Conscious Business

I recently came across the concept of Subjective Reality. It is a belief system which claims that there is only one consciousness. You are that singular consciousness, and everything and everyone in your reality is a projection of your thoughts.

None of the other people you encounter are conscious in a way that is separate from you. Nobody else can have intentions. The only intentions are yours.  You are the only thinker in this universe.

There is only one source of intentions in your universe – YOU.  The walking, talking bodies that you observe in your reality all exist inside your consciousness.  In simpler words, the concept of Subjective Reality claims the life is just another type of dream. A dream that seems solid because you believe (intend) it is.

When understanding the concept of Subjective Reality it is important to correctly define ‘You’. You are not just your physical body. You are the single consciousness in which this entire reality takes place.

If you were having a dream, are you the physical manifestation of yourself that you see in the dream? No, that’s just your dream avatar.  You are the dreamer.  The entire dream occurs within your consciousness.  All dream characters are projections of your dream thoughts, including your avatar. You can even switch avatars in your dream by possessing another character. In your dream you can do anything you believe you can.

Physical reality works the same way.  This is a denser universe, and hence changes occur a bit more gradually here.  But reality still conforms to your thoughts just like a sleeping dream.  The idea that other people have intentions is an illusion because other people are just projections.  Of course, if you strongly believe other people have intentions, then that’s the dream you’ll create for yourself. But ultimately it’s still an illusion.

A sculptor needs a chisel to sculpt. A carpenter needs a hammer. A painter needs paint. A golfer needs a club. Without these tools they would not be able to complete their tasks. So how important are the ‘tools’ for the ‘trade’?

They say only weak players blame their equipment. This statement is both true and false. Tools cannot make up for the lack of talent, but it would be foolish to say that they don’t make any difference. Superior equipment will give superior results. Let’s say you were trying to make patterns on a sheet of paper. You could either use a knife to cut the sheet or a pair of scissors. Do I need to point out which would give you a better result?

It is not enough to have the correct tool. You need to know how to use it. A carpenter would not use sandpaper to hammer nails. Always use the right tool for the right job. Every business man and business woman needs a host of tools to conduct his/her business.

The quality of a business man is not judged solely on how good his tools are but also on how well he can put those tools to use.  The best equipment in the world won’t do you any good, if you don’t know how to use it.  With the rate at which technology is progressing, it is important for everyone to learn how to use the amazing new inventions that science is constantly throwing at us.

If you are in business, you need to take the time to find out what tools are available to you.  You need to know how and when to use each and every tool in your tool box. The tools do not make the man, but they certainly make his life easier.

After Napoleon’s defeat at the battle of Waterloo we learnt that it’s never a good idea to be late for battle and that it’s always a good idea to have a strategy. When it come to business we know it’s not enough to take the journey we must have a destination in mind. But there are many forks in the road. How do you know which fork to take? Every decision will affect the time and the state of your arrival. So apart from setting your destination and packing your bags you need one more thing before you begin. You need a map, one that charts the best course for you to take, keeping in mind the resources that are available. In business this map is known as business strategy.

Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term. It involves setting long term goals for your business and making decisions on how to attain these goals. Imagine for a moment that you’ve started a hobby class. When you open some of your friends show interest and are keen on becoming students. It is only natural for some friends to ask you for a discount or special rate. Now the question is do you give them a discount or not? If you do then yours is a class that gives special treatment to those who know you personally. If you don’t then you are a class that treats everyone the same irrespective of their relationship with you. Each course of action has its pros and cons. A sound Business Strategy will guide you in making these decisions. Here is some information on the different levels of business strategy.

Corporate Strategy – is concerned with overall purpose and scope of the business.

Business Unit Strategy – is concerned more with how a business competes successfully in a particular market.

Operational Strategy – is concerned with how each part of the business is organized to deliver the corporate and business-unit level strategic direction.

Just a few hundred years ago the fate of the world was decided by the death and destruction taking place on a battlefield. World Commerce was answerable to the rise and fall of political tides. Nowadays the fate of the world depends, not on the armed soldier but on the smart businessman. The war has moved from the battleground to the board room. Today it would seem world commerce is answerable to no one. It has grown into an institution of such mammoth proportions that it does not bend to the whims of any man. But is this a good thing? Is it in our best interest, that the fate of the world rests in the hands of businessmen whose primary and sole motive is earning profit? Much wrong has already been done with the purpose of making money. With the kind of power that corporations command and their impact on the world around us, it is not only unethical but also dangerous for businessmen to be accountable to no one.

So what is the solution, or rather who, is the solution to this problem? The answer is you. You are the answer to this moral dilemma that the corporate world finds itself in today. You are the answer because you are the businessman as well as the client. Without you there is no commerce. If each and every one of us makes it our priority to practice conscious business and to do no harm, we can ensure that the world is a better place for everyone to live. World commerce may have grown too big for any political organization to dictate but it has not grown so big that it can be accountable to no one. It will be answerable to the planet and its people, not because of its inherent nature but because we, the people, make it so.