Funny things are happening on the way to retirement. Right now, companies are having trouble filling jobs, and yet there are more people seeking work than ever before. People want meaning and fulfillment. Not just a paycheck. This is why there are ultimately 6 reasons why corporate America needs mindfulness.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the quality of being present and aware, and peaceful yet alert. It is when we come out of our heads and into the moment.
In this deep peace, joy and love and gratitude also arise. We are fully in the present moment. We are hyper-focused on and mindful of ourselves, others, and our surroundings. Our mind becomes a highly efficient problem-solving tool because it has tuned out all nonessential noise.
How Do I Become Mindful?
It takes two things to become great at anything: knowledge and experience. Knowledge is the understanding of mindfulness, what it is, how to achieve it, and so on. Experience is meditation. Meditation is the practice of making mindfulness a regular part of your life. It is an essential tool for training the mind in mindfulness.
Mindfulness doesn’t just bring meaning and purpose into our lives. It also makes us better fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers, friends and workers. Mindfulness helps us appreciate the little things and achieve big things. Here are the 6 reasons why corporate America needs mindfulness:
1. Corporate America Needs Mindfulness to Lower Stress
Studies show mindfulness meditation lowers stress. It’s like an emotional superpower, the way it armors us up for whatever life throws at us.
Instead of feeling overwhelmed by stressful situations, mindfulness helps us see situations as they are, clearly and calmly. We see the necessary course of action to take for an optimal outcome, and we take that action with serenity, peace and joy.
So, Undealt with stress impacts our lives in countless ways. It affects our entire quality of life. Rather than ignoring it, shoving it down, drinking it away, or lashing our stress out at others, we can release it in a healthy, easy way with mindfulness and meditation.
2. Corporate America Needs Mindfulness to Get Smarterer
Mindfulness is like a work performance enhancer for clarity, focus, concentration and insight. With a mind trained to focus on whatever you choose, mindfulness turns your mind into a laser-guided cruise missile – precise, focused, fearless.
With mindfulness comes presence, and with presence comes clarity and wisdom. Out of our heads we can see everything, we understand more deeply, and we can go beyond intelligence and really tap into wisdom.
3. Corporate America Needs Mindfulness to Be More Creative
Creativity is the oscillation between intense focus followed by intense blankness. People who have solved big creative solutions go back and forth between deeply studying the problem, followed by completely forgetting all about the problem and allowing space in the mind for a solution to present itself.
Also, Mindfulness and meditation allow us to create the space in our mind for big ideas to present themselves. It is a vital step in the process of creativity.
4. Corporate America Needs Mindfulness for Fewer Sick Leaves
Remarkably, 90% of all doctor visits are due to a stress-related cause. Stress leads to a weakened immune system, depression, anxiety, chronic pain and countless other debilitating conditions that lead to valuable lost time.
At companies that have started corporate meditation programs, sick leaves dropped significantly almost immediately.
5. Corporate America Needs Mindfulness for Greater Productivity
Luckily for companies today, we now know that a little bit of mindfulness and meditation can boost productivity by as much as 50%. It’s no wonder, either. When we are present (in the flow), rested, energized, and happy, we work better.
6. Corporate America Needs Mindfulness for Lower Employee Turnover Rates
Yep, healthy, happy employees tend not to quit as often as stressed, sick, and hopeless employees.
High turnover rates cost corporate America trillions of dollars. Solutions that can help lower those rates can be invaluable. Check out our blog about how meditation can lower employee turnover rates.
For countless reasons, corporate America needs mindfulness. Not least of which is, corporations need mindfulness because people need mindfulness. We are not robots. But if we invest a little bit of time into our minds, it will pay off dividends.
