#Inbound18: Deepak Chopra on Universe & Career Well-Being

Deepak Chopra, celebrated health and wellness advocate, presented as one of the first keynote speakers at HubSpot’s INBOUND 18 conference on Tuesday.

Chopra’s presentation begins dramatically with a video illustrating the stages of conception to birth, sparking a presentation which simultaneously shows off Chopra’s training as a doctor and his strong capacity for storytelling.

A dramatic opening for a business conference? Yes, maybe. However, with 9 conferences scheduled in 4 different countries within the next month and a half, the man clearly knows how to pull in a crowd.

It is a video that serves to illustrate humanity as a whole, while also representing the ethos of the INBOUND conference: at the core of business, we are all people first, and we all start from the same beginning.

Chopra continues to deliver some attention-grabbing, eye-opening stats to drill the idea of oneness home even further. As humans, we share 70% of our DNA with fruit flies, 80% with mice, and 99% with the chimpanzee. 

While it’s humbling to consider that a significant portion of shared DNA is found in the buzzing nuisances that gather around your kitchen sink, we’re not going to be conducting sign language with these insects anytime soon.

So, Chopra dives into what makes us different, the chemical composition of our bodies, atoms, the universe, etc. He reminds us that everything, from the carbon in our fingernails to the oxygen that is helping to sustain life, all comes from the universe.

_{Image Credit: Beacon Digital} 

“It took the whole universe to conspire for you to be here tonight, so thank you.” No lack of charm here.

He goes on to explain what distinguishes us from other species– our intellectual brain, the Cerebral Cortex. It gave rise to human civilization. It is the source of the universe and the universe, according to Chopra, “is a human construct of human consciousness.”

A big bang-type of thought, human consciousness, brought to you by the cortical brain, is responsible for everything we use in our day-to-day work or personal lives: decision-making, insight, intuition, creativity, imagination, inspiration and above all– language and storytelling.

Storytelling is essential to humanity and critical in business.

Every great business, Chopra wisely points out, has an even greater story. It is what drives employee engagement and career well-being.

Only 20% of people in the American workplace are fully engaged in their work. 80% of people are disengaged or actively disengaged, meaning these are people who go to work unhappy and go out of their way to make others unhappy.

Disengagement is what contributes to most people suffering from their first heart attack on a Monday morning, between the hours of 8 and 9 am.

Chopra astutely points out this is a behavior unique to humans; no other animal knows the difference between a Monday and a Tuesday.

 So what are some things we can do to build up healthy career well-being?

Career well-being means to express unique talents, strengths, and purpose. To be a part of a team where everyone compliments each other's strengths with a shared vision and strong emotional connection between all people engaged in the workforce.

By fostering proper job engagement, people are happy to work for you, so your customers are also happy. And if your customers are happy, your investors are happy meaning your business will be successful.

Chopra successfully delivers an essential point that every worker can easily forget; we are all one in the same. Every human has aspirations, goals, desires, success, and downfalls. If we work together as a whole and foster universal well-being, the possibilities of life intersecting with business are endless.

The spiritual guru concludes his presentation with a quick 5-7 minute meditation whereby he asks the crowd to sit with feet grounded on the floor, bringing awareness to the heart in the chest, and questions, “Who am I? What do I want? What is my deepest desire? What is my purpose?  What am I grateful for?”

It’s hard to get a bunch of people to cry at your average business conference (and INBOUND is no average conference), yet Chopra succeeds at just that. The crowd is asked to open their eyes to one final question,

“Are you aware?”

Chopra explains that if you carry awareness– the source of insight, intuition, imagination, and creativity– in your center at all times, you will be free.

By improving the self, we improve the future of marketing, sales, and business­– a passionate and inclusive future, which promises more inspiring and successful stories to come. Empower, inspire, and grow together.

“Gratitude will open the door to abundant consciousness in everything that you do.”

_{Image Credit: Twitter} 

Deepak Chopra MD, FACP, is an Indian-born American author, speaker, wellness advocate and prominent figure in alternative medicine. He is the founder of The Chopra Foundation and a co-founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing.