The colours of Conscious Business

by jonas | Aug 12, 2015 | Okategoriserade

At a workshop regarding Conscious business in Bali yesterday we inquired about if there are any problems with the traditional business-world of today. We summarized that the core of the problems is that business is done mostly from the head and not from the heart. The head is conditioned with truths regarding humanity that is neither true nor beneficial for us. They are not even true according to the business science itself. This finding has even been awarded a Nobel Prize in Economy.

Still these images of man as a greedy profit-maximizing creature (economic man) are the foundation of the business world and the market economy system as a whole. The systems are painted in that colour, a rather grey tone I would say. No wonder we find it producing meaningless results sometimes. We have reached un-sustainability on the private as well as the collective level with stress and exhaustion of natural recourses as our most prominent features. And what to do? Even if we know this we seem to get drawn into painting with these colours when starting a business even if we started from a place of passion and consciousness. That was the question arising in the beginning of the workshop.

“Conscious business meaning not blindly following the business logics but inquire deeply into our own truths and motives.”

At workshops as well as in my coaching we don’t try to solve the world of business or change any systems. Instead we support the idea of being the change that we want to see in the world. If you don’t want to experience that you create meaningless results, Conscious Business is the option. Conscious Business is not a method or model, it simply means not blindly following the conventional logics but instead inquire deeply into our own truths and motives to find your business model. If Conscious Business is turned into a model, consciousness is gone, its instead again you following someone else’s ideas. A Conscious Business needs to be a process of constant inquiry inwards to find the truth, motivation and insights. You, the leader needs to find it where it matters – inside you. That is how it becomes a conscious doing of business. And when we have peace and clarity enough to find our inner “Why” and find what we long to contribute to the world, we need support from each other in being genuine to this inner “Why”. Most people I spoken to loses the genuinity in the manifestation of the idea into the environment of traditional business.

We need support from others that also choose a conscious path since we are all connected and have the ten dance to become the expectations of our environment. I have tried and failed. I ended up doing a “smart” business from the head, although I began from a different “Why”. As the people in the workshop yesterday said; working within the traditional business context you end up doing traditional business after a while even if you started with another intention.

I have made it my job to be this support for conscious businesses. As a Mindfulness Coach and experienced Brand Strategist I have a good position of doing that. If there is a need for support I will provide it and sometimes I get paid, and sometimes not, depending on the financial circumstances. Both way I make the world a little more “love” and a little less “greed”.

“You will paint the change you wish to see in the world.”

The last years I have found myself inquiring more into the science of Buddhism. In Buddhism, it is said that love and compassion are made out of one substance, which is called understanding. If you understand, you can love. But if understanding is not there, it is impossible for you to accept and love someone. During a coaching process without specific expectations, a person is provided the opportunity and perfect conditions to create understanding weather in a private session or a in a group setting.

If you understand yourself you can love yourself and if you love yourself you can love others. No need for competition or greediness if you love yourself and others. The state of lack which is when you think you need to have more or win over others is not present. With understanding for yourself and others you are in a state of abundance and trust. Universe feels like a safe friendly place and every thought you think and action you take will carry the colour of that inner feeling. You will paint the change you wish to see in the world. That will be a rather colorful image I think.

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Question to the mindfulnesscoach

by jonas | Jul 13, 2015 | Okategoriserade

“- I loved your FB post about not forgetting to tell people how wonderful they are! I couldn’t agree more with it. Yet, I’m totally not used to saying these things. For some reason, maybe cultural conditioning, it feels hard to say these things. I wonder if you could help me with managing how to say those things… I know it feels wonderful to hear it myself.” /Victor 44.

Sure I would love to help you with that brother! This is not a big problem for you I would say. If you already are aware enough to ask that kind of question I can see that you already are and feel that gratitude and love towards others that you maybe don’t express. If you want to add some words to what you already feel – great. If not, you still share your appreciation for others in other ways that you maybe not are aware of, because you feel it. There is however a natural law that says that what you give is what you get. So if you want to receive more love and generosity, it is important to do this change.

I would say there is three things you can try in order to allow those old patterns of not complementing or giving kind words to dissolve. The three things to coach yourself softly is:

1. Awareness. To look fearlessly at some emotional or behavioural pattern can sometimes be enough. To understand something is usually a great first step to create acceptance and patience. This is meditation. What are your patterns of behaviour and emotion when it comes to giving compliments and kind words? See where it comes from. Why don’t your culture or father/mother express love and appreciation with words? What was the fear that made them not express the love they felt?

2. Receive gracefully. A usually forgotten part of giving is receiving. They are intimately connected and when you can’t receive love gracefully, that is usually a clue that you cant give.  There are many levels of how you actually can receive something. To become more aware about it try this; Whenever someone says something nice to you, say “thank you” and then take a deep breath and be silent. During this breath, turn on the light inside and listen/feel what immediate effects those words have in you. Become aware of any pattern of reaction as for example to just say the same back; “I love you too”, or diminish it; “Ah that’s nothing I just did my job” or how you in any other creative way divert the compliment instead of fully receive it.

3. Just do it + mindfulness. Just do it + Mindfulness. When you feel you appreciate someone very much – say it and then be silent and listen inside and outside what happens.

* When you feel it would be a bit uncomfortable to say a compliment, do it anyway, and just observe how it feels. Say nothing more just listen inside and outside. (…yes I know that this will feel a bit forced in the beginning and maybe not always as a genuine compliment, but that too is just an object for your awareness to be noticed. To discover what is genuine and what is not is a great knowledge to gain.)

* When you feel someone else is irritating you or is not to your benefit – look for the golden nugget in that pile of sand and compliment that golden nugget genuinely and then stop and listen, inside outside.

“just do it” is to create a new conditioning and at the same time acknowledging and create awareness of the emotions that might arise of the old patterns when doing the contrary. Its “fake it till you make it” but with the element of meditation which makes it an organic transformation and not a forced change.

If you cannot stay long holding space for that emotion arising when saying the compliment, just go back later to that moment in the mind until you feel that emotion in your body again and hold space for that until it feels heard/seen. No comment or evaluation, just accommodate the emotion triggered by the situation and your action. This includes both “good” emotions and “bad” emotions connected to giving/receiving compliments.

* Be unconditional, unconditional and unconditional. Important is to “just do it” without any expectations of result (ex the other should be happy, say something back, be nice, change to a better person, treat you or others better, I should feel better… ) Just say it because it can be said and will bring some love into the world.

Are you willing to fail giving good genuine compliments brother? Well then there is nothing stopping you.

Thanks for asking. Your curiosity on life and confidence in my ability to provide help makes me grow.

Love

/Jonas