You know the feeling, when you are totally immersed in a task, not noticing time passing, remaining completely focused. That wonderful state of flow.
Is it possible to be authentic, true to oneself? Not copying, thinking independently, so that not every product offering looks like the competitors, that soon devolves down to a low value battle of commodities.
Being good at this game called business, often involves putting conventional accepted wisdom aside [and un-thinking] making assessments outside of the box called: MBA business school thinking.
First step is to flow – and question the illusion of work life balance, and ‘thinking about thinking’.
Wonder of a productive flow state
Is it possible to avoid the ‘hardwork’ of 12-hour days, and just get lucky and cruise? Is the idea of ‘work life balance’ a myth, making a strange dichotomy between work and life? Aren’t they all the same thing? When you are in the ‘effortless flow’ just loving what you do, is that really work?
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihaly pointed out that “It is not what happens to us that determines happiness, but the manner in which we make sense of that reality”.
The legendary psychologist’s investigations into “optimal experience” revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow – characterised by deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life.
However, the idea of a flow state is not new. Similar ideas are there in different philosophical systems and schools of thought, almost since the beginning of recorded time. Nothing new under the sun.
Are you your mind?
Before going further, it helps to create some distinctions. Brain, mind and conscientiousness. Billions of brain cells firing in sync, where much of thinking occurs, describes the organ of the brain.
Mind is where ‘ego personality’ sits, your identity, that is the constant little chattering voice talking to you right now. Human conscientiousness, that awareness of being alive, that knowing, is a mystery.
One further distinction is helpful, some would say enlightening. Are you your mind? Are you your thinking? This is where things get tricky – and confronting.
It helps to imagine seeing yourself from across the room, creating the possibility, being conscious of the thought that sometimes your mind, your ego personality can lead one astray. An astute manager can make the distinction between mind and self.
“The ego personality is constantly on the lookout for external rewards to validate its worth.” writes the physician and author Deepak Chopra – where salary and accumulating stuff may for some be a large part of this outside validation.
“A stress on a mindfulness approach recognising the importance of inner contentment, in contrast to a constant [never ending] need for external rewards is another route to take. “You will never get enough of what you really don’t want,” advised Eric Hoffa.
Being mindful is part of being ‘rich’
Legendary Silicon Valley investor Naval Ravikant – like many of his peers – practices a mindfulness.
“Getting rich is about knowing what to do, who to do it with, and when to do it. It is much more about understanding than purely hardwork.
“Yes, hardwork matters, and you can’t skimp on it. But it has to be directed in the right way. If you don’t know yet what you should work on, the most important thing is to figure it out. You should not grind at a lot of hardwork until you figure out what you should be working on,” says Ravikant.
Business can be simple; it revolves around creating a product – service offering that has value in the eyes of the customer. When the [perceived] value is greater than price, voila, you have a sale.
This year is radically different Kenyan business world, from just a generation ago. Plugging into the tech ecosystem, today a bright 12-year-old, can find out ‘just about anything about anything’. Yet the paradox is: Do we feel any smarter? Do we feel Solomon like wiser?
According to recent studies, the average person is bombarded with information equivalent to 174 newspapers every day.
Additionally, people can be interrupted by notifications and messages an average of every 6 minutes. With all the beeps vying for our attention, it’s no wonder our minds feels overwhelmed.
Might be time to check out, get far from the maddened crowd, if only for 10 minutes. Just sit, close your eyes, breath in, breath out. Gradually, that chattering flow of thoughts may fade.
All these, ideas about authenticity and becoming better at business are a work in progress.
“Ideas don’t come out fully formed, they only become clear as you work on them,” notes Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg.
