Today I want to talk to you about “Observer Mode.” It’s about being able to stand both in the role of the person having the experience and in the position of watching yourself have the experience at the same time. This allows you to really see what’s going on inside your own head. Asking my clients to take on this role for themselves is one of the ways that we begin the work of seeing what is underneath all of the challenges they face.
Living on Autopilot
Most of us walk through our days on autopilot. We have a list of tasks to accomplish and we set out to do them. We are humans doing, not humans being. We don’t take time to slow down, to become aware of our surroundings, and to be grateful for the bounty in the world.
Weekend of Mindfulness
I spent a weekend doing a retreat on mindfulness. We went through a transformative process while being totally mindful of what we were thinking, saying and feeling in each moment. We spent an entire meal in silence, just focusing on the food we were taking into our bodies, how it tasted and the textures and smells of it. I discovered that, even though I had trained myself to drink my coffee with only one sugar, I really didn’t like it that way. I’ve gone back to two sugars because the 16 calories won’t kill me and the coffee tasting the way I like it truly makes me happy. I savored fruit. I enjoyed the texture of the table cloth. I really looked at the faces of the people around me. I was aware of every breath, every movement, and every thought that crossed my mind.
It was truly revolutionary. It made me realize how much even I, the person running the retreat, failed to be mindful in many moments. It also made me realize how unmindful I had become in my business.
Being Mindful in Business
And so, as a result, it is my plan to spend this week being mindful of how I am in my business and my home life. I plan to wear two hats this week. One of the “doer” and one of the “observer”. I intend to watch what I do as I do it. For instance, I already know that I spend a great deal of my time being distracted by emails coming in (or looking for emails to come in). So this week, I’ll be turning off my “auto send/receive” on my Outlook.
The Happiness Factor
I’m also going to be paying attention to how the activities in my life make me feel. Perhaps there is an aspect of my business that makes me unhappy or feels out of alignment with who I want to be. Maybe there’s a direction I can take the business that will make it more profitable AND make me happier in the process. I don’t know for certain what I’ll find.
Become More Conscious
How can you become more conscious in your business this week? Can you slow down a little and start taking note of where your head is? Can you start noticing how certain clients make you feel stressed while others are a joy to work with? Can you identify why that is? Perhaps you can find items that you do that could be outsourced to a competent Virtual Assistant, transaction coordinator, or contractor. Maybe you’ll even find a niche you could market to based on the clients you really enjoy spending time with. There’s a whole plethora of options.
Client Communications
Another aspect of my business that I’m looking at is the messages that I send to my clients. How am I communicating with them? What message are they receiving? Often, especially if we keep a blog, we randomly put out messages just to say something. You may want to do what I’m doing and go back and read your last 10-15 blog entries. Is there a common theme? If so, is it a positive one? Remember, people don’t like to work with negative people.
Reflect
So spend this week in reflection. Perhaps give yourself a little downtime – let the planning for next month slip. The time you take in reflection will be far more valuable in the long run if you can see ways in which you are being negative towards yourself, your business, and your clients. Because, once you become aware of the issue, now you are in a position to change it, and change is often a very good thing.
Be Grateful
And remember to spend some time being grateful for what you have – even if it’s just something simple like someone who smiles at you on the street. Because, as we all know, what we focus on expands. I have been spending time focusing on accepting more love in my life recently, and here’s an example of the result.
Let Love In
My ex-boyfriend and I are still friends. He asked me how the weekend event went. When I responded that it had gone swimmingly, he said this to me. “Glad to hear your event rokt! I’m not surprised – you were in the perfect space for it, internally. This is exactly the you I saw, beneath the crusty brashness, years ago when we met. I’m glad she’s on the outside now … and glad you love her at least as much as I do.”
I am so grateful for his presence in my life. May your life be full of wonderful people and things that make you happy.
If you’d like help creating observer mode in your life to assist in your personal growth journey, sign up for a FREE energy scan to determine the best approach for you.