Why should mindfulness be part of every business strategy?
Working in 2021 is fast-paced and high-intensity, regardless of any industry you are in. There is pressure to be successful and make money. Mix in the unstable political climate and most of us employees are feeling overwhelmed and stressed, at least sometimes. There’s a good reason why mindfulness has been a buzzword lately and not just because of the Netflix show. (Highly recommended by the way! Put it on your watchlist if you haven’t already seen it) Mindfulness has been helping people all over the world with many difficulties. From mental health, productivity, concentration, creativity and problem-solving. Mindfulness has been getting a lot of awareness!
Employees who feel overworked and stressed take less initiative, have lower creativity and generally produce a lower quality of work. No matter what industry you are working in, whether that be finance, tech, manufacturing and beyond. Stress levels are going to be part of the process. There is no magic pill that can make this stress go away.
Fortunately, there are alternative outlets that you can implement in your business strategy to mitigate these hard times and provide support to those who do ‘burn out’.
Supporting your employee’s mental health can empower them, prevent burnout and increase their productivity.
So what exactly is mindfulness?
To simplify things, mindfulness is the ability to see things clearly. Free from judgment or criticism. Simply seeing things as-is.
As explained by the American professor and mindfulness guru, Jon:
“the awareness that arises by paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” — Jon Kabat Zin
By cultivating attention in a non-judgment way we can see things more clearly, insights or actions and create an environment that supports our goals and targets. With mindfulness, we set ourselves up for logical action and success.
Mindfulness offers many benefits but the most popular corporate programs are building skills to manage stress, build resilience, and other emotional intelligence skills needed to cope with changes and stressful workdays.
Why should you integrate mindfulness as part of your business strategy?
No, it’s not just because Google and other big companies have started a cool work trend. Mindfulness can be used in many ways and you will be sure to see the benefits:
Mindfulness for work culture
A company’s success is defined by its’ employees success. If your company’s values are oriented towards the well-being of your team, you are your business for success. Wellness should be a core principle in your work routine. As a result, your employees will be positive to be engaged with collaboration, happier to come to work and be goal-oriented. Mindfulness empowers the individual and promotes them to think critically in regards to their initiatives.
Mindfulness for innovation and creativity
In the competitive industry, a company must also think outside of the box, to think the unthinkable and innovate. Innovation is about improving our life, creating value and new opportunities. By applying mindfulness at your workplace workers can develop abilities to recognize problems, find solutions and identify realistic and creative solutions to improve the business model.
Innovation=Something new + useful
Mindfulness for setting SMART goals
With daily meditation, you give your employees the practice of self-reflection. Here, you can thoroughly analyze your past successes and failures. With this knowledge, your company can better plan and tackle any future challenge.
Mindfulness can teach employees to stop and reflect upon their goals. As the dynamic economy keeps evolving it is important to keep coming back and re-evaluate your goals. Mindfulness can help to clarify your ideas, efforts and help you target your effort towards a productive place. To fulfil your SMART goals and reach your fullest potential!
Mindfulness for work-life balance
By promoting mindfulness at work, the entire team can reflect on what matters most. From here, they can prioritize the totality of their lives and avoid burnout.
We spend so much of our time at work and no matter how much we love our jobs there comes a point where we all need to take a break and supercharge our energies, “You only leave once” [YOLO] and you want to make sure that this one time is the best. By providing your team with mindfulness tools your employees will also adopt wellness and mindfulness values outside of the office.
Consequently, be happier in their personal life and then come motivated and empowered to the office! [or to Zoom]
mindfulness isn’t just a trend, it is a way of life and as leaders and entrepreneurs, it should be our mission the be mindful founders and find better ways to cope with modern stress.
How to Bring Mindfulness into your Organization
There is no one size fits all or best method. In mindfulness, it’s about taking what aligns with you and what fits your schedule.
Going through a global pandemic has highlighted the necessity of employees’ well-being. As a result, we can predict that in 2021 we will see a rise in well-being values integrated into business strategies.
With ‘mindfulness’ on a rise, there is more in-depth research around this topic. We see more science-based research including brain imaging and studies on the benefits of mindfulness to the modern economy.
The positive benefits aren’t late to come and with our evolved technology we see more and more tech resources accessible. There is plenty of information and practice tools out there. Online apps and software are out there for you to explore at your convenience. Mindfulness doesn’t have to be practiced in the form of a 30-minute meditation sequence.
Here are our top 3 suggestions to start practicing mindfulness today:
- Headspace is our top recommendation for guided meditation and mindfulness. A good place to dip your toes in the act of being mindful. (Pssst: there is even a free version to get started)
- The Miracle of Mindfulness is our top recommendation for mindfulness book. This is one of the best books written about mindfulness (Even for the beginners out there!)
- The Happiness Planner is our top recommendation for those who journal! (Sometimes it feels more real when you write it on paper, journaling is powerful!)
“Mindfulness takes you to the present moment, the only place that life exists. To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh
