The pressures of today's business environment can make it hard for us to remain true to our beliefs and our personal or spiritual paths. Too easily, we can find that these get relegated to a few minutes of intention-setting or reflection when we have time, or the occasional yoga class to help us unwind.
Balancing the duality between our work and our selves can be hard and our purpose in life can become distorted. So here are four suggestions to help maintain a better balance:
Follow your intuitive guidance
Our intuition is always guiding us in alignment with our inner sense of direction and purpose. In every decision we make, we have a choice to follow this intuitive guidance, or go purely on what seems to be the logical and rational choice to make. Often, when we are under pressure, it becomes hard to clearly see the way forward intuitively, and, if we take the time to do so, the "right" decision will always emerge for us.
Our inner wisdom has the benefit of being able to see the bigger picture in any situation, and it can see how our role individually fits into the bigger, collective picture of everyone involved. Our guidance also nudges us to win-win situations for all, which are also in line with the highest good for all. Sometimes, our intuition does not appear to take us on the most obvious route to our chosen goal, and yet it is taking us on the most direct route that is inherently right for us.
Give yourself time to hear your inner wisdom
With the constant pressure to be permanently 'available' through your mobile phone, it can be hard to give yourself the time to still your mind, and make yourself available to hear your inner wisdom. However, if you want to receive this higher Intelligence, it is essential that you take the time to still your mind, albeit briefly.
This could be in the form of a regular morning mediation practice, short periods throughout your day where you take the time to focus on your breath, or time out in your lunch break to leave the office environment behind and go outside with the intention of clearing your mind.
Once outside you could bring your attention to your walking, as in the Buddhist walking meditations, you could sit in a park and take in the sounds around you, or you could focus on a beautiful scene in nature, all with the intention of taking your awareness out of your thinking mind and into a quieter place within.
Whenever we let go of our habitual thought, we are opening our mind to new insight, creative ideas, and different perceptions on our current problems, all provided by our inner wisdom.
Be conscious of mono-tasking rather than multi-tasking
Multi-tasking might seem like a logical response to having too much to da at any given time, but it is ultimately counter-productive. If we want to be available to our internal guidance, being able to bring mindfulness and awareness to each task we do is important. When we focus our energies on each task, it enables us to keep our minds in the present moment, it improves our concentration, and enables us to bring our best self to each thing we do.
Ultimately, this mindful awareness of our work can save us time and open up a greater understanding of how we are feeling within which, in turn, enables us to be more at peace within ourselves. From here, we are able to witness any stressful thoughts as they arise and not become overly identified with them.
In addition, when we bring this mindfulness to our conversations with others they feel heard, seen, and as a result validated. This improves relationships and enables us to understand the challenges of others, and have greater compassion for their issues. Indeed, as we remain in the present moment we are truly listening to others, and able to sense the deeper emotions that perhaps are not being expressed.
This allows us also, to sense the insights that we may be receiving to help this person in their role. So, despite the temptation to do everything at great speed and multi-tasking, we are actually more productive and valuable within the organisation if we are able to mono-task and keep our attention in the present moment.
Give time to the coaching and empowering others
Fear of change can be a strong factor in the decisions we make, and when we have good and talented people working for us, it is tempting to hold them back and keep them in their current positions. However, one of the roles of our spiritual essence is to coach and empower others to use their talents and skills for the greatest good, and to encourage them in their growth and development. Our willingness to empower others, even if this means they leave the business, demonstrates our ability to genuinely support the people around us, and trust the wider plan of life.
When we coach others, our role is to focus on the person as their highest and best, and to see them as free from the limited thinking of their ego. From here we are best placed to help them move beyond the limitations of their thinking and behaviours. As we honour the inherent value and worth of others, rather than just their economic value to the business, we are giving them a huge gift, a gift that is rarely offered to others. This in turn, helps us to let go of our feelings of unworthiness and limited perceptions of ourselves. It keeps us mindful regarding how to best serve others.
In conclusion, the way to balance our inner spirit with our hectic business life is to approach our role with a willingness to see beyond our own egoic thinking, to the thinking that is often beyond. This includes recognising the pure essence that is inside each and every one of us. From this Truth comes a wisdom that can be the guiding force in every decision you take, bringing together our spiritual nature and our busy lives.
