In a world that once celebrated the relentless pursuit of growth at any cost, a new wave of conscious entrepreneurs is emerging. They’re challenging the traditional “hustle and grind” culture and prioritizing well-being and happiness alongside profits. This shift is giving rise to what I call the Presence Movement.
What Is the Presence Movement?
The Presence Movement is all about fully engaging in business and life. It’s about conscious self-awareness, well-being, and aligning our mind, body, heart, and soul. Yet, conscious entrepreneurs face significant challenges in today’s rapidly changing business landscape.
Need for Constant Adaptation
In a world where technology evolves faster than our ability to keep up, adaptability is key. The deluge of daily data and the ever-accelerating pace of change mean the skills we acquire today may be obsolete tomorrow.
65% of preschoolers will be in jobs that don’t yet exist, and
of the entire world’s data was generated in the last few years. Technology is only accelerating to the point of singularity. Imagine what it will be like two years from today.
Decision Overwhelm
The information age has left us with countless choices and distractions, leading to decision fatigue. Conflicting online advice makes it difficult to align our decisions with our true selves and business objectives.
How This Applies to Your Business
Amid these challenges, conscious entrepreneurs must ask two vital questions:
How can you make decisions for your business from the inside out, amidst the noise of the external world?
In what ways can your business integrate the quadruple bottom line of people, planet, profit, and presence (the 4 P’s) to make a stronger impact in your community and beyond?
The Catalyst of the Presence Movement
These questions are what catalyzed the Presence Movement. My clients have inquired into these questions. Just by asking themselves these questions, they are able to make new choices, allowing themselves to be more present and more in flow during their day.
Real-world Examples
For example, one client has learned to breathe. They counted the number of breaths they took in a minute and discovered it was too high. They now set a timer labeled “breath” every hour that reminds them to pay attention to their body and notice their quality of breath.
With other clients, they are now ensuring they take a minimum of four weeks, if not six weeks, off a year, ideally a week per quarter, to allow a full recharge for the next quarter. Once they realize that rest is not only more productive but required, it debunks any myth that working harder, longer or faster is more effective. Instead, they discover how going slower can actually be faster in creating more quality, long-term, sustainable progress.
Three Simple Steps to Ignite a Presence Movement
1. Commit
Taking actions without commitment won’t work long term through the unexpected breakdowns that are likely to happen. By committing, you can navigate through challenges and obstacles. When the storms of life inevitably hit, your commitment acts as a beacon or guiding light of what direction to take next.
2. Calculate
To calculate is to track and measure an intended action, or to design and plan. What is your baseline to measure your progress? Take an assessment, and then set a goal for where you want to go and what your focus will be for the next quarter.
3. Connect
The key to making something be alive and to be held accountable is sharing this with others. Staying connected in a community online or in person is key to keeping your commitment alive through the conversations you have with like-minded folks who care about this, too.
The Presence Movement Starts With You
Being present is a choice you make each moment, every instant, right now. By learning to listen to our breath, integrate our brain with our bodies and make more time to rest, we create an infinite wellspring of energy to draw from and circulate with others, elevating the consciousness of those around us and beyond.
By igniting the fourth P, or presence, in the quadruple bottom line of people, planet, profit, and presence in your business, it allows an empty space to simply be, in wonder and awe of what will emerge.
Original version published in Forbes.com and TheBellwetherMagazine.com
By Anna Choi, Founder and CEO of SolJoy, Forbes Author, and TEDx Speaker, serves high achieving, creative, conscious business leaders who want to quiet the mind chatter, cut through distractions, and tap into boundless energy creating leaders with more health, happiness, and peace. Learn more at http://www.annasunchoi.com/media
