Meditation for Founders & CEOs?
All of us who serve as a CEO, CFO or in any other senior leadership role quickly learn how difficult it can be at times to manage through what can feel like an unending stream of challenges and opportunities.
While there are many practical and time tested tools (including my favorite: Objectives and Key Results) to help us prioritize both our personal and organizations work, I have found Meditation is also helpful, and in an especially important way. Specifically, when done effectively, meditation gives us a chance to at least momentarily enter the zone of “no thought,” which can be almost like a “mini-vacation,” from which we can return to our work refreshed and renewed.
If you want to give it a try, here are some simple instructions on how to get started:
Sit Comfortably in a relatively quiet space. (You do not need to do the Yogi, cross the legs pose!)
Set a timer for however long you choose - even a few minutes can be helpful
Close your eyes
Make no effort to control the breath; simply breathe naturally
Silently repeat a mantra - you can find many online. I use “So Hum,” which means “I am” in Sanskrit.
Focus your attention on your breath and on how the body moves with each inhalation and exhalation
When thoughts enter your mind - and they will continually - simply acknowledge their existence, as in “ah yes, that is a thought,” and then return to your focus on your breath and mantra
That’s it! Over time the milliseconds between thoughts will grow to seconds and then perhaps even minutes. And when that happens, you may well come to experience what I truly find to be a “peace that surpasses all understanding.”
Being a data driven human, most days I like augmenting my daily meditation practice with the Muse S Headband that gives direct biofeedback. In fact, I recently completed my 1000th daily Muse session of typically 30 minutes, and can see my continual improvement in becoming “calm” on their app. More on the Muse Headband at https://choosemuse.com