And yet, somewhere inside, something has gone quiet.

This is one of the more subtle thresholds in professional life. It rarely announces itself dramatically, and it may not look like crisis from the outside. In fact, many high achievers arrive at this moment while continuing to perform, deliver and succeed. The question forming beneath the surface is often simple, unsettling and profoundly honest: is this still success for me?

At first, the question can feel inconvenient. Even disloyal. Especially if you have worked hard to arrive where you are. Especially if younger parts of you dreamed of this very moment. The mind may tell you to be grateful, keep going and stop questioning a life that appears, by most external measures, to be right on track.

But the deeper self has its own intelligence. It knows when an old definition of success has expired. It knows when the soul is no longer fed by achievement alone. It knows when life is asking for more meaning, more truth, more spaciousness or more alignment.

For many professionals, success is first built around competence, approval and momentum. We learn to perform, deliver, become reliable and win trust by being excellent. There is nothing wrong with this. Excellence matters. Discipline matters. Contribution matters. But at some point, success has to evolve or it begins to harden into a cage.

What once stretched you may begin to confine you. What once gave you identity may begin to feel too small. What once motivated you may begin to lose its charge. This can be frightening, especially for those who have spent years being rewarded for their discipline, ambition and capacity to keep going.

Many people assume that losing hunger means losing edge. They assume that questioning success means becoming ungrateful. They assume that longing for a different relationship with work means something has gone wrong. In truth, this can be a sign of growth. When success stops feeling like success, something deeper may be trying to emerge.

That deeper emergence may ask for a more honest life, a more human rhythm, a more meaningful contribution or a wiser relationship with ambition. It may ask you to stop proving yourself through exhaustion. It may ask you to notice that your worth was never meant to be measured only through productivity, praise or professional usefulness.

This is where Conscious Confidence becomes essential. Conscious Confidence is the capacity to stay present, clear and values-led when certainty is no longer available. It helps us meet the strange space between the life we built and the life that may now be calling us. That space can feel disorientating, especially when nothing is obviously broken.

You may still be good at the work. You may still care about your clients, colleagues or organisation. You may still have responsibilities that matter deeply. And yet, some part of you may be asking for a different quality of presence. More depth. More creativity. More soul. More truth.

The invitation is rarely to burn everything down. Sometimes it is much subtler than that. It may be to listen more carefully, stop outsourcing your definition of success, notice where your energy rises and where it drains, and ask what integrity requires now. The work that once shaped you may still have a place, but perhaps it no longer gets to own the whole of you.

This is a sacred moment.

It is a moment to pause, reflect and ask better questions. What does success feel like in the body now? What kind of work brings me alive? Where am I still performing an old identity? What am I afraid would happen if I changed? What kind of contribution is becoming possible?

Sometimes, the emptiness we fear is actually space. Space for a truer desire. Space for deeper wisdom. Space for the next expression of our becoming. When success stops feeling like success, you are not necessarily lost. You may simply be outgrowing a version of yourself that once did its job beautifully.

Thank it. Then listen. Something new may already be on its way. 🌿✨

By Neil Seligman

Neil Seligman is a pioneer in the field of conscious leadership and a passionate advocate for mindfulness, presence, and spiritual growth at work and in life. He is the author of Conscious Leadership and 100 Mindfulness Meditations, and the Founder of The Conscious Professional.

Ready to go deeper? Here are three ways to connect:

1. Try our 10-day online mindfulness course: Zen in Ten

2. Explore 1:1 Coaching or Energy Work: Schedule Here

3. Explore Keynotes and Team Trainings: Let’s Talk

The post When Success Stops Feeling Like Success appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

It is not always visible from the outside. In fact, it often sits alongside competence, success, and reliability. Others may even admire it. The ability to hold everything together.

But from the inside, it can feel different.

It can feel like a constant background weight. The sense that you must stay strong, stay composed, stay available. That others depend on your steadiness, and that there is little room for your own uncertainty or fatigue.

Over time, this becomes a burden.

Not because leadership itself is the problem, but because of how it is being held. When the role becomes fused with identity, it can begin to narrow what feels permissible. You are the one who holds it all. So you keep holding.

Even when it is heavy.

This often leads to a quiet form of depletion. Not dramatic burnout, at least not initially, but a gradual erosion of energy and aliveness. Decision-making becomes harder. Patience thins. The sense of connection to the work may begin to fade.

And yet, from the outside, everything still appears intact.

One of the challenges here is that high-functioning leaders are often very capable of compensating. They push through. They maintain standards. They continue to deliver. Which makes it harder to recognise the cost.

The invitation is not to abandon responsibility. It is to relate to it differently.

Holding it all does not mean holding it alone.

There is strength in allowing more distribution. Not just of tasks, but of emotional ownership. Teams can hold more than we sometimes allow them to. When everything is filtered through the leader, capacity is limited. When space is created for others to step in more fully, the system becomes more resilient.

This requires trust. It also requires a willingness to release a certain level of control.

There is also a more internal shift. Recognising that your value as a leader is not dependent on constant composure or certainty. You are allowed to have moments of not knowing. You are allowed to need support.

Paradoxically, this often increases credibility rather than diminishing it. It humanises leadership. It creates permission for others to be real, which strengthens connection and honesty within the team.

There are practical steps here. Building in regular spaces for reflection rather than operating continuously at pace. Having trusted peers or coaches where you can speak openly. Paying attention to early signs of strain rather than waiting for more significant breakdown.

Above all, it is about remembering that leadership is a role you play, not the totality of who you are.

When that distinction is clear, something relaxes. The burden lightens. Energy begins to return.

You are still holding what matters. But you are no longer carrying it in a way that diminishes you.

By Neil Seligman

Neil Seligman is a pioneer in the field of conscious leadership and a passionate advocate for mindfulness, presence, and spiritual growth at work and in life. He is the author of Conscious Leadership and 100 Mindfulness Meditations, and the Founder of The Conscious Professional.

Ready to go deeper? Here are three ways to connect:

1. Try our 10-day online mindfulness course: Zen in Ten

2. Explore 1:1 Coaching or Energy Work: Schedule Here

3. Explore Keynotes and Team Trainings: Let’s Talk

The post The Hidden Burden of Being the One Who Holds It All appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

Work can be stressful. You could argue that it should be stressful at least some of the time, but only because those striving for a goal are passionate about achieving it. But of course, most workplaces also come with less wholesome clashes (at least some of the time). Things can get intense. How do you manage to keep your head during these situations? Not only ‘how do you stay calm and focused?’, but also, ‘how do you manage to de-escalate and direct proceedings to a positive outcome?’

Here are some mindfulness and meditation-based possibilities…

1.     Close Your Eyes and Breathe Deep

If all about me is noise, tension and chaos, I get overwhelmed and overstimulated very easily. However, I have a shortcut to taking myself away from the situation, even without actually physically removing myself. I close my eyes and take slow, deep breaths, focusing on just that, ‘the breath’. This activates your body’s relaxation response. I inhale for four seconds, hold for four, and exhale for four. I repeat this until my heart rate has slowed and clarity returns.

2.     Focus on the Solution

It’s easy to sling mud and focus on the negatives of a situation. So, focus on the potential positive, i.e. ‘the solution’. So, shift your focus from the stress or problem at hand to possible solutions. By concentrating on what you can control, you can prevent feelings of being overwhelmed and move towards a tangible solve.

3.      Smaller Steps

If things are going south because a problem is too complex, it works well to break everything down into smaller pieces. Although it might feel like a more laborious way in which to move towards a goal, making a large task bite-size and coming to a consensus for each part, will culminate in a much more thorough, thought-through and troubleshot solution.

4.     Take Short, Frequent Breaks

Similarly, going at something for hours and hours is usually counterproductive past a certain point. Although not a process involving other people, i often find the same issue occurs when writing. I’ll be able to type and create for a certain burst of time, but then I’ll come up against a wall. I could either stare at the gap where more words are meant to go and get frustrated or maybe pump out a few half-witted paragraphs. Or, I could go away, do something else (a chore, make tea, go for a walk, exercise), and come back with a refreshed brain and body.

5.     Take a Positive Angle

Intense situations often feel like threats. They feel negative by nature. Try to oppose this. Try to reframe the intense negotiation, disagreement, or problem in a positive light. See it as an opportunity for growth, teamwork, a challenge or a way to show off a skill you don’t normally get to show off. This shift in mindset can help you manage stress and remain more objective in your decision-making.

6.     Trust Yourself

Clashes at work and challenges to your way of doing things often result in self-doubt. I struggle with this often. Try not to let what you know about yourself and your abilities be overridden by what another person might have said thoughtlessly or in anger. You are in the room because you have the skills to be there. Trust that you now what you are doing.

7.     ‘No’.

Keep your boundaries. It’s OK to say ‘no’ (within reason, of course). Overcommitting can heighten stress, so prioritising tasks and limiting your workload will help you stay focused and in control. I have been known to fall foul of being an overambitious ‘yes man’ and ended up becoming very stressed because of it. Know your limits. Hold your boundaries.

By Chris Thomson

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 3 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post Calm in the Storm: Managing Stress During Intense Work Situations appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

Do you ever play?

By which I mean, not just relaxation. Not scrolling, reading, watching or anything passive of the like. When did you last engage in real, involved, imaginative and immersive play? You may be surprised by how long it’s truly been. We don’t tend to see play as an ‘adult pastime’. However, play, an activity which makes you lose track of time, ignite with creativity, or consider a fresh perspective, can fuel innovation, reduce stress, and enhance problem-solving skills. In the fast-paced world of work, making time for conscious play could be the key to unlocking your professional growth.

1.     How Does Play Link to Productivity?

Play is often perceived as nothing but a vessel for fun. Something that is of no serious use to productivity or innovation. This is simply not true. Play is essential for brain growth and maintenance. It stimulates the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for creativity, problem-solving, and emotional regulation. That being the case, Conscious professionals who engage in play often tend to be able to think with greater flexibility, act with better adaptability, and consider perspectives other than their own, than those who don’t play all that much.

2.     Play for Innovation

Having a brain that is used to play makes it more practised at knocking around new ideas and improves your confidence in taking risks. Indeed, play-like processes are often used in business settings, and you may not even be conscious of them. Brainstorming, creating strategy, troubleshooting and branding are all examples of playful business practice. Play outside of work can help to equip you better to engage with these processes. Brainstorming can be improved through improvisation, for example. Design and an eye for what engages customers can be bolstered through creative activities. Gaming is excellent for growing the strategic capabilities of the brain. When you’re not afraid to experiment and take risks in a playful environment, you’re more likely to carry that energy into your work.

3.     Play for Stress Reduction

Stress and burnout are something pretty much everyone comes up against these days. They are significant roadblocks to productivity. Play acts as a natural stress reliever. Of course, it does. A relaxed and endorphin filled you is a more useful you. So, make sure you really to play as hard as you work.

4.     Play at Work

Encouraging play at work isn’t as mad as it sounds. I’m not promoting soft-play areas in break rooms (although, I’m sure it’s been done). Simple changes like gamifying tasks or allowing space for creative breaks can make a huge difference. Conscious businesses are getting much better at recognising the value of play and actively encouraging conscious playful thinking to boost innovation.

5.     Make Play Part of Your Everyday

The key to benefiting from play, as with anything, is consistency. Little and often. Your brain will only learn to think and act more playfully through the maintenance of that cognitive skillset. I’d say, as far as new habits go, finding time to play isn’t the hardest habit to get into. It is perhaps one of the easiest and most pleasurable ways to grow your professional skill set.

So, make time for a creative hobby. Join a football team. Heck, schedule an hour of PlayStation time every week! Make play a regular part of your routine. The more you play, the more adaptable, innovative, and resilient you become in your work life.

By Chris Thomson

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 3 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post Fuelling Professional Growth Through Play appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

As a writer, I have always worked from wherever my laptop is. This, as we know, is becoming more and more common. In the early days, I would work from home. I loved having my home comforts near me, being able to type in my pyjamas and actually cook lunch instead of grabbing yet another egg and cress sandwich (still a fan, just not every day, please!).

However, as the months pressed on, pandemics happened, children came along and I was out in the world less, and less, and less… the shine of working from my living room wore off. The flat was getting cluttered and messy, and so I was becoming increasingly distracted. My PlayStation session at lunchtime sometimes drifted from half an hour to three hours. Being in my old shorts and baggy T-shirts all day didn’t make me feel good.

What was clear was that I needed to get dressed and get out in the world. Better job satisfaction and productivity depended on me separating my home space from my workspace as often as possible. And so, today, I spend the majority of my time working from home, away from my home.

So, if you recognise this scenario and are struggling with where to work, or if you are simply looking for some fresh options, this might be a handy post for you.

1.     Workspaces

As I write I am sitting in a workspace. These take many forms and come with varying benefits and price points. This one is at the back of a bar/bistro in South London. They have a dedicated workspace at the back of the building, and allow you to drink endless coffee, eat one of their delicious lunch options and use their super-speedy Wi-Fi for £15 a day. This is a treat for me, but it is well worth it. There are no other distractions here (other than the internet) to divert me from work, and it is quite simply a calmer, more inspiring place to be than my dining room table. It also helps to be surrounded by other people who are also focusing on their workday.

Workspaces can be found all over the place, and I encourage you to look up your nearest one. They really do elevate your focus, resilience and your happiness during a workday. There is also something about having paid to be here that makes me want to get my money’s worth (how British of me).

2.     Libraries

For a free workspace, you might want to consider your local library. Libraries, as a community resource, I think are insanely underrated. I work from mine on a regular basis, and, although not as fancy as my chosen workspace, and less the catering, it serves as a quiet, clean and focused space.

3.     Café’s

I often start the day in a café. Just like the previous two, it really helps one to feel like you are part of the wider world. That sense of connection certainly helps lift my mood and sense of purpose. Each day spent in a public place makes me feel so much more resilient against what life slings at you.

I like cafés when I am doing particularly creative work as they are less formal than libraries and workspaces. More bustling and energetic. Some days, this just suits my mood and my creative requirements better.

4.     Galleries

For inspiration, these are the places. I am lucky enough to be a mere handful of miles away from central London. The National Gallery is, on a good day, a forty-minute bus ride, door-to-door. If you are writing a piece of non-fiction, there is no better place to explore your ideas than when sitting next to a depiction of an epic battle in oils.

5.     Parks

When the weather is nice, I have a favourite bench. It is by the duck lake in my local park. It is sheltered by trees but lets in dappled sunlight. I sit in the secluded spot with a coffee and write as the ducks quack in the distance. Sure, there is no internet, but sometimes that’s just fine. The beauty of not being tied to a place of work is that you can ditch the idea of a building altogether.

By Chris Thomson

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 3 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post Where to Work When Working from Home appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

Thankfully, in recent years, companies have consciously invested in the happiness of the people who work for them. That’s not to say that many businesses don’t have a long way to go in this regard, but conscious businesses are on the rise for sure.

Why are they doing this? What is the reason for this trend? In many cases, one would hope, it is human decency. Perhaps companies are simply starting to care about the workplace wellbeing of their employees. Who knows. It is also because employees having purpose at work is simply good for business. It makes companies more productive, more profitable, and frankly, nicer places to work.

Let’s expand on why having a sense of purpose, beyond financial gain, at work is crucial.

1.     Motivation

Employees who like working for a business are simply more motivated. If they like their work, like their co-workers, and feel that their values align with the people they are working for, they are likely to work harder for them. They want the business to succeed.

2.     Engagement

If employees are meaningfully engaged with the values and the goals of the company they are working for, they will not only do the job that they are assigned to, but they will often bring their best energy and ideas, and actually add value that is unique to them.

3.     Low Employee Turnover

People who like the job stay in the job for longer. High employee turnover drains resources from your business, wastes productive time on training that could be used for other things, and creates instability in the general ecosystem of the daily running of the business. Ideally, you want people to stay. Also, having a reputation for low employee turnover, and therefore a reputation as somewhere that people want to work, will attract talent. The best people want to work for the best companies that hold their wellbeing as important and will appreciate their skills and experience.

4.     Resilience

When employees feel stable in their work, and feel accomplished, appreciated and clear in their career direction, they are much more able to sustain themselves through rocky patches, both at work and in their own lives. This has a positive impact on their mental health and their ability to bring their best into the workplace, even in comparatively turbulent times.

5.     Loyalty

No matter where an employee is on the ladder of your business, loyalty is useful. You want people working for you who will defend your brand, work to uphold and grow your business, and stick around when sticky periods arise (as they do in every business).

6.     Flexibility

Purpose can be found when the other parts of someone’s life feel looked after. If you, as a conscious employer, can be flexible to the other needs of the people who work for you (family emergencies, working around children, holidays, sickness, etc.), they will be flexible and go the extra mile for you in times of need. I, for example, am very grateful to my employer when I need to extend a deadline or go and pick one of my kids up because they are sick. In return, I am always happy to pay that kindness back by squeezing in an emergency, time-sensitive project, or working the occasional weekend if needs be.

7.     Positive Image

If people associate happy employees with your company out in the world, it simply makes you look good. The people who work for your company will walk about in the world, and have only good things to say about you, and that can only be a positive thing.

By Chris Thomson

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 3 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post Why Purpose is Important at Work appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

Even dream jobs come with lows. Your job may be packed full of highs most of the time, but we, as humans, will always find something to gripe about on occasion. This is perfectly normal, I think. However, if you start to find your grievance outweighing your gladness, you may start to believe that something is amiss.

Sure, sometimes this ill feeling toward your job is temporary, or maybe even an overreaction. That said, it is very easy to bury one’s head in the sand or to convince one’s-self that everything is actually fine, when, quite plainly, it is not. There are many ways of judging when it might be time to get out of there, as opposed to soldering on or trying to fix the working situation you are in. So, pursue this article and ask yourself; is it time for you to change career?

1.     What is Your Body Saying?

Do your limbs ache? Are you getting headaches? Is your resilience nowhere to be found? Does getting up in the morning for work fill you with dread of a tight chest? Do you get the ‘Sunday-Night-Fear’ at the end of every single week?

Essentially, is your body in a constant state of tension, pain or distress as a direct consequence of the job you are in? If so, you can’t sustain a life feeling like that. It might be time for a big change.

2.     How is Your Confidence?

Perhaps your job is impacting your confidence. Maybe you are doubting your ability to do the job to its fullest quality. If you are walking about in the world feeling miles away from who you really are, or if you are missing the ‘old-you’, or if your lack of confidence is seeping into other areas of your life, a new career might be a positive move.

3.     Money is Your Sole Motivation

We spend most of our lives working. We need money, of course, but if that is all you are getting from your career, it simply isn’t worth it. You cannot be resilient through life doing a job that you don’t get anything from other than financial gain. If you don’t like the industry, the people, the specific job, your role, the culture… any of those things, then move on!

4.     Passionless Passions

If you are finding that you don’t even have fun during your leisure time, that your job is so personally destructive that you can’t leave it behind in your own time, then that is a problem. Maybe you aren’t even bothering to try and engage with your hobbies and passions. Big red flag!

5.     Jealousy

Do you look at the jobs and the lives of friends and relatives and wish you had what they had? Does comparing your career to the careers of those on your social media feeds make you feel incredibly jealous? Then this might be a sign. That said, comparison is the root of self-doubt, and should never be indulged for too long. That is not to say it might not be a signpost that you need to make a career change.

6.     You Aren’t Who You Used to Be

As touched on earlier, you may just not be feeling like yourself. I have had times in my life where I have felt very down, and that the person who has achieved so many amazing things in the past, doesn’t seem to be in me anymore. I can’t fathom how a person who felt like I did could ever have been capable of those successes and the vibrancy and hope I used to have. I knew, in these times, that a big change was needed. Do you feel that way?

By Chris Thomson

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 3 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post It is Time to Change Career? appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

Negotiation is a part of business. Indeed, it is a part of life. When anything involves more than one person, inevitably there must be some level of debate, case making and compromise. Whether it’s about what movie to watch or how to close on a multi-million-pound deal for your company… negotiation exists.

Now, the stakes for what movie to watch with your pal, in general, are not especially high. But, in the workplace, artful negotiation, or not, can make a huge difference to many people. Negotiating well is very much a skill that requires practice. It is still true that many companies and professionals go to aggression as their main tool, but this needn’t be the case. Indeed, if professionals practice (as is becoming more the case) mindful, constructive, and connecting forms of negotiation, agreements often come to the fore with both sides feeling respected and catered for.

There are many views on how to negotiate. However, we believe that these five pillars are a good way to begin approaching your negotiations in a more mindful way.

1.     Clarity in Speech

It is critical to be clear and economical. Come to a negotiation knowing exactly what you want to achieve, what compromise you will tolerate, and what you will not. This will set you up to be crystal clear with the other side. Lack of preparation or hot-headedness can lead to waffling. Being unclear in your intent also leads negotiations down paths that neither side is really happy with.

So, be clear. Be concise. Don’t add irrelevant detail. Stay on track. This way, the parameters are clear, and the conclusion is more likely to be close to what you want.

2.     Active Listening

Don’t sit there ‘listening’ to the other side, when really you are just waiting for your turn. It’s easy to get bogged down in your own needs. However, if you are not present and sensitive to the argument of the other side, they are much less likely to steer in your direction. Listen. Properly. Try and genuinely see things from their angle. If there is this kind of appreciation on both sides, and goodwill to go along with it, it is much more likely that all involved will be on board with pleasing all parties.

3.     Constructive Questions

This ties into the clarity and economy point above. Do your best not to ask empty or irrelevant questions. Or, indeed, any question that doesn’t point to you end goal. In a negotiation, be mindful that all parties want to get to the end with a good result, so ensure that your questions move the argument forward and do not go back over old ground. Not only does this muddy the waters… but nobody wants a negotiation to go on longer than it needs to. Grumpy professionals make grumpy negotiators!

4.     Positive Body Language

There have been many studies about how humans communicate. Most of them agree that physical communication (so, body language) accounts for about 55% of human communication. So, you can communicate with the right words all you like (incidentally, verbal communication accounts for around 7%), but if your physical attitude doesn’t fit, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. Physically engage. Show positivity and respect in the way that you move and present yourself. It all plays into a positive outcome.

5.     The Inclusion of Metatalk

In case you are unsure, metatalk essentially refers to communications about the way in which you wish to communicate. It is really useful to lay out the ground rules and to agree a system of communication and mutual respect when entering a negotiation.

By Chris Thomson

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 3 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post The 5 Pillars of Negotiation appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

One would hope that somebody will notice if you work in a company surrounded by other people and are having a rough day. One of the signs of a company that does not value worker wellbeing or resilience is the feeling that you are all alone when you are not feeling at your best.

The most mindful of companies, led by conscious leadership, create a culture of support, connection, kindness, and shared responsibility (for both the work and the wellbeing of all who work within it). That being said, it is also our duty as individuals, whether you are part of a workforce like this or not, to look out for those that we spend most of our days with. After all, we wouldn’t want to feel totally alone in a room full of colleagues, would we?

Here are a few thoughts on how to help create a supportive environment, wherever it is that you spend your working hours…

1.     Stay Consciously Connected

Staying connected sounds obvious. You need to connect with colleagues to collaborate on tasks and projects, so connection goes without saying, right? Well, maybe not. Yes, you will talk about work stuff with others, but make sure you also take the time to understand how they are feeling and about what is going on with their lives. Also, try not to be someone who judges any of this, just let people be people, with their joys, struggles and opinions without it necessarily impacting how they function at work. All of this is especially important if, as my wife does, you work from home and only speak to colleagues via video call. Make sure you check in about life stuff as well as work stuff.

2.     Signs of Struggle

Try to be observant about colleagues. Get to know them properly. This doesn’t mean that you have to be the best of friends, but it does mean keeping your eyes open to the tendencies and systems of the other people you work with. Not only does this make it easier to understand who is good at what, and how to assign people to tasks (if task assigning is something that you do), but it also helps you to know if something is off. Observation will help you to see signs of struggle. 

3.     Reach Out

Reaching out and asking if somebody is OK is not that big a deal. Don’t be afraid of being judged for overreacting. Often, people who are not doing great find it hard to ask for help, or to even realize that they are struggling. Be the person to open up that conversation and try not to hesitate… because the longer somebody stays in a state of strain, the worse it gets.

4.     Be Open to Help Requests

When you are checking in on someone, understand that you may need to take action for them. You will likely ask if there is anything you can do to help… so mean it. Being a friend and support to someone is easy when it is convenient. In order to look after the wellbeing and resilience of colleagues, be prepared to be inconvenienced for the greater good.

5.     Ask for Help Yourself

Be an example. If you are having a bad day, ask for help. Show your colleagues that asking for assistance is OK, and in doing so, go against the stigma of weakness that such an action apparently implies. You are no good to anyone if you are not well. Conscious companies understand that success is a team effort, and sometimes that means holding others up when they are unable to do so entirely by themselves.

By Chris Thomson

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post Workplace Wellbeing: Looking Out for Colleagues appeared first on The Conscious Professional.

Getting to the top of any business or organisation, whether that means climbing some kind of ladder and rising through the ranks, or whether that means building the whole thing yourself from the ground up, is a big journey. A journey that will have required a great deal of learning, listening, and finding solutions to problems.

However, once up there, in control and at the top, there can be a tendency to stop. What I mean by this is that it is easy to think that once all the hard work required to get to where you are has been done, learning, listening and solving is something you no longer have to do. However, just because one is at the top of their game, it does not mean the journey is over. Industries grow and evolve. The people that work for you have a power all of their own. And employees are led by example. If you want to keep up with what is going on in your world, and for the people that work for you to be encouraged to keep acquiring new knowledge and skills, be conscious that you, yourself, must never stop learning new things and looking at issues from different angles.

1.     Walk the Walk

If you want to be in charge of an organisation that is always striving for new ideas, better solutions, and real-world relevance, then the best way to start is to show a personal appetite for knowledge and learning yourself. Organise workshops, lectures, outings and opportunities for your teams, and when those things come to pass, turn up and get involved. Not only does this say to your employees that you are prepared to learn as you expect them to do, but it also helps to keep you grounded and conscious of the direction your workforce is going on all levels. 

2.     Keeping Connected to the Industry

Every industry moves, grows, and changes. To ensure your company’s relevance and resilience, it will have to change its practices over time, and it will have to learn how to remain competitive in the world as it is at any one time. You, yourself, must learn in order to steer the ship in the right direction. If you don’t know where you are supposed to be going, then surely nobody else will!

3.     Keeping Connected to Employees

Any conscious business owner knows that bringing in new, young blood, with relative abandon, fresh energy and likelihood to take bold risks is good for a company. These young people will bring real-world knowledge and may know plenty about the evolving nature of your industry in a way that you might not. While helping them to obtain experience, be sure to try and learn from them also. If they are worth employing then you will have employed them because they have an ability to add value. Connect with them. Learn from them. Cash in on that ‘value’ to help your own vision and relevance. 

4.     It Keeps You Listening

Having a learning habit helps you in ways beyond the mere accumulation of new information. To learn is to have listening skills, analytical skills, and the ability not to stay stuck in one place for too long. It helps you to be comfortable with uncomfortable changes. It keeps you open to new ideas and makes you better at risk-assessing the implementation of them. It might, that being said, also make you more able to make riskier choices. Learning from others in your company will also make you more able to understand them, how they work, and what they need to function purposefully and happily. The skill of ‘learning’ is one that you should keep fresh for all of these reasons.

By Chris Thomson

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here are 4 ways we can support your personal and professional Conscious Goals:

1. Learn To Meditate With Neil In Just 10 Days!

Zen in Ten, our flagship online course, is a ten-day mindfulness challenge for people who need to slow down.

2. Work With Neil One-To-One

See if a Coaching Partnership or Professional Wellbeing Appointment is right for you. Book a 15-minute discovery call with Neil Seligman here.

3. Bring The Conscious Professional To Your Business

See if The Conscious Professional training and coaching programmes are right for your team or workplace. Book a call here.

The Conscious Professional is dedicated to delivering inspiring corporate mindfulness and professional resilience training, conscious leadership coaching and workplace wellbeing services at the level of professional excellence. Thank you for following our blog.

The post Conscious Leadership: Why CEOs Should Always Be Learning appeared first on The Conscious Professional.