By: Carter Williams, Director of Xperience Growth Coaching & Consulting

“How ‘spiritual’ you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to do with your state of consciousness. This, in turn, determines how you act in the world and interact with others.” -Eckhart Tolle, from The New Earth.

Spirituality can be a tricky word. I’m not talking about religion necessarily. Spirituality in this context is something beyond and bigger than yourself.

When you connect with what is beyond and bigger than you, you’re able to see past the problems of the day and into what is true. Consciousness aligns with truth, which is bigger than us. Our thoughts simply live in our head and are largely unconscious. Both our conscious and unconscious affect what we do and how we impact the world.

The problem is our lives are dominated by our unconscious. The thoughts, feelings and actions that we make are largely unconscious. It’s these unconscious mental, emotional and physical behaviors that affect our feelings – good, bad, sideways. We’re at the mercy of our unconscious most of the time.

Spirituality and your consciousness impacts how happy and fulfilled you feel in all aspects of our life. As you know, happiness & fulfillment directly affect our business output.

Spirituality can be increased through consciousness awareness. Gary Keller poses a question in The ONE Thing book around a greater focus for spirituality: “What’s the ONE Thing I can do to improve my relationship with God?” To increase your relationship with God or any higher calling, it takes us being still and open to the experience of that connection. It’s not until we stop, rest and clear our minds does our consciousness increase.

In Stillness is the Key, author Ryan Holiday says that all religions agree on stillness and that if all religions agree on something, there must be validity. Holiday writes that through stillness we can, “empty the mind- mind is an important and sacred place, keep it clean, keep it clear.”

Here’s 5 things that you can do to raise your consciousness and spirituality:

• Meditate. I’m a fan of the Insight Time app.

• Pray. If religion is a core part of our spiritual journey, spend time connected prayer

• Journal. Getting thoughts out of your head OR writing with perspective on your consciousness will center your mind

• Exercise. Running, yoga, even group classes can increase your ability to clear the mind and gain greater awareness of the bigger picture.

• Do selfless acts. Help people selflessly with intentionality. The key to not get anything in return.

Maybe one of those 5 things sounds good to you. If not, find something that will help you elevate your awarenesses into greater consciousness. You’ll find the positive effects as a business leader, partner, parent, friend and most of all as a person.