Meditation Made Easy

People frequently tell me that they can not meditate, they have tried, can not do it and have given up. So they miss out on all of the benefits that meditation can bring.  Learning to meditate is like learning to do anything else; you begin knowing little or nothing and practice until you can do it without thinking.  Start right now, find out why meditation is worth doing and follow these five steps that will make meditation easy.

Recently I was working with a young woman who told me that she was extremely stressed and unhappy with her work. She said that she had no time to herself, no time to think and her mind raced constantly.  In an average day she had information overload from the time that she woke until she went to sleep.  She would rise in the morning to the television, took her iPod when she went for a walk, listened to the radio to and from work – you get the picture.  Sound familiar?

To start, we found some time during the day when she had zero information flow. The TV was turned off in the morning and no radio in the car to and from work.  Just quiet time to contemplate.  We then moved to meditation.  “Well”, she said, “I have tried that.  I can’t meditate and I hate it.”  Turned out she had launched into an hour long session, could only last a short while and decided it was not for her.  An all too common a story.

What is meditation and why bother?  Meditation is a process or technique that you use to clear and calm your mind. You can use meditation just for that purpose or you can focus your meditation on something that you desire such as prosperity or well being. Meditation has been scientifically shown to be a powerful healing tool  and a self help tool for achieving stress reduction and better sleep.  Many people enjoy the personal development, self awareness, inner peace and freedom that results from meditation.  Successful entrepreneurs often claim that meditation creates clarity of mind which in turn effects their success.

So how do you meditate?  The following five steps will help you to get started:-

1. Learn something about meditation, just as you would with any new pursuit.  There is an unlimited supply of books, web sites, free classes and resources available.  Start at the beginning and get to know a little.

2. Be very patient with yourself and release any expectations that put you under pressure to perform.  In meditation you are quieting and clearing the mind but  the mind may want to keep right on thinking.  Be patient and just keep drawing your mind back to focus upon the meditation.

3. Start with a short time, try five minutes, and increase the length of time over a few weeks.  Even a few minutes will make a difference so see step one and just be patient.

4. Before you begin to focus on meditation, I highly recommend the use of a relaxation audio program.  You can download podcasts and other resources free, from meditation sites on the internet.  Start with some of these and learn to relax and then lead into meditation.  When you become adept with your meditations you will continue to commence every meditation with a short relaxation.

5. Try this simple meditation, starting with a short time.  Get into a comfortable position; sit on a chair with your feet flat on the ground, try sitting cross legged on the floor or lie on your back well supported wherever you need it.  Close your eyes and feel your body relax.  Take several deep breaths and release your breath with a deep sigh.  Relax more and feel the tension float away with every sigh.  Now imagine that your body is a vessel full of water and feel the water draining from the top of your head down through your body to the soles of your feet.  Just slowly, let it drain downwards and then feel it moving slowly from the soles of your feet to fill up your body, up to the top of your head.  Feel this happening, imagine it happening and let it happen naturally.  Should your mind wander off, just bring it back to the water and gently move back into the meditation.  Do this for as long as it takes for your mind to give up and just be empty or for as long as you like.  Each time, see if you can do it for longer until eventually you find your mind calms and stops thinking.  At that time you will find that you can feel every part of your body at the one time.  You should just feel that feeling for as long as it lasts or as long as you like.

Keep it simple!  This is a great principle when learning relaxation and meditation. Be patient with your self and move to higher forms of meditation when you are comfortable to do so.  You are your best teacher when it comes to meditation which is a great way to learn about yourself.  Have fun, create yourself a little head space achieve success with meditation.

Having Fun and Enjoying Success in Canberra

I am reminded today that life is like a box of chocolates – variations of sweet and fun. And there is nothing sweeter than time with my daughters.  This week has been a spectacular catch up with two of my daughters when we met up in Canberra.  It has been a time to remember that happiness and success is about many things and for me, it is about holding on to that lovely experience of family connections, friendship connections and the freedom to work and play just as I wish.

What does success mean to you?

Intend To Be An Entrepreneur

Let’s dream for a moment that you have woken up with the realisation that you too can be an entrepreneur and you have no idea where to start. You know what, start from where you are at.  That’s right, there is only one place to start, from where you are at right now.  Take a good look at your current situation and decide how that supports you right now and how you will use that position to support you on to your next phase – becoming an entrepreneur.  Build on your positive strengths and release those things that hold you back.  But most importantly, right now, not sometime in the future, intend to be an entrepreneur.

Intention, as described by  Deepak Chopra is singlemindedness of purpose, it is well defined  and not countermanded by any other conflicting desires or interests. You make a decision and go for it and then be alert for opportunities.

Napoleon Hill, the first writer of personal development, calls this your “burning desire”; grow your burning desire to be an entrepreneur. You may not have that burning desire right now but you may have a tiny ember, glowing somewhere deep within.  Often people have carried a dream from childhood and every now and then they feel the warm glow of what used to be a flame, but then they let it go again.  It is true that many potential entrepreneurs know what they want but simply do not do what is necessary to get it.  So, to overcome that inaction, fan the flames of your burning desire to achieve whatever it is that will take you to entrepreneurship.

There are any number of ways to fan those flames and become an entrepreneur! I have heard it said that the quickest way to have a million dollars is to make a million dollars and there has never been a better time than right now.  Right now is always the best moment to take action and it will always be easier to take action if you burn to have something.  Take a little time to figure out what the something is.  For me it was to be happy, have freedom and have my own business.  So on all of those fronts I found my burning desire.  Give attention to what you want.  Think about it, talk about it, see your burning desire growing and growing and intend to succeed.

Intent is everything to the entrepreneur, it keeps you focused and in action. It is hard to imagine how one can succeed if you do not start out with that intent.  This is the basis of the burning desire.  Your intent should headline your every day – I intend to succeed at …., today I intend to ….., right now I intend to …….  Determine your intent as a part of you overall goals, as part of your day and every moment.

You can even play with this and have fun – being an entrepreneur is not all very serious business. For example, one of my favourite bits of fun is to set off from home with the intent to have a park exactly where I need it and then to see how well I have done.  Intend to be an entrepreneur – it is a key part to your success.

How to Become an Entrepreneur

On the topic of becoming and entrepreneur, I am inspired by a number of resources. First is the work of Napoleon Hill, the grandfather of personal development who produced the first handbook for entrepreneurs in 1928.  Read almost any personal development works of recent times and you will see the direct link to Think and Grow Rich, the first work of Napoleon Hill.  Hill outlines a number of traits that he regards as essential if you wish to succeed.  You must have or get desire, faith, knowledge, imagination, organisation, be decisive and persistence.  He links these with a number of developmental activities such as taking control of your thoughts, masterminding with other like minded people, tapping into the subconscious mind, learning to use your intuition and getting rid of fear.  Anyone looking to become an entrepreneur would do well to access this book and read it over and over.

The second resource that is available is the Internet and a search of entrepreneur or entrepreneurs will yield a host of information and from my reading, much of it excellent. Entrepreneurship is becoming a key platform for educators of all kinds which is hardly surprising given the number of people who are no longer prepared to spend their entire life in a job; know by some as Just Over Broke.  Questacon have a lovely page called What is an Entrepreneur to which you could go as a starting point.  Entrepreneur has some fantastic resources and even has this page to help you with ideas – it is a great site, just persevere with the advertising.  And on Becoming an Entrepreneur you will find lots of practical advice.  Give this a try and it might help you to start your entrepreneurial journey.

My favourite ever resource however, is Polaris Media Group, which covers the personal development aspect of being an entrepreneur like magic. These programs are simply the best that you will find and have helped countless people get started on the journey of a lifetime.

Be Inspired by an Entrepreneur

The very best thing about entrepreneurs is that they show the rest of us that anything is possible. Take Richard Branson, for instance, who started out producing a small paper, went on to start an Airline, nearly lost it and went on to start up the same airline in Australia.   First with two aircraft and now with a fleet.  Inspiring.  So one way to tap into that inspiration is to find out more about who the entrepreneurs are, how they found success and apply those lessons to your own life.

Some of the things that I have discovered about entrepreneurs is that they have the following traits:-

• they are operating new business ventures
• take responsibility for the risks that they take
• have deep belief in the product or service
• have a burning desire to succeed
• are prepared to work hard and do whatever it takes
• are optimistic
• hold a realistic view
• show leadership, especially during adversity.

Entrepreneurs can see a great reward, they set their sights in it and will take great risks in order to achieve the reward. Incidentally, entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes, ages, nationalities and both genders.  Oh, and while no one said so, I just bet that entrepreneurs associate with other entrepreneurs and successful people.  And I also just bet that they seek out optimistic and positive people to be around.  There is no doubt that the people that you associate with can either help or hinder your progress.

For example, if you are associating with people who are not entrepreneurs but who work long hours for little reward, then chances are that is what you will do. On the other hand, if you associate with millionaires then you will know what it is that they do to earn money and achieve success.  Now I hear the arguments that success is not always about money and that is true, however money gives you a degree of freedom to achieve other things in life and often that is what people are looking for.  The freedom to make their own decisions and do their own thing when they want to.

In the words of Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop and entrepreneur, “success to me is not about money or status or fame, its about finding a livelihood that brings me joy and self-sufficiency and a sense of contributing to the world”. I’ll let the entrepreneur have the last word.