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5 Reasons Why Not Meditating Is Hindering Your Success

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The biggest problem with meditation is that you can have the best intentions, but it just doesn’t get done. Most people’s minds are going at a hectic pace, and they honestly don’t believe meditation will work for them. Another problem is that after meditating for a few weeks, it might not seem like it’s made any difference at all and so you quit. Meditation works. The fact that you’re not meditating is stealing success that could be flowing into your life.

Here are five reasons why not having a meditation practice is holding you back from more successes:

1. You’re Spending Too Much Time Getting Caught Up In Your Feelings and Emotions

Meditation helps emotions move through you rather than becoming trapped. Many people don’t know how to deal with their feelings effectively, and as a result, their emotions often control them. Negative emotions can seem to generate even more negativity until the effect is like a spiral heading toward depression. The practice of meditation helps you notice and identify your emotions, accept them, and then choose how you want to deal with them.

“Meditation is a way for nourishing and blossoming the divine within you.” – Amit Ray

2. You’re Not As Focused As You’d Like To Be

People who don’t meditate are less focused and less centered than those who do. Meditation increases your ability to hone in specifically on one task and create the best possible outcome. If you need to multitask (and we all do at times), meditation vastly improves your ability to perform more than one task at a time.

Do you ever deliver presentations or speeches? Meditators are much better at thinking on their feet and in front of groups. People who meditate develop a demeanor which helps them stay calm at any given time.

3. You Feel Stressed Out Too Much Of The Time

Reports state that people think as many as eighty thousand thoughts a day. Many of these thoughts are the same, repeated hundreds of times an hour. Meditation offers your brain a much-needed rest from the hectic pace of processing this massive mix-up of thoughts. Stress itself is not necessarily a bad thing.

We all experience stress at times, but the important aspect of stress is how we deal with it. Meditation helps us maintain a sense of calmness so that a situation which would have been an eight on your personal stress meter moves down to a 2 or no stress.

4. Your Breathing is Consistently Shallow

Meditation places attention on the breath resulting in deeper, fuller breathing. Focusing on the breath during meditation helps you become more centered and grounded. A person who is more centered, experiences a sense of contentment, a feeling of being in control and a level of confidence that tells them that everything is going to be fine. Increasing the amount of deep breathing you do is one of the most effective ways to improve overall body health.

5. You Are Frequently Fighting Colds, Flu, and Rashes

The immune system requires the body and mind to experience periods of rest in order to stay strong. You know it’s important to get enough sleep, but the brain requires a different kind of rest. I’m talking about the kind of rest which will result from a daily meditation practice. In most people, the left frontal area of the brain controls the immune system, and when you meditate, electrical activity increases in this region.

A study at the University of Wisconsin evaluated volunteer subjects who meditated by measuring antibodies in the blood that fight infections. After only two months of meditating, participants had significantly higher levels of infection-fighting antibodies in their blood.

“Silence is not an absence but a presence.” – Anne D. LeClaire

Decide to add meditation to your daily routine. Make an assertive decision to stick to it and be determined to keep the practice going for six months no matter what your negative self-talk says to you. From my experience, your inner voice will tell you that your brain is too busy for meditation or you don’t have time in your busy schedule, ignore those messages. Maintain your meditation practice, and in six months time, the benefits will make you want to keep going.

Start with only two minutes of meditation. Sit comfortably with your back straight and focus on your breath. Close your eyes if you want to reduce the visual interference. Do this every morning just after you wake up and gradually increase the time to five, ten, and then fifteen minutes. I find that twenty minutes a day works well for me.

Decide right now to allow your missing successes to flow into your life by starting a daily meditation practice.  

Do you practice meditation? If so, what has been the most rewarding part so far?

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

Bruce Langford is a mindfulness consultant, meditation teacher, and anti-bullying advocate. He is also host of the Mindfulness Mode podcast. Bruce envisions mindfulness as an integral part of mainstream culture. www.brucelangford.ca Find Bruce on IG @brucelangford

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Success Advice

Why One-Size-Fits-All Leadership Will Always Fail (and What Works Instead)

The surprising truth about leadership styles that can make or break your team’s success.

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Why one-size-fits-all leadership doesn’t work
Image Credit: Midjourney

Leadership has always been as much about people as it is about performance. Ken Blanchard, in his influential book, “The One Minute Manager”, put it simply: different strokes for different folks. (more…)

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Success Advice

What Every New CEO Must Do in Their First 100 Days (or Risk Failure)

Your first 100 days as CEO could define your entire legacy, here’s how to make every move count

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leadership tips for new CEO
Image Credit: Midjourney

When Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs at Apple, the world watched with bated breath. Jobs wasn’t just a CEO; he was a visionary, an icon, and a legend of innovative leadership. (more…)

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Entrepreneurs

The Leadership Shift Every Company Needs in 2025

Struggling to keep your team engaged? Here’s how leaders can turn frustrated employees into loyal advocates.

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Bridging the gap between employees and employers
Image Credit: Midjourney

In workplaces around the world, there’s a growing gap between employers and employees and between superiors and their teams. It’s a common refrain: “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses.”

While there are, of course, cases where management could do better, this isn’t just a “bad boss” problem. The relationship between leaders and employees is complex. Instead of assigning blame, we should explore practical solutions to build stronger, healthier workplaces where everyone thrives.

Why This Gap Exists

Every workplace needs someone to guide, supervise, and provide feedback. That’s essential for productivity and performance. But because there are usually far more employees than managers, dissatisfaction, fair or not, spreads quickly.

What if, instead of focusing on blame, we focused on building trust, empathy, and communication? This is where modern leadership and human-centered management can make a difference.

Tools and Techniques to Bridge the Gap

Here are proven strategies leaders and employees can use to foster stronger relationships and create a workplace where people actually want to stay.

1. Practice Mutual Empathy

Both managers and employees need to recognize they are ultimately on the same team. Leaders have to balance people and performance, and often face intense pressure to hit targets. Employees who understand this reality are more likely to cooperate and problem-solve collaboratively.

2. Maintain Professional Boundaries

Superiors should separate personal issues from professional decision-making. Consistency, fairness, and integrity build trust, and trust is the foundation of a motivated team.

3. Follow the Golden Rule

Treat people how you would like to be treated. This simple principle encourages compassion and respect, two qualities every effective leader must demonstrate.

4. Avoid Micromanagement

Micromanaging stifles creativity and damages morale. Great leaders see themselves as partners, not just bosses, and treat their teams as collaborators working toward a shared goal.

5. Empower Employees to Grow

Empowerment means giving employees responsibility that matches their capacity, and then trusting them to deliver. Encourage them to take calculated risks, learn from mistakes, and problem-solve independently. If something goes wrong, turn it into a learning opportunity, not a reprimand.

6. Communicate in All Directions

Communication shouldn’t just be top-down. Invite feedback, create open channels for suggestions, and genuinely listen to what your people have to say. Healthy upward communication closes gaps before they become conflicts.

7. Overcome Insecurities

Many leaders secretly fear being outshone by younger, more tech-savvy employees. Instead of resisting, embrace the chance to learn from them. Humility earns respect and helps the team innovate faster.

8. Invest in Coaching and Mentorship

True leaders grow other leaders. Provide mentorship, career guidance, and stretch opportunities so employees can develop new skills. Leadership is learned through experience, but guided experience is even more powerful.

9. Eliminate Favoritism

Avoid cliques and office politics. Decisions should be based on facts and fairness, not gossip. Objective, transparent decision-making builds credibility.

10. Recognize Efforts Promptly

Recognition often matters more than rewards. Publicly appreciate employees’ contributions and do so consistently and fairly. A timely “thank you” can be more motivating than a quarterly bonus.

11. Conduct Thoughtful Exit Interviews

When employees leave, treat it as an opportunity to learn. Keep interviews confidential and use the insights to improve management practices and culture.

12. Provide Leadership Development

Train managers to lead, not just supervise. Leadership development programs help shift mindsets from “command and control” to “coach and empower.” This transformation has a direct impact on morale and retention.

13. Adopt Soft Leadership Principles

Today’s workforce, largely millennials and Gen Z, value collaboration over hierarchy. Soft leadership focuses on partnership, mutual respect, and shared purpose, rather than rigid top-down control.

The Bigger Picture: HR’s Role

Mercer’s global research highlights five key priorities for organizations:

  • Build diverse talent pipelines

  • Embrace flexible work models

  • Design compelling career paths

  • Simplify HR processes

  • Redefine the value HR brings

The challenge? Employers and employees often view these priorities differently. Bridging that perception gap is just as important as bridging the relational gap between leaders and staff.

Treat Employees Like Associates, Not Just Staff

When you treat employees like partners, they bring their best selves to work. HR leaders must develop strategies to keep talent engaged, empowered, and prepared for the future.

Organizational success starts with people, always. Build the relationship with your team first, and the results will follow.

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Entrepreneurs

What Makes an Entrepreneurial Leader? Traits of the World’s Best Innovators

Inside the mindset of entrepreneurial leaders who transform risk, passion, and vision into world-changing results.

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entrepreneurial leadership skills and traits
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When you think of Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), and Ted Turner (CNN), one thing becomes clear: they are not just entrepreneurs, they are entrepreneurial leaders. (more…)

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