023 – 6 Reasons Why Meditating Leads to Better Customer Service

Summary: 6 Reasons Why Meditating Leads to Better Customer Service Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net "Meditation is not to avoid society; it is to look deep to have the kind of insight you need to take action.  To think that it is just to sit down and enjoy the calm and peace, is wrong." --Naht Hahn Recently, I have been reading a book by Arianna Huffington, sent to me and recommended by Dan Miller of 48Days.com.  It’s called Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder.  I read it only because Dan sent it to me and saw something in it he felt was important.  I have never really ever considered meditation in my own life, although I must say that prayer and quiet time with God is a form of meditation.  So, as I read the book I just knew how these principles when applied could improve us in our lives and customer service occupations.  So, with the help of the book Thrive and Deepak Chopra, M.D, I’d like to share with you: 6 Reasons Why Meditating Leads to Better Customer Service 1. Reduces Stress – In an earlier episode, I shared with you how stress can be damaging and reduced stress can lead to an improved performance.  So as I’ve mentioned chronic, unmanaged stress can literally make you sick.  It can contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease, stomach ulcers, autoimmune diseases, anxiety, cancer, insomnia, chronic fatigue, obesity, and depression. Wow!  Well, with meditation your body can release this stress and begin to reverse the effects of these medical conditions.  Our bodies need time to rest and recover.  Meditation allows for this process to occur quicker than just getting a good night’s rest. 2. Harmonizes Relationships – Meditation helps one to become more balanced and centered.  It draws you into a state of calmness.  When you’re feeling balanced and centered, it is much easier to respond rather than react to a person or situation.  This also helps you to be more present with a customer, client, or co-worker.  This balance and center gives you a better ability to really listen to what they are saying and what their needs might be.  As you meditate on a regular basis, you develop what is known as “witnessing awareness” – the ability to calmly and objectively observe a situation, notice when you are being triggered, and consciously choose how you want to respond.  This ability of being present and increased awareness is very valuable and can be utilized with great benefit in the workplace.  But not just in the workplace, it has benefits in all areas of your life. 3. Improves Focus and Concentration – There are many people who believe that they perform at their best when they are multitasking.  The truth and studies now show that multitasking can make you dumber.  Not trying to be controversial here but literally dumber.  As we attempt to do more than one thing at a time we end up not being able to do anything very good.  If I am writing this blog and talking to my wife at the same time, I’m not doing either very well.  We can only completely focus on one thing at a time.  Meditation helps us to train our brain to stay focused on the task at hand rather than letting our attention be pulled away by every passing thought and distraction. This one-pointed attention makes us more productive and less stressed.  I completely get this last point, I call it people watching, but I am easily distracted and could greatly benefit from more focus.  Besides, the bird singing made me miss that putt! 4. Enhances Your Creativity – Studies show that we have an amazing number of thoughts per day.  We have between 60,000 and 80,000 thoughts a day!  Wow, we must all be geniuses right?  Nope – unfortunately many of them are the same thoughts we had yesterday, last week, and last year.  It’s like the movie Ground Hog Day in our minds.  The mind tends to get stuck in repetitive thought loops that squeeze out the possibility for new ideas and inspiration.