A holiday in your mind

By Fiona Boyd |

One of the things that happens when life starts to speed up again and all systems are starting to crank up is that as an entrepreneur it’s really easy to get stressed and feel the strain of a zillion balls all being juggled at once.

I mean you’re the one at the top of the company leading the charge, everyone looks to you for a decision, and if there’s just you rolling out a big vision, well then, when do you get time to sleep?

For many of us the last couple of years has been about getting through the Global Financial Crisis and keeping our businesses afloat while everything and everyone around us reset their priorities and expectations.

David and I have a couple of new ventures in various stages of start-up. One is away in terms of the product but the next step is a really solid effort on sales and marketing.

The other one is having its technology tweaked and polished, although we have 3 great organizations who have agreed to be beta testers of it, so therefore we really need to hurry up and get it ready and get it into test mode.

David also does most of the work involved with our consulting business Webzing Pty Ltd and is in demand both in Australia and with a couple of technology clients in the U.S., and this is work that we’d like to continue with even when our two startups are underway and earning their keep.

This all leads me to the issue of how does an entrepreneur who is managing early stages of their business cope with the stresses and strains and manage to stay clear and capable of making great decisions and of seeing the opportunities when everyone else around them is too busy not seeing the forest for the trees?

Meditation can give you that holiday in your mind that leaves you feeling refreshed and raring to go.

I must admit that in the past I haven’t necessarily paid enough attention to my health and my overall emotional well-being and there have been many times during the past 15 years in business where I’ve resorted to a glass of wine or an extra coffee when indeed something properly relaxing was required.

When your days have blown out to 15 hours or more on business and you’re wondering where on earth you’re going to get a mental battery recharge from, consider doing something that I’ve taken to over the past couple of years. It’s not a new technology, various forms of this practice have been around for a couple of thousand years, however it is the nearest thing I know to getting an instant ‘holiday in your mind’ when there’s no real break imminent on your horizon.

I’m talking here about the practice of meditation. I’ve committed to giving myself 20 minutes in the morning before I get up every day to do a simple meditation and clear my head so that I can face with tons of energy anything that presents itself to me during the day.

Meditation is a personal preference thing, but the results so far for me are an increased sense of well-being and a greater degree of excitement and engagement in the business projects we’ve undertaken.

There’s no question that being involved in a start-up requires hard work, but it’s also important that you’re doing the right work rather than just working yourself down to a burnt crisp.

If meditation is not for you, then how about taking 20 minutes out of the most hectic part of your day and just putting the headphones on and listening to your favourite music? And not thinking about anything, just listening and enjoying the bliss of listening to music you really love.

I suggest that by giving yourself a holiday in the mind every day, you will be completely refreshed each time you do this and you will have way more energy to tackle your mountain of start-up tasks.

Photo: flickr h.koppdelaney

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