How I use silent retreats to help build my career

How I use silent retreats to help build my careerHow I use silent retreats to help build my careerLike manyambitiousyoung women dead-set on building my ownsuccessfulbusiness, I spent several decades running. I thought staying busy andproductivewas the key to achieving my goals. Now that Im 54 and amentorto many young people, one of the first pieces of advice I share is to take time away from the world to really sink into yourself and the wellspring of creativity thats inside each of us.Living in Idaho and Utah for most of my life, Ive met many people who can just go off into the mountains and gain clarity and creativity. That is so notlage me. I love the outdoors and findinspirationin nature, but camping has never been my forte I certainly do not find it relaxingWhen I really want to go within and do deep creative work, I need to be put in time-out. Retreats create that for me.That special time in retreat, and now in my daily meditation practice, is like going on a date with my own s oul. In the beginning, they were sparse, a bitawkward, and restrictive. But as Ive gotten older, I treat myself to retreats with softer accommodations, amenities, and delicious food. This helps me remember that my time away is about being kind to myself. From this gentler, safer space, I can connect and watch my emotions rise and fall, allow my thoughts to flow through me, and give myself permission to feel and to heal. I believe our souls are here for the purpose of healing, and retreats are how I honor that journey. Its done wonders for me as a human being, as well as for my business.I became curious about meditation after I heard the Dali Lama speak in Sun Valley, Idaho, almost 13 years ago.All of the running around Id done was starting to catch up with me drinking too much, not making healthy decisions in my relationships, and feeling stuck with my business.I began to notice that when I did take time to slow down, I felt really uncomfortable with myself. After Dali Lamas talk, I decided to do something about it. I started researching and reading about meditation and mindfulness.I attended my first three-day silent retreat at Spirit jupe in the Bay Area. If you think silent retreats sound like meditation on steroids, you arent wrong.It was brutal. All it took was one day to notice how crazy my mind really was I was alone with my never-ending stream of thoughts, including many not-so-nice thoughts about myself. For the next two days, all I could think about was how to get out of there. I concocted story after story of what I could say to be released. Finally, I realized what I really wanted was to run away from myself. As the third day came to a close, I was hooked. Something inside me woke up and started calling me. This time, it wasnt the voices in my head it was my heart.That first retreat was a pretty simple structure - Vipassana meditation - and it exposed me to some powerful teachers and life-changing ideas. Generally, on a silent retreat, you only speak when conversing with your teacher, and sometimes, thats only at the conclusion of the retreat. And those high-quality accommodations I mentioned earlier? Those arent typical of rigid meditation retreats, so be sure to check before you sign up if that matters to you.Even though it was really hard those first two days, I loved getting a taste of the creativity that comes from sitting quietly for long stretches. It inspired me to sign up for a weeklong retreat not long after. Im glad I did, because I found that after I allowed my mind to jump around for a few day without engaging, I could finally start to let go, and thats when the magic really happens.In 2012, I was about to sign a lease to open my third LunchboxWax waxing salon. Something kept me from signing before I left for my retreat. While there, a moment of clarity struck me my business is not just a waxing business it is so much more. I started to believe that I could use my life experiences to help others. The floodgat es opened, and I started to visualize a business created with the sole purpose of empowering young women. I knew deep down that a lot of people were going to want to be a part of this. The idea to verkaufskonzession came to me I still dont know where the first thought came from, and I dont question it. When I got out of my retreat, I immediately started researching. I was lit up everything inside me said this was the right path. LunchboxWax was going to become a franchise. Ive never looked back and have learned (and re-learned) to always listen to my gut. My best big ideas still come to me during stillness.We can all do unbelievable work with a clear mind.Once I established a regular meditation practice, I began to see all the creativity I missed in regular life because I couldnt seem to slow down. I started writing and painting again after 30 years of being too busy for that sort of thing, even though I loved it. Taking time for silence is much bigger than just not talking. To me , its about opening up to creativity, whether thats writing, art, or business. Now, twice a year, I carve out a week for a silent retreat.With more than 10 years of daily meditation and biannual silent retreats as my foundation, Im nowpassionateabout incorporating mindfulness into my business, including offering mindfulness training for waxologists. Growing a wax-only salon franchise that specializes in Brazilians might not seem like the type of company thatbenefitsfrom mindfulness, but I truly believe its at the heart of our culture-first business. We serve people in intimate ways that can bring up feelings of vulnerability. Having a strong sense of self-awareness, goodcommunication skills and boundaries are important for any team to thrive, including in my business.If you are just getting started in your practice or want to learn more, I recommend checking outMindfulness in Plain English a short read you can download for free online. You can also check out my hero Oprah Winfreys21 -Day Meditation Challengeswith Deepak Chopra. Listening to their inspiring guidance basically tricks you into meditating, even for the monkiest of minds like mine. For business owners,Search Inside Yourselfby Chande-Meng Tan is a must-read. He was one of Googles earliest engineers who retired with the title Jolly Good Fellow in 2015, and the book helps business leaders implement the skills of mindfulness without too much woo-woo.A version of this post previously appeared onFairygodboss, the largest career community that helps women get the inside scoop on pay, corporate culture, benefits, and work flexibility. Founded in 2015, Fairygodboss offers company ratings, job listings, discussion boards, and career advice.

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Author Frank Hanna on why college shouldnt be our best years

Author Frank Hanna on why college shouldnt be our best yearsAuthor Frank Hanna on why college shouldnt be our best yearsIts a tale as old as time enjoy college, graduate, then watch younger people have all the fun you used to have as you struggle through your 9-to-5 job. But one author believes that there has to be a lot more to life than that.Frank J.Hanna, CEO of Atlanta-based philanthropic organizationHanna Capital, LLC, writes about this in his 2017 bookA Graduates Guide to Life Three Things They Dont Teach You in College That Could Make All the Difference.The businessman has also served as alecturer, adviser, spoken to Catholic figures at Vatican gatherings, worked in venture capital and private equity for decades and more.Hanna spoke to Ladders about his book, his life, why we should escape the mindset that life gets worse after college andgives advice to recent college graduatesOn how his professional hintergrund shapes the way he sees the world of workFor 35 years I have work ed in the field of sophisticated finance. And in that world, wishing it were so, does leid make it so. In other words, reality matters. The slogan for our business is Measured by Reality. I am persuaded by the philosopher Josef Pieper, who teaches that the beginning of prudence (which is the ability to make good decisions) is seeing things as they really are. Most of us, however, like to delude ourselves, as reality is often difficult. One of the things I discuss in my book is the necessity of clinging to reality, always enlivened by hope in our future.On the main thing he wants people to take away from the bookBeing wealthy and happy is within the reach of alfruchtwein everyone, but you will not find it following the clichs that most people hear when they are young. Ultimately, wealth and happiness are dependent on the proper identification of those things that are most likely to lead to such wealth and happiness and second, cultivating the habits to pursue those things. The word w ealth derives from a word that means well-being. But well-being is a hard thing to measure, and it is made up of things that are not quantifiable. Seeking the wisdom that will lead to true well-being and wealth takes effort and some degree of discipline, and thus runs counter to the milieu of the age nevertheless, it is indeed within our reach.On how he thinks we shouldnt believe that college is supposed to be the best four years of our livesThis is one of those clichs that has been peddled for a long time. At its core, it states For a brief window of your time on Earth, when you are ill-prepared to fully appreciate it, your life will reach a high point after which it will enter a period of perpetual decline. It leads to people trying to manufacture a sensational set of experiences in order to fulfill the clich, rather than using their time in college to prepare for another 50 or 60 years of increasing happiness. Who wants to peak at 22?On the benefits of walking away from the compe titionCompetition in and of itself is not a bad thing, and it can help to bring out the best in each of us. However, our current society holds it to be an unmitigated good, and it is not. All mammals compete, and many do it viciously. Our task as human beings is to understand not only the benefits of competition, but more importantly, the risks, and to understand that in many circumstances, we actually dont want to compete, and should walk away from competition. We should be seeking a life of abundance, not one of scraping with each other for the good.On what he calls the secret of lifeThe secret of life is to figure out that for which we are designed as human beings, and thus that which will fulfill us, and make us happy. And the true ingredients for human happiness are entering true communion with others with hopefulness for the future. This is not a complicated matter, but it does take determination and perseverance.On what hed say to a recent college graduate struggling to make the most of their first jobI would tell the recent graduate, Find some way that you can bring value to others. I have employed hundreds of people I always sought to promote those who were constantly seeking to add value for me. I cant promise that you will always be rewarded for bringing value to others, but I can promise you that you usually will, and I can also promise you that if you bring value to others, you will be happier and more fulfilled. In the end, that is what we are all seeking. I would also tell them to buy my book If you agree with anything I have said here, you will love reading A Graduates Guide to Life Three Things They Dont Teach You in College That Could Make All the Difference. Its a very quick and easy read, and youll be glad you picked it up.