Business Personal Development – Create Space To Receive

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Try this quick  business personal development experiment:

Make a fist and clench it as tightly as you can. Hold it for at  least 30 seconds, longer if you can. Be present with the sensation…. feel your nails digging into your skin, feel the tightness in your knuckles and feel the discomfort in your wrist. Can you sense dis-ease elsewhere in your body? It’s not very pleasant but do it anyway.

Then slowly, very slowly, relax your fist and allow your fingers to unfold until your palm is open and facing upwards. Keep your hand and fingers relaxed. Be present with the sensation…. feel the relief as your hand opens, feel the air around your fingers and the easing in your joints. Can you feel the tension being released elsewhere in your body?

Sometimes we can be so obsessed with our businesses, so attached to the outcomes and desperate to make things work, that we start to operate in much the same way as your clenched fist. We become fixated with business and in so doing can neglect other areas of our lives. We stop making time to exercise, eat properly, get enough rest, relax and spend meaningful time with friends and family. In short we only have time for business and nothing else. Of course we must be passionate about what we do but this means loving what we do not having it dominate our lives to the exclusion of everything else, that’s called obsession!

You may be thinking that you do manage to spend time away from your business but do you really or are you still there mentally,  thinking about what you need to do next, maybe even problem solving at the same time as reading little Johnny his good night story? The problem is we can be so good at multi-tasking that it can become a habit we are not even aware of.  When we don’t give ourselves the gift of space away from our businesses, not only are we not looking after ourselves but we are also not giving others quality time and attention either.

Now think back to your clenched fist. Is there any way at all that something could have found a way into your palm like that? Hardly likely if you were clenching as I instructed. However the moment you started to relax and let the tightness go, any number of  things may have found their way into your palm because you were open to receiving them.

In the same way we need to create time and space away from what we are doing so we can receive new ideas and solutions to make our businesses better and stronger too.  Have you ever tried to recall something that you can’t? It can be very frustrating because no matter how obsessed you are with remembering you just can’t. Then when you finally give up thinking about it, suddenly it comes to mind. That’s because you relaxed enough to let your brain find what you were looking for. Just think about all the business innovations you could be missing out on because you are not giving yourself the space to receive them?

Take time on a daily and weekly basis to create quality space away from your business. It does not matter what you do as long as you know for sure that you are not still thinking about business. You could see a movie, watch your favorite TV program, read a book, play a game with your kids, go dancing with your partner, meditate or simply stare into space. Whatever you do make sure you create space so that you can be open to receiving and you’ll be amazed at how many little gems come your way.

What are your thoughts about creating space away from your business? Is it important to you? How do  you do this? Please leave me a comment as I’d love to hear from you.

As usual, my goal is helping you achieve yours!

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Technorati Tags: Business Mindset, Mindset For Business, personal development