Spirituality at work place essentially means working in the right spirit.
For many, workplace is like a war zone where one is fighting many internal and external battles. Colleagues are divided into friends and enemies, changing parties almost randomly. It seems that war strategies are scheming in every mind from the clerk to the boss, with an aim to pin you down. However, sometimes the war is totally internal, with you trying to push yourself to perform. In such an atmosphere, what should a tired untrained warrior do to be peaceful yet make a fulfilling and meaningful contribution at work?
Imagine your workplace is an external projection of what is virtually being stimulated in the screen of your mind. By reprogramming the visuals in the gaming environment of your mind, you will find your workplace changing from a stimulated war field of conflict and hatred to a creative art gallery where each one is exhibiting his talent for the benefit of others and the organization.
Here are some reprogramming tips that may help you achieve that objective by changing the way you perceive multiple internal and external battles (challenges) in a work place.
External Battles:
1. Competition – Competition when directed towards the self is like a shaving blade that neatly removes the stubbles of laziness and brings forth your best appearance and performance. But when competition is directed towards others it is like offering them a cactus plant. It first hurts you and then hurts them.
2. Comparison – Comparison is a systematic way of insulting your uniqueness and gifting yourself with misery. The mother of innovation is uniqueness in thinking. When a shark is happy with its teeth and an elephant is happy with its trunk, why do we humans remain unhappy with our gifts and hanker for others’ talents? Being grateful for our individuality can reduce the self destructive habit of comparison.
3. Peer pressure – Succumbing to peer pressure is like being wet clay. Our perception of who we are is dependent on who peers into our life and molds it with the pressure of their opinions. It requires the pressure of a dynamite to remold a mountain than to remold a heap of clay. When there is a mountainous clarity of what ideals we stand for, the pressure of a few hands cannot remold us.
4. Relationships – Success at work depends on success in relationships. Success in relationships depends on successful attitudes. Successful attitudes depend on our expectations. Failures in relationships happen due to failures in others’ meeting our expectations. When we expect others to direct their energy towards meeting our expectations, such self-centric relationships fail the test of time.
5. Appreciation – Spending quality time daily in genuinely appreciating the contribution and qualities of people who matter to you is a fool-proof way of ensuring a happy working environment. Empty flattery strokes the mind and ego while genuine appreciation touches the heart. Flattery engages only the tongue, while appreciation employs the eyes to observe, the ears to listen, the intelligence to analyze, and the words come from the heart. The fruit of flattery when eaten merely intoxicates and weakens mind and soul. The fruit of appreciation when eaten nourishes, strengthens and encourages.
Internal battles:
1. Procrastination – Procrastination is the funeral in which you burn your chance of success. Procrastination is nothing but electrocuting opportunities to grow. The knowledge of consequence is the enemy of procrastination. Embrace this friend tightly.
2. Motivation – When what we want to do is what we have to do, then motivation is a self-generated enzyme. But when what we have to do is what others want us to do, then motivation is an injected steroid. Discover your likes and motivation will discover you.
3. Concentration – A mind that is focused on many things is focused on nothing. The success of a lion on a chase is not so much its speed but its focus on one deer at a time. Concentration is the by-product of active patience with a problem.
4. Stability – Equanimity in the midst of success and failure is the father of stability. Pride in success is an orphan and depression in failure is a beggar. Understanding that your talent is just one ingredient in the meal of success, keeps one humble. And understanding that the pain of failure is merely discomfort that a diamonds undergoes when polished keeps one hopeful.
(Shubha Vilas is a Tedx speaker, lifestyle coach, storyteller and author. He studied patent law after completing his engineering degree. But, finally, he chose the path of a spiritual seeker. Ramayana: The Game of Life is his bestselling series. He’s also the author of Open-Eyed Meditations and Perfect Love - 5.5 ways to lasting relationships. The focus of his work is the application of scriptural wisdom in day-to-day living, addressing the needs of corporates and youth through thought-provoking seminars. He has delivered more than 4000 lectures across the globe. He is also a visiting faculty at the Indian Institute of Management.)
(To know more about him, visit www.shubhavilas.com)
