Do Thriving Workers Have a Spiritual Practice?

It is a difficult topic for businesses engaged in making a profit to talk about spirituality. It is almost the unspoken word that Organizations leave to workers much like religion.

What is spirituality? It is not religion although many religious people can be spiritual and people can definitely be spiritual without being religious. Why would it be a taboo topic for management? Does it step on anyone’s toes? Are managers spiritual? It is not a requirement for leadership, but do spiritual people make better leaders? It has probably not been determined.

What is Spirituality?

My opinion of spirituality is connection. It is connection with ourselves, people close to us, and a profound belief in our connection to Nature and the Universe. Spiritual people will say ‘all is one.” Is that a bad mantra for business? The issue management might feel is it is not relevant and definitely not measurable.

Stephen Covey is a respected business icon and he says our influence starts from within and manifests outward. This would mean we have to first have a great relationship with ourselves and then we can contribute to the external world.

This relationship with ourselves can be seen with high regard for health. Health is a spiritual practice. It is the belief that we have been given a body that has needs and those needs are best served through nutrition, exercise, and rest. Making health a priority is an indication we know we must function with high energy to be productive. It also says we value ourselves first, and what we do is not our only priority.

Relaxation and Solitude are Spiritual Practices

Having time for relaxation and solitude are important to reduce our tendency for burn out. Burn out occurs from overwhelm. Workers say overwhelm is too much responsibility, too many meetings, too many emails and basically, too much on their plate. A company can support a worker’s need for a balanced nervous system by listening to these complaints.

A meditative practice is an excellent spiritual practice because it allows the nervous system to relax in the midst of all the external chaos. it centers a person into knowing that what is going on in their thoughts is an indication of how much peace they are experiencing. The ability to sit quietly without thoughts is arrival at a very spiritual achievement.

The Value of Being Centered

A person that is centered is more empathetic, considerate, a better collaborator, more creative, more productive, and more likely to be loyal. A conversation about how to be more centered is not an unproductive conversation.

A person can look at their life and find the activities that make them uncentered. Activities might include overeating, alcohol and drug abuse, shopping, gambling, anger, too much stress, poor relationships, wasting time on screens, lack of goals, and poor time management to name a few.

A person that is spiritual is likely to suffer from fewer of these maladies. That alone should be justification to consider the importance of spirituality in creating happy workers. A discussion of the abuses that workers might suffer and how to reduce these behaviors is personal but important if a worker is going to reach the state of thriving.

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As a Thriving Worker Consultant, I can engage in conversations with employers on how to begin the process of helping workers thrive and reach peak performance. It begins with a conversation to see how far an organization is willing to go to change the culture for workers.

Great practices for daily living can be learned with the Markap Series of Books. If your organization would like live presentations or Zoom meetings, they can be arranged for small to large groups.

The Markap Books:

Self-Leadership, Gratitude, Happiness, and Start Now

See Books on the Home Page

Contact me at Mark@markap1.com