Do You Worry About a Bus Crashing Through Your Yoga Studio?

Do You Worry About a Bus Crashing Through Your Yoga Studio?

This month we'll look at a technique for reducing stress while making your time more efficient (This topic is taken from the Mastering Life Focus program).

A number of years ago, a story appeared in the Los Angeles times. It seems a man was sitting in his living room one Sunday afternoon, feet propped up, watching TV, eating chips and drinking a soda. Totally relaxed, thoroughly enjoying his day. Not a care in the world. Suddenly, without warning, the wall of his living room explodes into pieces as a Los Angeles city bus crashes into his home before coming to an abrupt stop. The man is unharmed, still sitting there with his feet up and a corn chip in hand. But now with a look of utter disbelief on his face as he stares into the tall glass windshield of the bus which is now facing him from where his TV used to be.

Some of us are prepared for such occurrences – we anticipate they will happen and we are sure to build walls that not even a bus can penetrate. “That's ridiculous. What is he talking about?”, you ask. You see, many of us spend hours of our days (not only while awake, but also in dreams), worrying about anything and everything that can possibly go wrong. Okay, so maybe planning to deal with a city bus crashing into your studio is a bit much, but think about all the things that you worry about which may not be as extreme, but still hurt your business. (More on the bus story in a minute) I know studio owners who say things like:

* I won't hire anyone new because they might not work out and then I'd need to fire them. (I'll stick with the mediocre staff I have – at least I know their weaknesses)

* I don't want to implement an auto-renew program because someone might not like it and tell all their friends that they didn't know they were on an auto-renew program and then no one will come to my studio anymore.

* I don't want to sell merchandise (even what we use in class), because then I'd need to figure out what to do if someone didn't like what they bought and returned it. If this happened a lot, I could lose money. I'd better not sell anything.

* I don't want to put out an email newsletter because if I write about a student and make a mistake they could complain and even sue me.

My question to you is this: Where in your own life (business or personal) do you spend time and energy worrying about things that might possibly go wrong? How much emotional energy does this take each week? How much time?

When we focus on what might go wrong, we defeat ourselves. First, we use up time and emotional energy. Next, if you follow the law of attraction, we attract into our lives exactly what we don't want. Also, if you devoted all this time and emotional energy to achieving something that you do want as a part of your studio (or of your life), imagine what could you achieve?

There is a big difference between playing at life to not lose and playing to win. Virtually anyone in history who make any kind of a difference in the world played to win. Think of Gandhi, Mother Theresa, The Dalai Lama, or whomever you personally admire.

Henry Ford once said “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eye off the goal.”

So, how do we choose what to devote time and energy to? I often recommend a simple model, called the Circle of Influence. Imagine there is a circle around you. Inside the circle is everything in your life that concerns you AND which you have a reasonable degree of influence over. Things like the friends you have, what you eat for lunch, what you spend your money on, what type of work you've chosen, etc. Outside of this circle are all those things that you care about – maybe very deeply – but which you have very little or no influence over. This might be national or world politics, the weather, what choices most other people make in their lives, etc.

Now you get to make a choice. Once you've made this distinction, you may choose to focus nearly all of your time, energy and resources on those things within your circle. Sure, you care deeply about those things outside of your circle, but spending time worrying about them won't improve them. On the contrary, often when we focus on things inside our circle, it expands. Soon we find that we have more influence in the world than we did before.

What things in your studio – and in your life – fall inside your circle of influence, and what falls outside of it?

The bottom line is this. Spend nearly all your time, energy and focus on the goal you want to reach. Only deal with those potential obstacles that clearly lie ahead in your path.

As far as the guy with the bus in his living room goes , it turns out that the bus was stolen. In fact because it was stolen, the city refused to take responsibility for the damage. In the end, you can't prepare for everything. You can waste a lot of time trying, but there will always be the chance that a bus drives though your living room. Deal with what you need to and trust the rest will work out. If I might make a request: What is one area of your studio that you stress about, but which you could realistically let go of and be willing to just let go of worrying about? Okay, now do it – I know if feels like a giant leap sometimes, but remember, many great souls have already proven this path for you. Go in peace.

Namasté,

Al Lipper

Coach Al Lipper

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