PJ Ponders?

Hey….bet you’re thinking, this guy’s gonna get his incense burners out and listen to some Nepalese nose flute music or something? Na…not that there is anything wrong with such things, but mediation doesn’t need to be mystic or way out there.

Whenever someone uses the word meditation, they immediately conjure up images of groups of people sitting in the lotus position with their eyes closed, focusing their minds eye on a Buddha statue whilst hearing the occasional high pitched bell ring. However, meditation can be used in a business setting to gain clarity and focus. It can help with decision making and goal setting too.

I have practiced various forms of meditation for several years now.  The two that I have found most effective for me are the Taoist Chinese ‘energy channeling’ mediation and the traditional Buddhist Zen style ‘breath’ mediation. The Taoist method involves clearing any chakra/channel blockages within the body and focusing on a positive outcome.  The Buddhist Zen method involves concentrating on your breathing, allowing thoughts to flow through you without paying too much attention to them. Both of these forms of meditation can be performed on a chair, sitting comfortably and upright. There is no need to sit in the lotus position, although it is congruent with the Buddhist mediation method.

The purpose of your meditation will only be known to you. However, many people use meditation for clarity, a sense of well being and to seek ‘enlightenment’. In business, meditation has its practical used, and as I mentioned earlier in this post, can be used to gain clarity and focus on an issue or decision that is clouding your mind and thought processes. So next time you are in such a predicament, just close your eyes and say ‘ommm’. No seriously, do a Net search and choose a meditation method you are comfortable with. The rest is up to you….

Kaizen for those of you who are not familiar is a Japanese business technique for achieving great and enduring success through taking regular, small steps to reach your goals. Kaizen is actually the Japanese word from ‘improvement’. After the second world war Japan, like Europe, was devastated and much effort  was needed to create a new and properous Japan. Kaizen techniques were used by Japanese companies like Nissan, Honda, Toyota & Sony (to name a few) to change the perception of their products in the West, from low end inferior to high end reliable products. Kaizen techniques were used in the manufacturing process and with the labour force, improving their attitude and making them ‘stakeholders’ in the business. Listening to the workforce and rewarding them for their commitment and input was a primary technique.

Of course, Kaizen goes a lot deeper than surface management techniques by addressing the way that challenges and perceived problems are approached mentally. If used correctly, it can trick the conscious and sub-conscious mind and melt away any negativity that surrounds an issue or hurdle, creating a positive outcome.

To find out more about Kaizen, just do a search engine query. There are plenty of good articles and books out there. I would recommend anything by Robert Maurer.

Make Money & Feed Your Soul – What’s that all about?

Hey Everyone,  I have decided to create a business/money making lifestyle blog that not only looks at wealth creation topics, but also looks at how we create a total balanced lifestyle beyond just material things and spending 10 hours a day in the office, behind a computer getting brain dead!

Stick with me on this, as I would be interested to hear from anyone who is like minded or is contemplating changing their lifestyle beyond the same old 9 to 5, 365 monotonous drudgery.