First Step Marketing

When our life is supremely concentrated in the present, there is no need to worry about what has been, or be fearful about what may be. For the right response will come to us for every situation as it occurs. That is our real freedom; the ability to enjoy the choices we make in every successive moment of the present.

Very few people are able to live in the present moment of their lives. Whether in relationships or business, they allow their lives to be directed by past or future influences. Most choices are made under the rational mind that prompts, ‘bearing in mind the circumstances, this is the most appropriate decision.’ By letting go of all influences we are able to feel intuitively which direction we want to take, regardless of the circumstances.

With the focus of attention on results, the influence over process becomes weak. Systems break down and energy is then directed towards damage limitation through defence and blame.

In the early days of a business, the focus is clearly on the strengths that participants are able to bring to it. When these strengths are channelled into the daily process of what is best for growth, benefits in the form of increased productivity naturally result. This is similar to water in a river. Through its flow of focus and energy, it persistently seeks the path of least resistance rather than the shortest route. Consistently increasing in strength and substance, it always reaches its objective, the ocean, which, in turn, replenishes the river’s source.

Once a business has matured, however, it seems to realign its focus of attention from strengths to weaknesses. It becomes like an enclosed canal, seeking to shore up weak banks which distract it from the shortest route required to maintain growth. Containing and protecting its position like a huge dam, it inevitably loses its fluidity. If the incoming river of new ideas and energy dries up, what does it matter when it has already contained a reservoir of resources? Yet water that is no longer fluid becomes stagnant.

Too many organisations, particularly larger ones, unwittingly illustrate, to their detriment, a reservoir culture. When natural flow is impeded, making headway becomes harder and the timing of opportunities is lost. Customers who rely on a service, for example, will soon form an opinion as to the culture of a company.

No-one has control over the results in their life. On first encounter this precept is understandably almost impossible to accept. The practice of manipulating the future forms the basis of most strategies in our modern world. This is coupled with the practice of planning a future on an expected outcome, rather than being one hundred percent aware of what is happening right where you are — the very here and now.

The man wanting to date a woman he really likes, for example, does not live in the present moment. First he is thinking of what she will say when he asks her for a date. Should her answer be yes, much of his ‘here and now’ is occupied planning the future event. Thoughts of the actual date occupy the days leading up to it. Thoughts of what may happen after dinner occupy the time spent eating dinner. Each present moment experience is lost as the mind is anticipating the future. If at the moment of the date unforeseen circumstances cause her to change her mind, the man has missed out on much more than an event. He has missed the experience of all those moments leading up to the date. If, on the other hand, the date goes ahead but does not conclude as anticipated, the man may then dwell in the past by analysing it.

We are only able to influence a result by what we do in the present, because the process of our lives is only contained within our present. We therefore have control over our processes, but we do not have control over our results. Although it is wise to establish the basis of an outcome, it is important to have flexibility in our thinking in order to anticipate and plan.

As we do not live in the future, we have no control over it. The majority of businesses, however, seek to make the future happen according to their wishes. The paradox is that the harder they push in an area they do not control, the more their desired result eludes them. By focusing one hundred percent of their energy on what is fully under their control, the process of what they do from moment to moment, they gain the greatest influence possible over a desired outcome.

When owners, shareholders and decision-makers who form the ‘top line’ of a company, are bottom-line driven, they become result-focused in their actions, rather than process-focused. In doing so they unwittingly put into motion those forces that actually bring about the reverse of that which they intended. Furthermore, when anticipated results do not materialise, focus is switched from the future to what is now a past process.

It is energy that makes things happen, and in this instance the term ‘focus‘ refers to the level of energy. Physical form represents an outcome of energy transference; whatever is materially created must first be mentally generated. The quality of what we do, therefore, is dependent on the level of energy we are able to focus with. For example, in physics, it takes the same amount of energy to light a bulb as it does to cut with a laser, the latter is simply more focused. Metaphysically, whenever our energy is diluted, by thinking about what must happen, or what should have happened, to fulfil a result, we divert our energy away from the actual process that occupies our present. Yet it is our focusing on the present process that is the key to creating the results we desire.

Seeking control over a result requires us to interfere with the process. A bird learns to fly through trial and error. With the care and attention bestowed from the parent solely focused on the process, the desired result comes about.

Merchant Man-Ho Ping had not let go of his ‘young’. He had trained his team to fly, while at the same time clipping their wings. This prevented them from putting their hearts into flying, and instead focused their energy on vying for position within the nest. Business executives who seek to control results according to the way they believe things should be, unwittingly move the company’s energy, and the energy of those they influence, away from present process into future results. Thus, the ‘bird’ whose clipped wings prevent further growth will ensure that its own position in the nest is kept by adopting a ‘defend and blame’ stance.

Living in the present requires us to focus on what we are actually experiencing, rather than what we hope to experience. Understanding fully that we only have control over process and not result, leads to the requirement and application of the next practice.

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Living in the Moment

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 3:08 am and is filed under Business Management, Career Management, Marketing, Promotion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.