Last week, I talked about the importance of being mindful at work (read more by clicking HERE). Today, I’d like to share 5 practices for creating a balanced work place.
Practice #1: Train Your Mind
Mindfulness doesn’t just “happen” to a person, it must be practiced. You can train your mind to be mindful at work when you’re self-aware and self-regulating what’s going on inside you.
Yes, emotions will come up in the workplace – it’s inevitable (and very human!). However, when you train your mind to recognize an emotional attachment or a negative emotional experience, you’re more likely to handle the outcome gracefully and proactively.
Practice #2: Learn the Art of Accepting Feedback
The art of skillfully soliciting and accepting feedback is a powerful tool in managing our emotions in the workplace. Sometimes workers get really attached to what they’re doing; it starts to feel like a personal attack when someone discredits them or doesn’t agree with them.
In truth, it’s not personal at all! Learning to disconnect an idea from a person’s self-worth is very important. Being able to hear feedback and put it in the appropriate drawer, so to speak, is a powerful way to adjust your course and better succeed at work.
Practice #3: Be a Model of Respect and Trust
Trust is an important aspect of the healthiest workplaces, and respect is vital to successful collaboration. Offering respect and trust to others – especially in the midst of conflict – is the best way to move through conflict and keep things smooth and calm.
When employees operate from a place of respect and trust in the workplace, other people learn that they can come to them with whatever concerns they have and they’ll be heard. This is how successful workplace relationships are built, and how the most successful workers make their way up the ladder.
Practice #4: Show Appreciation
There are so many things that we take for granted at work. Seemingly simple things such as having a reliable email system, having someone pick up our mail and get our paychecks accurate and even just having staplers in the supply closet are so important. Often, we don’t notice those things until they’ve gone missing.
Show appreciation to the people the office may take for granted. They make it possible for us to do our jobs in an effective and successful manner so we can earn a living and feed our families! Showing appreciation for even the small things in the office will go a long way to diffuse conflict and create a more wholesome and holistic workplace environment.
Practice #5: Make Friends with Conflict
This practice can be a tough one, but in order to create a balanced workplace, it’s important to allow yourself to make friends with conflict. Every time you do something, no matter what it is, someone may not like it. Often, jealously and insecurity show themselves at work, and the office dynamics can get messy, unruly and problematic.
Such chaos does not require that you go into a panic state. You don’t even need to resist it. Just recognize the chaos, be mindfully present with it, don’t internalize it, and actually welcome it. Sometimes it’s the most conflicted projects that offer the most opportunity to learn our lessons graciously.
As they say, attitude is everything. The more mindful you can be in your working relationships and the more self-aware you are, the more peaceful you will find your work environment.
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Wishing you peace to your mind, wellness to your body and tranquility to your spirit.
Namaste,
Rochel Marie Lawson, RN, AHP, CMS
The Queen of Feeling Fabulous and The Wellness Architect
Blissful Living 4U 