I am, by nature, moody. When something good happens I go on a high; when something bad happens I'm bitter and grumpy.

Unfortunately, that's not a productive way to go through life.

I've written previously about how I think being “even-keeled” is an important characteristic to have in running a company and — since that's not my natural state — several years ago I went in search of a way to become more even-keeled in my approach to life, and business.

For me, the mindfulness concept has been incredibly helpful.

Mindfulness is one of those things that is ridiculously simple, but one can spend a lifetime trying to fully implement it. It's rooted in ancient Buddhism and — at the risk of oversimplifying — mindfulness just simply means being fully present and acknowledging things that happen in life without immediately attaching judgement to them. As a friend of mine at Stanford puts it: The great American mantra is “Oh, shit.” Mindfulness means shortening that to just simply “Oh.” Acknowledge, without attaching judgement.

When running a business, stuff happens all day long. I have tried to learn to simply acknowledge that stuff without immediately attaching judgement to it. One new sales win doesn't mean we're awesome forever; one new cost overrun doesn't mean we're hosed forever.

It just is what it is. Nothing more, and nothing less. Make a good decision, and move on.

I think this philosophy has helped me to get better at running a business. And I know it may have saved my life. After founding a company at the age of 30, I was diagnosed with advanced-stage colon cancer at the age of 36. They ripped out a third of my guts, pounded me with chemotherapy for six months, and told me that I was likely going to die from stress. Also, the business was failing.

And so I went in search of a way to prolong my life and get better at running a business.

Everybody told me to learn meditation. “A quiet mind is a peaceful mind,” they told me. But telling me to have a quiet mind is like telling lions to stop eating zebras. It's just not going to happen.

Eventually I learned about mindfulness through the writings of Jon Kabat-Zinn. I could still have a busy mind, but by learning to be fully present in every moment, and not attach judgement to things that happen, I could focus on what's important in running a business and stay more even-keeled about it.

For me, learning the basic tenets of mindfulness changed my life and helped me to get better at running a business.

I'm not perfect at it yet — I still have a long way to go. But I'm better than I used to be, and I'll be a little better still tomorrow.​

“Respond; don't react.
Listen; don't talk.
Think; don't assume.”
       ― Raji Lukkoor

“Mindfulness has helped me succeed in almost every dimension of my life. By stopping regularly to look inward and become aware of my mental state, I stay connected to the source of my actions and thoughts and can guide them with considerably more intention”. 
         – Dustin Moskovitz