It’s not unusual in the current volatile and complex environment to see company founders and CEOs suddenly struggle to keep up their drive or maintain growth in their business, even if they’ve had a good 4- or 5-year run. Many of these CEOs start burning out long before they have actually made any “external impact” through business or their leadership.
Certainly, in my practice, I’ve seen many leaders suddenly scramble or feel distressed when faced with an unexpected turn of events or unwanted outcome, whether they run a family business or lead a tech company. They also begin to struggle in their personal relationships and are more reactive in their decision making when it comes to challenging life and business circumstances.
These are usually the tell-tale signs that these individuals haven’t yet started on a journey of inner mastery.
What Is Inner Mastery?
Mastery is defined as the comprehensive knowledge or skill in a particular subject or activity. Simply stated, mastery learning is a process where a learner masters a topic or concept before advancing to the next level of proficiency.
According to Dr. Richard Moss in The Mandala of Being, humans experience four holding environments: the womb, post-birth, leaving home and “the present moment.” Experiences from the preceding holding zone are carried forward to the next, and all decisions, actions and reflections are therefore informed by the past. We embark on a journey and then change jobs, start different businesses, learn different subjects/skills and change values, as per the current environment. We do all of this without really achieving mastery in one before moving on to the next.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
What are the consequences? It leads to an absence of a competitive advantage, a lesser impact on the environment, average results, derailment, a mixed direction, slow progress (two steps forward and one step back) and a poor relationship with ourselves and others.
The First Step
Drawing on the above definition of mastery, in the simplest terms, the first step toward inner mastery is opening up to first learn about your core inner self. Who do you identify with? What informs your beliefs and values? How do your past memories serve you in making business decisions? What are your habitual thoughts and emotions?
This should be followed by then reflecting on surfacing fears, hopes, concerns, motives, choices and behaviors.
The other side of the equation is the effect on the external environment, including results and desired outcomes.
The Journey
This learning-through-reflection phase could extend over several months of mastering your inner world, including thoughts, language, wants, needs, beliefs, feelings, emotions and reactions. For almost everyone, it represents a journey — one that moves you toward your highest level of consciousness. It includes contemplative reflection, questioning behavioral patterns and understanding your worldview while posing an honest inquiry into your core self and impact on the outside world.
The changes you’ll see after mastering your inner self include:
• Confidence in deeply held values and beliefs
• A centeredness and calmness that is required to make decisions free from conditioned responses and ego
• An ability to draw others in like a magnet
• Being unmoved in turbulent times, forging ahead with speed and trust
• The ability to make decisions based on fairness and not submit to circumstances, therefore creating positive karma for the self
• The ability to make hard decisions with ease, having confidence in the self and the universe, leading to exponential results with the least effort
• A state of enjoying work and enterprises and attracting the right business outcomes
Practical Ways To Achieve Inner Mastery
Inner mastery is a journey, and most people are at different stages of moving toward it.
Invest time in being alone, even if it means just being without action for many days or weeks. Create a learning journal to list insights during that solitude. Conduct deep meditations for stillness of mind and body to create powerful and positive vibrations. Practice not reacting to situations instantly, holding back and “being” without speaking or doing for an elongated time. The help of a coach could go a long way in building sustainable results, but ultimately, inner mastery can be undertaken alone.