CAPITAL: The Voice of Business Issue 1, 2015 | Page 92

LAST WORD
So, think about the thing that occupies
you for most of your day: your work. What
is the purpose of your being in business?
If you answered, “To make a profit” you
,
misunderstood the question. Profit is a
function of being in business. The real
purpose of being in business is to make
a difference in people’s lives, and to keep
and satisfy customers and stakeholders.
What mindful things have you, your colleagues and staff done today to make it
possible to stay in business, so that you can
make that profit? Did you stop and listen
to people? Try to be interested in your colleagues, employees and family. Stephen
Covey says in his book The Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People that one must seek
first to understand and then to be understood.
Changing your attitude to a more mindful one can simply entail consciously doing
these relatively small things every day.

Olsen points out in his book, The Slight
Edge, the compound effect of doing something for at least 28 days in a row is mind
boggling.

STOP. START. CONTINUE.

Few of the above suggestions are likely to
work well, however, if you don’t stop doing
certain other things to make space for the
new things you want to start. Once a week,
you should decide which two things you
can stop doing in order to make room for
two things you want to start doing, while
still continuing with the two beneficial
things that you are already doing.
Of course, the more mindful you become,
the more life will begin to help you. Load
shedding, for instance, has provided us all
with the perfect opportunity to share a
candlelit dinner with the important people
in our lives and to catch up with each other.
If we’re mindful enough...

FIVE BY 11

One effective way I have found to help
people change their lives is through the
Five by 11 principle. This is a mechanism
whereby you end each day by writing
down the five things that you undertake
to do before 11 am the next day. These can
be basic things, like:
• Drink a glass or two of purified water on
rising in the morning;
• Go for a walk, run or cycle;
• Meditate — if you haven’t discovered
the power of this practice yet, get ready
for a pleasant surprise (see the list of
books on this page for more);
• Skip coffee until after 11am;
• Eat breakfast, preferably with your
family;
• Choose one important business task
that you will resolve by 11 am.
These Five by 11 tasks can be a combination of once-off and repetitive promises
you make to yourself, and they don’t need
to be big gestures. In fact, small tasks that
are easily achievable consistently are more
transformative than you may think. As Jeff
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| Issue 1 | Capital

Leon Grové’s suggested reading:
The Slight Edge
Jeff Olsen
Half Time & Game Plan
Bob Buford
The Courage to Succeed
Ruben Gonzales
Eat that Frog
Brian Tracey
Spontaneous Happiness
Dr Andrew Weil
Younger Next Year for Women/Men
Chris Crowley & Dr Henry Lodge
Mindfulness Meditation
Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Magic of Thinking Big
David J. Schwartz