TIP 65
TAKE A POWER NAP
Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.
If you already meditate, good for you! I am certainly not an expert on meditation and am not even sure that what I do is technically meditation, but it works for me. If you feel that you don’t have time to meditate and are certain that when you do meditate, it isn’t working, here’s what I do. Call it “beginning meditation for the superstressed.”
I lie down on the sofa with my head on a pillow and a throw on my feet if it is chilly. I put a tiny malachite pyramid on my third eye—that’s the part of your forehead above your nose. (My sister gave me this little stone and said it would bring me financial success, so I figured I would try it. So far it has been working.) Meditation for money would probably have the Buddhists turning over in their graves, but I figure you have to start somewhere. Sometimes, I’ll put on relaxing music; the sound of waves crashing on the beach is very calming. I close my eyes, and I don’t do anything. I usually don’t fall asleep, but if you do, that is okay. Your body obviously needs the rest. I imagine opening my mind to receive any messages from the universe. All sorts of thoughts go popping into my head, most of them pretty mundane, like a comment my client made or what I should cook for dinner. I keep a pad and pen handy to jot down the more interesting things that come into my head. This way I can forget about them because they are on paper. Whatever happens, I don’t worry. I just lie there until I feel like getting up.
While I haven’t received any messages from a deep, godlike voice, I do occasionally get a strong sense that I need to do something. I consider such messages my marching orders. I felt this way about making my first audio program, Irresistible Attraction: A Way of Life (see Appendix D). Even though it didn’t make good financial sense at the time and despite rational protests from my loved ones, I went ahead and did it. Now these same loved ones are glad I did. The point here is to take the time to meditate, relax, and do nothing. Do it in any form that works for you, but do it. Who knows what messages you’ll end up receiving?
My client Elaine has a different method of sitting and thinking. She is a production manager at a large oil company and is in charge of a team of 20 people. When she feels overwhelmed and stressed, she plays solitaire on the computer. Although an outside observer might say she is goldbricking, this mind-freeing and relaxing task enables her to tackle her work with fresh ideas and renewed energy. These 15 or 20 minutes help her to relax and refocus instead of getting into a dither. In addition to being a calming influence, it frees her mind to come up with creative solutions to the problems she is facing at work. You may think this sounds silly, but the top consulting firms are now sending their employees to “think tanks” while they are at work. These elaborate-sounding “think tanks” are nothing more than quiet, dark rooms with a place to lie down and take a power nap. If companies just gave their employees a little latitude to come up with creative solutions, they would no doubt spare themselves thousands of dollars to pay for outside consultants’ bright ideas.
Find time to just sit and think. Work in a daily power nap and make some space for creative thought to flourish. It’s okay to be creative as to how you do this—just make sure you don’t jeopardize your job!