Mindfulness—New Access to Achieving More in Your Career?

It has been a great experience working with the Chopra Center as the wellness partner for Career Journey. As Dr. Deepak Chopra, founder of the Chopra Center and Senior Scientist with the Gallup Organization so aptly put it, “Wellness is not a destination. It’s a way of life that provides the foundation for the fulfillment of all of our aspirations.” 

According to Gallup, there are five (5) dimensions of well-being: Career, Social, Financial, Community and Physical which we believe are critical to a thriving career. As it turns out, Career is rated as the most important factor in one’s overall well-being.

In recent years, mindfulness appears to have gone mainstream. The meditation challenge by Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey is one example of this trend. It has attracted over 3 million participants and there are a growing number of conferences (e.g. Wisdom 2.0) dedicated to the practice of mindfulness in business. 

I participated in the most recent mediation challenge, joining a few colleagues from several companies across the world. Going in, we asked ourselves….how could this be applied to the business environment?  We noticed a few changes in our behaviors including...

1. Greater Prioritization

We found that a greater commitment to well-being and work-life balance has led to an increase in effective prioritization and discipline in time management. We have to fit in time for work, exercise, family, etc. For some, the natural default to being more productive is to work longer hours and do more....which leads to more burnout. The alternative is to be both disciplined and courageous, focusing on what really inspires us and leads most efficiently to the outcomes we desire.

2. Responding more, Reacting less

As soon as we started meditating more, we noticed that we were much more thoughtful about responding to the ongoing unpredictability of everyday life at work. Having the ability to pause, step back, observe and select the most appropriate response has been invaluable.  

3. Focus on being purposeful and achieving results...

The core of the three (3) week challenge focused on integrating SMART goals with our purpose. In day 10 of the meditation challenge, the concept of “Measuring what matters most”, provided a greater perspective shift on how to align organizational goals with personal goals. By aligning purpose with action, powerful results were realized more readily. Mindfulness meditation provides the opportunity to check in on what really matters.

4. Embracing unpredictability

Life is relentlessly unpredictable. The series offered ways to effectively deal with uncertainty by encouraging a daily practice of openness to new possibilities and solutions. 

Considering the learning over the past 21 days, I consider the experience a success, and hope positive and lasting impacts will continue as I move forward in my life and career.