Modern Zen: Finding Focus & Peace
I keep busy running two startups and advising a non-profit at the same time. My roles tend to be centered around the same tasks. I handle innovation and management, but the industries vary wildly.
Over the last few years I have researched and worked to keep focused and maintain inner peace and calm. Recently, I have worked with an increasing amount of startups. Often I find entrepreneurs who struggle to achieve this kind of balance, so I thought I would share a few tips.
Schedule Time for Personal Development
For me Fridays are development days. They are the one day every week I reserve to learn something new. Sometimes that comes in the form of hearing a pitch from a new company. Other times I hide away with a book about something interesting.
Understanding is the bridge to peace. People are afraid of what they don’t understand. They feel fear and anxiety, which are the opposites of peace. The more you understand about the world around you, the better you will be able to empathize with others. You will make valuable connections and achieve success.
I find that learning specific information allows me to increase my focus. Purposeful learning allows me to apply concepts and ideas back to issue areas in my own companies. A day dedicated to exploration drives innovation and allows me to think outside the box.
Get Organized
Technology is amazing. Don’t rely on your brain to take care of the minutia of the day. There are countless task management and program management systems, and AI to help you along. I always find myself in awe when I discover perfectly intelligent human beings, bogged down in the administrative doldrums.
Find a system and master it. Its even better if you can convert your team to the system. Google calendar, Slack and ASANA are my go-tos, it keeps life on track. Special integrations with Slack make certain that our teams are always connected, tasks are managed and projects get done on time.
Naturally, a good system will allow you to focus on tasks and alert you to things you may need to address internally. Tracking performance metrics and workload withing a discreet framework allows for focus and peace of mind.
Know Yourself (not to be confused with finding yourself)
Take some time to find out the things that make you tick. One of the best decisions that I ever made was to take my scholarship money, spend it all on rafting gear and travel the world. I learned more in those years that I ever did or would in college. Just to be clear, I didn’t find myself, I worked. I worked as a river guide. I worked as a missionary. I worked as teacher. I help quite a few jobs. In short, I experienced things, and worked until I happend upon my current role.
Its easy to be at peace when you are true to your principles and ideals. Sure not all people are lucky enough to travel the world. But, there is no way to find peace, if you don’t have the metrics to gauge it. Educate yourself. Have experiences and take the time to learn. Learn what it means to be true to yourself and you will have something solid to guide you actions.
Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
-George Bernard Shaw
Meditate
My final suggestion is this, meditate. In our world of increasing connectivity, its hard to find a moment not intruded on by a notification of some kind. I know its been said before by many consultants and gurus, but its true. Daily meditation is the panacea for many problems.
Take time to be really connected to yourself, entirely present and conscious of your own feelings, thoughts and ideas.
In closing I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this article. If you do any of these let me know how it has helped. If you have other suggestions I would love to hear them.
