So you’ve
worked hard all your life, beaten all the competition and finally found that
well-paid job. You already know that big business can be a pretty cut-throat
place. You’ll need to have all your wits about you to successfully navigate the
political machinations of others and to cope with the relentless long hours, not
to mention actually getting on with doing your job.
A new breed
of successful executive is emerging. This 21st-century business
leader is the type who doesn’t seem to make enemies. Even rivals admit that
they’re good at their jobs. They are likely to believe in clean living and
manage to tactfully avoid the pitfalls of heavy drinking and partying which
often form part of the corporate culture. The chances are strong that this
person meditates. Here are some of the reasons why meditation can help you
survive and achieve your goals in the corporate jungle without losing sight of
your soul.
What meditation can do for you
Have you
noticed how some individuals don’t seem to let stress get to them? They see
situations which others would regard with horror as positive challenges to be
faced with enthusiasm. One of the most immediate effects you’ll start to
experience once you start practicing meditation is a decrease in your stress
levels. This is because regular meditation has been shown to affect the regions
of the brain that trigger the “fight or flight” responses to stress. Starting
your day listening to a guided meditation will clear your head and strengthen your
cognitive function.
You’ll also
find that you become more focused and much less likely to fall into the trap of
excessive multitasking. A study at the University of California in Santa
Barbara found that participants who had practiced meditation for as little as 2
weeks were more focused whilst completing cognitive tasks.
If you
practice regular meditation you might begin to find that you start waking up
earlier in the morning feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead. It
appears that meditators need less sleep than others. Think how much more you could achieve in life
if you felt fully refreshed and alert after six hours sleep. It would more than make up for the time you
set aside each day to practice.
Will I lose my edge?
You might
worry that if you start meditating you’ll lose your edge. In a world of
survival of the fittest, might there be a risk that meditation will make you
less thrusting and more detached from what’s going on around you? Actually nothing could be further from the
truth. Whilst it’s true that meditation might make you more empathic and
incidentally kinder to yourself, it will actually increase your mental strength
and resilience. So on balance, there’s nothing to lose. It’s really time for
you to learn how to do meditation. Your long-term career could
benefit in all sorts of unexpected ways.
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