Let's Become a Daydream Nation

A small to mid-size business owner walks in the door for another day’s work bombarded by the office crisis du jour as well as customers calling and meetings beginning to run late. How do you stay focused and what do you pay attention to first? and last? What has prepared your attention attitude for this daily management while maintaining the vision that grows the business? And is it any different for the stay-at-home mom or independent business owner? Try daydreaming, says Kalina Christoff of the University of British Columbia in Canada, http://www.livescience.com/health/090513-daydream-brain.html. Her study ”shows our brains are very active when we daydream – much more active than when we focus on routine tasks,” Christoff said.

According to one CEO, Greg Thompson of Atlanta’s Thomco, Inc., it’s the time you take away from the office that prepares you for the office, something he learned from his father, Roy Sr.. For instance, Mr. Thompson is a member of a CEO group that meets one day a month, every month. There he and the other members spend time brainstorming ideas, co-creating solutions and supporting their visions together. They invigorate each other, sharing the passion for excellence in business. But it’s also the time you allow yourself to drift and stare out the window.

What? Daydreaming in the office? It seems I was working very hard after all in school. But visionary CEO’s and small business owners make daydreaming work for them. Going back to my blog on Daniel Pink’s book, “A Whole New Mind” this is the cultural creativity that he says is able to ‘activate this right hemisphere capacity…as we transition out of the Information Age.’ The Rev. John Strickland from Unity Atlanta referred to the value of taking the biblical sabbath Sunday, June 7, 2009. He expanded the one-day concept to complete breaks from the work environment, using the sabbatical that some companies and universities give to their employees to refresh and reinvigorate their commitment to work.

What if you can’t get away? Take a mini-sabbatical and Business Daydream with me in your office! Business Daydreaming is just a call away. Let me guide you on a short daydream in your office, to refresh and lighten your day. This is a simple exercise of focused daydreaming on the topic of your choice, perhaps the problem that won’t resolve no matter how hard you think about it. Don’t think. Daydream. Put a one-hour weekly daydream on your calendar today.

What if you could take your business to the next level and Business Daydream at the same time with Maureen? Hmmm…

The Deadline

Last week I was invited to speak at a local business networking group meeting. I had a couple of days to create my material as it was a last minute invitation. But that was fine and I met my Friday deadline sending off my material to be used in a promo.

Mid-day Monday I received a phone call indicating the material was not received. I resent it and continued to prepare the presentation. At 11 pm I was notified that my resent material was received too late and I would be invited to speak at the next meeting.

In a flurry of worry, I wanted the credit that the material was sent on time and I had kept my commitment. But it didn’t matter. Material is either received or not received. This is like classroom assignments. The smartest students can stay up all night (some of whom do) working but if they don’t turn in the work, there is no credit. It’s in or it’s not in. Things are done or not done. It’s the worry, the perceived stress around receiving acknowledgement in the form of good grades or the perceived punishment from parents who ‘just don’t understand’ how something so important could not be completed that wastes our time and energy.

In your business, what is getting in your way of completion? There are no excuses; in the final analysis things are done or not done. The next time your student says there is no relationship between school and real life, you and I will know the truth…your student may need to wait until there’s a real life job situation to understand.

In the meantime, I’ve created a kickin’ workshop on…Attention Manifestation! Ah, the irony of it all.

What’s your attention story today?