by Christian McNeill

This morning I attended an excellent business event in Glasgow, The Business Journey. As well as useful presentations – on the theme of maximising the value of the business – there was plenty of time for networking. And I had the usual challenge of explaining what I do in a two minute soundbite. In all honesty it’s something I still find a stretch in a brief exchange. During a conversation which goes deeper, where I can explore actual issues which are current for the other person, the value of the innate wellbeing approach emerges.

One such conversation was about the business partner – I’ll call him John – of a speaker at the event. The speaker suggested that John could benefit from resilience and wellbeing training, as he was so stressed that he doubted he’d live another 10 years to see 65. The speaker supposed that stress really could be such a risk. I had the impression that both the speaker and his business partner saw stress as an inevitable side effect of running a successful business. Stress is commonly attributed to external circumstances. And there is often a hidden belief if that without the stress there would be less business success. Frequently there’s a belief that – like a vase of flowers in reception – state of mind training might be nice but isn’t really useful.

What an understanding of the 3 Principles indicates is that these ideas are entirely mistaken, if remarkably common. Even a simple look at facts can begin to demonstrate the fallacy. Richard Branson is many more time successful than most, yet is he many times more stressed? Many people who aren’t working at all are suffering from stress. Is it not true that the best ideas and the greatest productivity occur when you are in a state of clarity and flow? The antithesis of stress.

When I am working with a business, the first session always includes getting clear on a practical outcome, such as increasing turnover by x% or reducing sickness absence by x%. As the client begins to see how he or she is creating their own stress and mindset issues, change is often achieved, by the client, with astonishing ease and speed. Setting an outcome is as much to establish the efficacy of this approach as anything else. Once a client sees insightfully how they were previously getting in their own way, they stop it and solutions flow. My role is to help them have the insight. This is the magic which moves a person from understanding the words to being highly effective in their chosen field.

If John decided to invest in some resilience training, my guess is that he would see not only less stress and more success in his business, but also maybe his 80th birthday.

If you would like to know more about how the approach could benefit you please do contact me for a complimentary discovery session.