I went to see Eckhart Tolle speak in person recently. If you’re not already familiar, Tolle is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Power of Now and the highly acclaimed follow-up A New Earth, which are widely regarded as two of the most influential spiritual books of our time. His work helps people find more peace and fulfillment through developing greater inner awareness, presence and transcending our ego-based state of consciousness. His teachings point back to the need to live in the present moment, hence the title of his book The Power of Now. His fans include many celebrities and prominent figures including Oprah who has described his messages as “essential spiritual teaching.”
Perhaps one of the reasons Tolle has had such a big impact on the lives of millions globally is that his teachings are very grounded and practical. He articulates how many of us experience our day-to-day lives, what goes on inside of us to cause us struggle and unhappiness, and provides simple, but powerful and effective advice we can all easily implement. He speaks in a way many can connect with - which resulted in a lot of nodding heads in the audience!
I’m a career coach, so I’m often thinking about things through the work/career lens and how to help people navigate success more easefully. To this point, I was inspired to look at some of Tolle’s messages and see how they can be applied to how we approach our work/careers. Simply becoming aware of how you engage in some of this thinking may be helpful.
Ask yourself, “What problem do I have in this moment?”
When you’re feeling consumed by a problem, Tolle recommends we ask ourselves this question. When we do this, the funny thing is that suddenly we don’t have a problem. “In the present moment, a problem cannot survive,” he says. “A problem exists in your mind as a thought. To have problems you have to think about them and then you are generally thinking about what might happen in the future.” I’m sure you’ve observed that often the things we think might happen in the future don’t happen. So, if we just stay in the present moment we can save ourselves from all the stressing. And if something does actually happen, then he says it won’t be a problem, but rather a challenge we can respond to in that moment when it arises. He uses the analogy of an animal attacking you. In that moment, it’s not a problem - there’s not time to think about it - it’s simply a challenge to take action on.
This is a pretty great way of looking at things and approach to take with you into your workday. How much of our days do we often spend stressing and thinking about problems - all the potential things that could happen with our bosses, clients, co-workers etc.? We could save ourselves a lot of energy and make things easier by staying in the here and now.
Continuous wanting is exhausting
In our work/careers we seem to be always trying to get somewhere, solve our problems and be “successful.” But Tolle illuminates that when you finally get what you feel like you wanted so badly, you aren’t happy because you finally got what you wanted. Instead, you’re happy because for a brief moment you don’t want anything and the mind has a break from the constant wanting. “Continuous wanting is exhausting,” he says.
This doesn’t mean we can’t work towards creating what we would like in our lives, but when we’re fixated on how to get the next thing we want - a promotion, new job, landing a big client, getting to a certain level with our business etc. - and telling ourselves we’ll only be happy/ok in the future when we get it, this keeps us from living in and being happy in the present. And the present is really all we have. There’s usually no end to the things we want - there’s always something next - so if we’re not living and finding joy in what we’re doing now and what’s arising in this moment, our happiness is constantly delayed. There’s lots of peace and happiness we can access by living in the now.
Accept that challenges are part of life
Like a game of whack-a-mole we can spend our lives trying to solve all our problems; as soon as we address one, another arises. And yet we continue to play with the subconscious belief that there will be an end - we will be able to get to a magical place where no further challenges arise. “People think challenges aren’t supposed to happen, they’re arguing that things are happening that shouldn’t be,” Tolle says. “They’d rather be somewhere else or have circumstances be different.” This is a very stressful way to approach life.
How often when trying to navigate our career/work situations do we feel challenged and think “this shouldn't be happening” or that we should be somewhere else like “further ahead” or more “successful” or that we’re not doing the “right” thing to get “there?” It can amount to a persistent underlying feeling that we’re doing it wrong and that if we were doing this - doing life - “right” there would be no challenges.
As I point this out I’m sure you can see how illogical this is. Challenges are a part of life. And even when we’re successful in getting to wherever we want next in our career, there will still be more challenges.
Tolle advises that we learn to see and accept this. When we do, we can stop constantly feeling stressed by the belief that whatever is happening shouldn’t be. And by focusing on living in the present moment, we can simply relax into what is - the chaos and the challenges - and respond to them as they arise. As you navigate your way through your work/career and inevitably encounter challenges, remind yourself that they are entirely ok and part of the journey.
