Are you where you want to be in your career? If not, consider reflection for career success. As a practitioner of multiple forms of Martial Arts, I have found a direct correlation between mind, body & soul. For many of us within the Investigation, Security, Risk Management, and Loss prevention industry, we focus on the strength of our bodies under the belief that musculature and strength will protect us from physical confrontation. There is no doubt that in certain circumstances and in certain industry sectors, physical attributes are extremely beneficial. My ability to quickly, effectively, and efficiently subdue one or more individuals has proven valuable in more instances that I would like to admit, however, I have found over many years of practice and study, the real battle that needs to be fought is within the mind.
Your mind is a weapon, keep it loaded.
The act of meditative reflection has personally led me to many realizations in my life’s journey. One of the most important is the concept that what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve. As I have found out personally, the opposite is also true. If you focus on the path down, you will never achieve great heights. So many people have been deflated, disappointed, disheartened, and belittled that reenergizing their career hopes, their life dreams, and getting them to a place where they can achieve real long-term impact is a job all on its own. These are some of the largest hurdles that professionals need to overcome in their journey in order to achieve a positive mindset.
There are parts of our global society that bring our attention to and tell us what we don’t have, what we should have, and then lie about what others do have – intentionally driving discontent and self-doubt. We see glimpses of someone else’s highlight reel and believe those glimpses to be commonplace, when in fact the opposite is true. If there is any doubt, look deeper than the surface level we have all resigned to being true. We are bombarded every day with images and stories that make us feel inferior, lacking, out of the loop, in the wrong place, and often times afraid. Even if we don’t realize what is happening, our subconscious is collecting this input, like grains of sand, and storing them to be used later when we need to formulate an opinion. The problem is our perceptions are often incorrect and that sand piles up and becomes extremely heavy.
I am here to tell you there is nothing to be afraid of, you can set your goal high while reaching for success and you don’t have to do this alone. Managing thoughts is hard, without a doubt. With the constant ingestion of everyone else’s thoughts and beliefs, it is hard to figure out which are our own and which are the ones that we have been programmed to believe.
Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.
Honestly, we work so hard day-to-day we don’t have the time to really do a deep dive in many areas that would allow us a broader knowledge base on a topic and develop ideas that we should be aware of, individually or as a culture. If you are not making the time to be aware of things that are helping or hurting your success, you should. There is a whole industry that is paid handsomely to figure out the inner workings of the mind and to take a client’s products and services, and make sure we internalize them and make them our own. Colors, jingles, labels, timings, endorsements, targeted markets, product placements and demographics are all used to influence our minds and tell us what to think, believe, buy, like, hate, talk about, and yes – spend our money on. The research is not for the faint of heart, but knowing the enemy of the mind is the first step in defeating it. Article #1 Article #2 Article #3 Article#4 Article #5
Our society has changed since we were children and has become more sophisticated. I was a product of what you just read, much like you were. The result is that we have changed our grasp of concepts and the connection of events people, places, and things. The biggest change I have observed is in the area of norms, ethics, and standards. Maybe you share this belief? If you do, SHARE this article with people in your social media network. It is glaringly evident in the interactions we witness, the news we hear, and in the state of affairs in the world in which we live. So maybe you’re asking yourself what can be done? Maybe you have been thinking the same thing but haven’t found a way yet to make the change in your own life? The purpose of this article is not to just inform or to gain notoriety, it is to offer simple solutions that you can implement that I have found that has had an impact not only on me but the professionals I have within my network.
Always listen twice. First to what’s being said, then to who said it.
Another phrase I coined over a decade ago related to just this topic as it related to the Investigative & Security profession I proudly represent; Homeland Security Begins at Home. It was used in speeches, events, lunch-and-learns and in conversations with my corporate clients as a way to get people to realize that if they wanted to make the largest long-term impact on the events and situations they are currently facing that they need to take their reach and their scope down to the granular level. Today, as I consult with Job Seekers and business leaders it means the same thing. Start by analyzing everything within arm’s length and then move in.
Here is how you can accomplish this as a personal goal. I reflect in short meditations and its something that I have added to my life as a daily habit – that has had considerable results. Here is what I learned from years of trial and error that can help you have the most impact in the shortest amount of time.
Reflection only takes a few minutes and you can do it a few times a day and almost anywhere. I like to do it early in the morning before anyone else is awake and before I need to start making breakfast, lunches, and getting everyone else up and ready to start their day.
Find a comfortable spot where you can sit in a good postured position. Start with focusing on your posture and getting your body in line with what your body is telling you is the best position. You want to be comfortable but not so much where you can slouch or start to go into sleep mode. When the weather is nice wherever I am, I choose to do this outside.
Next, simply monitor your breath. As you become more aware, try to make it longer, slower and deeper. As you focus here for a while, your mind will start to settle and eventually wander into something other than your posture or where you are sitting. If you find internal dialog going into a self-defeating state or it starts telling you that you are foolish, this is a waste of time, or signaling you that you have something else to do… you are doing it right.
Understand that your mind wants constant stimulation. Intelligent people often have the hardest time with this initial stage. That is what you want. Your brain is always active, you just learn to monitor it and then focus it on what you desire that it works on. The thing to remember is that you have the power to remain in control and to change the direction of your thought. Focus on the sounds you are hearing all around you. Traffic, birds, or the wind. Just listen. Don’t act, react, judge or wander.
The next stage is what I call input. Here you are going to take a wide-angle look and drill that down to the one or two things that you would like to focus on. Internally, you know what these things are and where you are in that process. Once you have done this for a few days or even a week, you can then go into your meditational / reflection exercises with a few key goals.
When you have successfully reflected for 3-4 minutes at a time, and you are confident that you can control the inner chatter, now is the time to use a timer that will alert you that the predetermined of time has expired. Start with 7 minutes.
As an example, if you are having a difficulty at work or overcoming an obstacle, bring your attention to that. Think about it from multiple perspectives. Who is involved, what are the timelines or deadlines, and what is the worst case and best case scenarios? From there you can better focus on the part you play and how you are involved. Maybe you find that you need more involvement, maybe it is clear that you need less. Who can assist you in achieving your goal? What part do they play? How can you incentivize them to achieve the excellence you need to make a change? This could be anything, so this is just a cursory overview.
Be addicted to never-ending self-improvement until it becomes mastery.
Bring this training into your life and use it for anything that requires procedural steps, long-term goals or for issues that you have not been able to determine the best path forward for; health, family, success, finances or happiness. It is also extremely valuable to use it after an event, good or bad, to see in what ways you could have been more effective. I use it when I get back into the car after a meeting or at my desk when I just finished with interviewing a candidate. I also take Job Seekers through a similar guided process after Job Interviews so they are always learning and gaining intelligence from each interaction. I have found that this simple trick makes them more comfortable and confident with each interaction and interview moving forward.
Please consider sharing this article if you know someone that might benefit from this brief introduction to meditation and reflection. When I coined the phrase Putting Intelligence In Employment starting EyeRecruit, my vision was to start a business that does more than help people find jobs. That’s also why we are not just a job board or an algorithm that sends Job openings electronically. The goal is to facilitate interactions between quality Job Seekers and Employers who understand the value of having a quality team focused on satisfying their client’s needs. Often we help people first find themselves and then realign their goals with their career goals.
If I or the services we offer would benefit you, please feel free to reach out. I would enjoy hearing your career-related story and how this article has assisted you.