Happy Sunday Friend !

Imagine this.

In a few minutes, you have an important meeting.

Perhaps with a potential client. A business partner. A collaborator, or simply someone with whom you need to have an important conversation.

You're sitting in front of your computer, ready to click the Zoom link, or perhaps you're in your car, a few minutes before walking into a coffee shop or office.

And already, your mind is busy.

Will they like my proposal? Will I find the right words? Will they say yes?

Will this meeting lead somewhere?

We haven't even entered the room yet, and we're already trying to control how we will leave it ! 

Let's try something completely different. :-)

Today's lesson from A Course in Miracles begins: 'God is the only goal I have today.'

At first, those words may sound as though they belong in meditation, prayer or our spiritual life. Not necessarily in our next business meeting. Right?

Well, if our spirituality is truly the foundation of our lives, why would we leave it outside the meeting-room door?

That doesn't mean talking about God to a client. It means changing what we choose to see when we look at the person in front of us.

Behind the client, prospect, supplier, decision-maker or business contact is first and foremost a human being.

Someone who, like you and me, is trying to find their way in this world. Someone hoping to do meaningful work, with dreams we know nothing about, worries we cannot see. People they love. Perhaps wounds they carry quietly.

And someone who, again, just like us, wants to be seen, heard and respected.

So just before entering the room, we might quietly think:

Namasté. The love in me honors the love in you.

No one needs to hear us say it. No one even needs to know we thought it.

But we know. And something has already changed.

Our landmarks keep moving

Our minds become unstable when our perceptions are based on things that constantly change. And look at some of the landmarks we sometimes use to determine whether everything is going well:

-The expression on someone's face.

-Their response.

-The contract.

-The number.

-The email that arrives… or doesn't.

-The yes.

-The no.

We keep trying to navigate by moving landmarks. No wonder we sometimes lose our bearings!

Someone approves of us today, and we feel reassured. Someone says no tomorrow, and suddenly we question ourselves.

But..if our point of reference became something that doesn't change?

Love.

Then a yes can simply be a yes. And a no can simply be a no.

Neither one has to determine our worth.

5 minutes can change a meeting

Before our next one, instead of spending those final five minutes anticipating the outcome, let's try something different.

Breathe.

Come back to our center.

And remind ourself:

'I am not entering this meeting to prove who I am.'

'I do not need its outcome to determine my worth.'

Then think about the person we are about to meet and quietly say:

Namasté. The love in me honors the love in you.

And ask ourself:

'How can I serve the Greater Good in this meeting?'

Next ? Walk into the room ! Listen. Be present. Do your work.

The proposal may still be declined. The contract may not be signed.

But perhaps we've listen more deeply and tried less to impress, asked better questions. Heard what the person actually needs instead of waiting for an opportunity to present our solution.

Because people can feel the difference between someone who is primarily trying to get something from them, and someone who is genuinely trying to meet them.

Spirituality doesn't begin when work ends

We don't have one self who meditates in the morning and another self who walks into a meeting at 10 a.m.

We bring into that room the mind we cultivated before entering it.

And that is why those five minutes can change much more than five minutes.

When our perception changes, the way we listen and speak, our presence changes. And perhaps what becomes possible between two people changes too.

So those words take on a very different meaning for me:

'God (which is Love) is the only goal I have today.'

They aren't asking us to withdraw from the world.

They are inviting us to enter the world differently.

Yes, we can want the contract, have goals, want our businesses to succeed.

But, surely, we can have goals without handing them our identity.

🕊️ The Little Flight

This week, choose one meeting. 

A Zoom call, business meeting, coffee with someone or an important conversation.

5 minutes before it begins, breathe deeply. Think about the person you're about to meet. Place your hand over your heart and then quietly say:

Namasté. The love in me honors the love in you.

And ask: 'How can I serve the Greater Good in this meeting?'

Then enter the room. Listen. Be present. Do your work. And allow the meeting to show you what becomes possible when your first intention isn't simply to get, but to be fully present.

With all my gratitude,

Namasté 🙏

Janice 

P.S. We spend a lot of time preparing what we're going to say before a meeting. This week, let's also prepare who we want to be when we walk into the room.

P.S.S. The illustration was created with AI which has more graphic design talents than I with absolutely no doubts! :-)

📚 READ

The Go-Giver ( Bob Burg & John David Mann )

A simple business parable with a powerful shift at its heart: moving our attention from what we hope to get to what we can give and contribute. A beautiful companion to this week's practice of entering a meeting not only with an objective, but with an intention to serve.

https://amzn.to/4h6rgtk

🎥 WATCH

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood ( with Tom Hanks )

Inspired by the relationship between journalist Lloyd Vogel and Fred Rogers, this film reminds us of the extraordinary power of genuine presence, listening, looking beyond someone's role or outward appearance, and allowing another person to feel truly seen. Sometimes our presence is already a form of service.

https://amzn.to/4AciUZQ

🎧 LISTEN

Give a Little Bit (Super Tramp)

A joyful reminder to give a little of ourselves — our attention, kindness and love. A perfect soundtrack for this week's Little Flight: enter the meeting thinking not only about what you hope to receive, but what you can bring.

https://youtu.be/yzuX-gm67GM