a war with your competitors and a war with yourself. You require every pound of energy to make logical business decisions to ensure that you win the business game of war.
Here are three tips for cultivating that internal energy of yours so that you can fend off internal chaos and win the mental warfare.
The good news is that many business owners experience the same kind of inner chaos and stress, and if you learn these tips, you will have a competitive advantage over them.
Let’s get started
How to Develop Inner Peace
Your Inner Peace is your No#1 priority. Don’t sell your inner peace away.
To develop Inner Peace, you need to subdue your inner gremlin (the Ego) and coach them to overcome their fear of loss.
You (the awareness) and your Ego (a conceptual self) are two utterly separate consciousness.
Your Ego is a conscious entity and generally demands that you claim the following righteous positions to stay visible in the world:-
- To establish that “I’m right.”
- To know that “I’m better than [the 2nd & 3rd person].”
- To feel that “I am more important than [the 2nd & 3rd person].”
- To experience a sense of significance
- To experience a sense of grandiosity from time to time.
- To “Teach them (whoever offended me) a lesson”, an “eye for an eye.”
And if you are not conscious of your Ego’s ongoing and insatiable demands, you will waste your time and energy pursuing those transient sensations to protect that false self of yours.
With every attention you feed and gratifying your Ego’s needs, you lose a chunk of energy that you could have re-invested in your high-value and purposeful activities.
However, there are exceptions to the rules, such as the need to confront, stand up, and voice up any unreasonable and unjust circumstances in the business arena – it is all justifiable.
The critical takeaway is to choose the middle path: know what to ignore, when to confront and walk away, when to draw the line, and how to let go when you have said all that it needed. The rest just “Let it be” sung by the Beatles.
How to Live In the Present (Moment)
The only reality is Now; it is not the past nor the future.
I want you to imagine your Time and Life in this hourglass (Concept by Bob Procter)
Future, Present, and Past commentary are self-explanatory.
Therefore, How do you practice living in the presence?
Meditation is one common training.
Sitting in silence is not meditation. Sitting without thoughts or thinking is the practise.
If done correctly, meditation trains your mind to focus on the “now” and concentrate on the moment.
Researchers Matthew A. Killingsworth and Daniel T. Gilbert from Harvard University have shown through a study that those who meditate and focus on their breathing and practising living in the “now” are more emotionally balanced and have a higher ability to deal with adverse events. Also, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University published a paper in 2016 showing that mindfulness meditation can enhance focus and judgment.
Moreover, one of the benefits of meditation is to help you become more aware of your emotions.
Managing your emotions can be challenging, especially when negativity surrounds us on a daily basis. Mental chattery consumes our thoughts every minute. Your awareness of your emotions and thoughts will empower you to identify the speaker(s) in your head.
But understanding what causes these emotions can help you process them and allow you to self-coach and perform self-inquiry to combat overthinking.
If you’re sleep deprived, your inner monologue will fill with negativity, a lack of motivation, and a reluctance to take a calculated risk. These thoughts, as you realise, are a distinct deviation from your typical behaviour.
Here are seven tips on meditation:
- Sit in the lotus position (two soles surfacing up)
2. Left leg facing out (or right), depending on your comfort level.
3. Focus on your concentration on breathing in/ out, or
4. You can recite one of the following mantras:
- “one breath at a time” for every breath,
- Om (breath In) Mani (breath out) Padme (breath In) Hum (breath out), REPEAT.
- “no thoughts”, “no thinking”
5. Keep doing the above until your thoughts/ thinking cease to a state of no thoughts, except your breathing.
6. There will be internal chaos and ongoing mental chattery. Focus on one breath at a time until you are not attaching or following the mind on those thoughts.
7. Do it every day, 3 – 5 – 10 – 30 mins in the morning or evening. A moment of complete stillness can make you feel mentally grounded.
How to Avoid Toxic Relationships
A toxic relationship drains your internal life force (Chi) and creativity in life, making you feel depleted to the extent that you cannot tell whether you’re depressed.
A toxic person can be your Spouse, a friend, a family member, or anyone in your inner circle. Choose your inner circle carefully.
Choose your Spouse and friend wisely, or they will zap your life force. Read more in this post for tips to work around them.
You can walk away from your Client or Customers, but if it is a family member, it will require patience and time to resolve the differences!
Remember this: you are not responsible for their happiness. Furthermore, you are not responsible for their mindset, psychology, and attitudes in Life. Work on yourself and be aware that their presence allows you the opportunity to practice self-growth.
Toxic people need professional help from a therapist, counsellor, or psychiatrist, and it is not you. Unless you are a psychotherapist, do leave it to the professional.
People with toxic attitudes and negative outlooks in life could result from their past relationship discord, upbringing, and lack of guidance from parents about the world. There is too much to figure out, It is beyond your control, and it’s not your job to change it.
If you do not stand your ground, such people will demand that you give them constant attention and bestowment to make them feel validated and important. And insisting that your Life’s mission should evolve around them and satisfy all their fairy tale demands.
Running a business is mentally challenging; you will not be able to deal with dramatic people in the proper way they deserve.
As a business owner, you may feel compassionate to help them. Still, if any of them demonstrate borderline, narcissistic, or bipolar personality disorder traits, the only way to save them is to bring them to a psychotherapist.
The act of compassion requires wisdom. You should only exert effort, time, and energy on people who are open to receiving help and guidance and who are willing to help themselves.
ACTION STEPS
Here are some positive elements of cultivating positive relationships to boost your inner energy.
- Relationship with yourself.
Cultivate self-love towards yourself; it does not mean being self-centred or selfish. Take care of your body, be stingy with time, and talk to your Ego-mind like a 5-year-old kid.If anyone disrespects you, voice it out, or walk off.B. Interpersonal Relationships.
Build and maintain a social group that fosters a supportive environment. These social networks should reflect who you are, what you believe in, and why you do what you do. This way, even when you feel low and demotivated, you can rely on others to push you forward.
C. Relationship with a higher entity.
Connecting with a higher form of presence and consciousness will elevate your awareness. When you meditate and apply effort to let go of mental activities in the mind, you connect to a higher consciousness: be it a God, a Creator, the Universe, or the Force. It allows you to transcend beyond yourself and bring forth your true self.
When you experience a daily dose of one consciousness (awareness), it will help you to perform activities that are beyond your own needs. It also helps you to continue working towards your goals despite many challenges.
Allowing yourself to be a conduit of a higher life force re-focus your life purpose that will empower you to wake up feeling energised!
If you want to examine the opportunities in your business and life, click here. & choose business/work-life opportunity assessment.
