Starting an online business is both stressful and frustrating. We, for one, know that frustration can impede your progress and make thinking clearly difficult. However, there is a solution – or rather, a coping mechanism.
When you hear the term ‘meditation,’ what do you think of? Monks with their legs crossed, meditating up high in the snowy peaks? Perhaps you think of humming and chants that calm your mind?
Chances are, you think it’s tacky at best. Today, our goal is to open your mind to meditation, introduce you to some basic meditation techniques and also answer the question: what are the benefits of meditation in business.
What is Meditation?
Honestly, it depends on who you ask. Some believe that meditation is the balancing of the energy in your body. Others will tell you it’s the first step towards enlightenment. We think meditation is the practice of mindfulness, a tool you can use to get rid of the stress that comes with setting up an online business,
Meditation can be anything, from closing your eyes and tuning everything out for a few minutes each day to listening to your favorite soothing tracks while taking deep breaths and clearing your head of all thoughts. Meditation can be anything, as long as it works for you.
Meditation can improve your attention and awareness, two things you need when starting an online business. With long hours and countless sleepless nights, you’re going to need a clear head if you want to succeed.
What are the Benefits of Meditation in Business?
Meditation can bring many benefits to different people in different ways. For some it is simply time out from work and other daily stresses to take a moment and relax. For others it can be a daily ritual to completely calm and centre the body and mind for the day ahead. One of the main things to realize with meditation is that it is what you make of it and any meditation is better than none.
It helps to focus the mind. It helps reduce stress and allows you to stay calm under pressure. It is also a great tool, in term of breathing, to allow you to simply stop during a stressful event, take stock, and react more calmly than before. So, as you can see, meditation can be beneficial in many ways to a business owner.
Types of Meditation
There are nine main types of meditation. However, we will focus on the two that are most suited to improving your chances of succeeding in creating an online business, namely mindfulness meditation and focused meditation.
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation is commonplace in Western culture, and it is relatively simple in theory. It involves paying attention to your thoughts as they run through your mind; however, you don’t judge them or grab at them. You simply observe. You take note of any patterns you come across; perhaps you have frequent thoughts of failure.
Identifying such patterns in your thoughts can allow you to identify insecurities you might have in yourself. Being aware of such thoughts is the first step towards negating their impact. Ask yourself, why are you afraid of failure? What steps can you take to avoid it? Do these thoughts have any merit to them?
Never take anything for granted. However, there is no room for baseless insecurities that bring you down instead of lighting a fire within you to drive you and your online business towards success.
Focused Meditation
Focused meditation involves concentrating on any of the five senses. You can focus on something internal, such as your breathing or your heartbeat. However, you can also involve external factors.
For example, try staring into a candle flame. Turn all your attention towards it. Don’t let your focus wander; don’t think. Simply focus. While this might sound easy in practice, it’s pretty difficult, especially for beginners.
However, the benefits that come with it are more than worthy of the effort. Focused meditation takes your focus to the next level, allowing you to keep your head down for longer, with distractions no longer ruining your workflow.
We believe that focus is the deciding factor between winners and losers. The CEOs of the largest companies in the world, such as Bill Gates, got there through sheer hard work, sweat, and tears.
“I stopped listening to music and watching TV in my 20s. It sounds extreme, but I did it because I thought they would just distract me from thinking about software.”
Excerpt from ‘Why I’m Into Meditation’ by Bill Gates
Hyper-focusing on the task and chipping away at the mountain of work in front of you is what you need to succeed.
Getting Started with Meditation
Getting started on the path to mindfulness can be difficult, especially since you might not know where to start with the amount of information out there. We have compiled a list of services that can support you on your journey to mindfulness and a successful online business.
Headspace
Founded by Andy Puddicombe in 2010, Headspace is the leading platform when it comes to meditation. In his early twenties, he dropped out of college and decided to become a Buddhist monk. For over 10 years, he traveled the world, eventually becoming ordained at a Tibetan monastery.
Headspace aims to make meditation and mindfulness simple. It offers sleep casts and music designed to help you sleep, as well as meditation and breathing exercises to help you relax. It’s the perfect app to get you started on your journey, with a 4.9-star average rating. Don’t believe me?
Bill Gates himself has become involved with Headspace, inviting Andy Puddicombe to teach him and his kids the basics of mindfulness.
“Melinda and I enjoyed Andy’s work so much that we reached out to him to see whether he might be willing to spend some time teaching our family.”
Excerpt from ‘Why I’m Into Meditation’ by Bill Gates
You won’t have to fork over your hard-earned cash either; an annual subscription will set you back around $70. They also offer free trials if you simply want to test it out and a completely free version of the app, granted without some of the features included.
Calm
Calm is Headspace’s largest competitor, having been declared Apple’s BEST OF 2018 winner, as well as having won Apple’s App of the Year 2017. It has been dubbed ‘’the world’s happiest app’’ by the Center for Humane Technology. So, with all this in mind, what does it have to offer?
Founded by Alex Tew and Michael Acton Smith, Calm is a mindfulness app operated by a “small and mighty team passionate about mental fitness.” Calm features a library of over 120 sleep stories, as well as hours of guided meditations.
From sleep guidance to helping you with the anxiety and stress of running an online business, Calm has it all. They also feature master classes taught by world-renowned mindfulness experts. This is the app’s unique selling point.
To Compare
The main difference between the two platforms is their unique selling points, which you will learn about as you grow your online business. Headspace was founded by a real monk, while Calm offers masterclasses from world-renowned professionals.
In a way, Headspace is about the mind while Calm concerns itself with the science of it all. With similar pricing plans, it’s up to personal preference. However, Calm does offer a package for businesses.
If you’re looking to involve your entire team, then Calm is definitely the platform for you.
Conclusion
Hard work combined with mindfulness will be the root of your success on your journey to establishing a profitable online enterprise. With the points provided, we believe you can take the steps necessary to get started on bettering your mind.
Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was any online business worth its weight. You’re going to work long hours. You’re going to stress; you’re going to be anxious. The thoughts of failure will plague you each day.
However, with meditation, you can take the reins over those emotions and use them to your advantage. Release the stress and fortify your mind. Use the anxiety to improve until you cannot fail.
Hopefully this article has helped in getting you thinking about what are the benefits of meditation in business.
