Yaneek Page | Monetising Jamaicans state of mind

QUESTION: I want your advice on my plans to start a mindfulness practice. What are your thoughts on mindfulness as a discipline and as a new business for Jamaica? It is a really big deal now in the USA, but no one has introduced it in Jamaica, so I would be the first. In order to become certified, I plan to enrol in a coaching certification course, which costs US$9,500. Please take a look at the link I've sent and tell me what you think. My parents have offered to pay half the costs, and I am planning to take an education loan to cover the rest. Do you think this is a good idea?

- M

BUSINESSWISE: My understanding is that mindfulness is effectively about a person strategically and proactively managing his state of mind through various activities and meditative processes.

Mindfulness can be applied in several contexts including religion, healthcare and wellness, education, and business in order to strengthen learning, improve peacefulness, reduce stress, enhance decision making, confidence, and interpersonal relations, and several other potential benefits.

I was introduced to mindfulness a few years ago by a fellow business trainer while working together on an international entrepreneurship training programme in Latin America. After learning about the practice during a US educational exchange initiative, he became so enamoured that he completed a coaching certification course and now operates a corporate leadership coaching programme based on mindfulness.

I've also met several entrepreneurs in the US who are operating mindfulness, coaching businesses and the practice appears to resonate deeply with a similar target market to my colleague in Latin America, mainly mid-senior level executives and professionals striving to manage stress, balance, enhance leadership, and enjoy a better quality of life.

Perhaps their target audience may give you some insight into prospective niches for what is still regarded as an exclusive practice. They zeroed in on established professionals in leadership roles as it is likely that they are highly educated, open-minded, and appreciative of personal-development interventions, which could add value to their work performance and personal lives.

Corporates are especially attractive because of the likelihood of deep pockets, large numbers of middle managers and a pipeline of junior managers, patient and realistic expectations, longer-term commitment, and so on.

Although I have been exposed to several exercises, I don't have adequate experience in mindfulness programmes to comment on its likely potential to take hold in Jamaica at this time. Also, based on my own web-based research, I was able to identify at least three persons who offer mindfulness training and/or coaching locally, though none appear to have launched on a significant scale.

Therefore, while you may not be the first to introduce the concept in Jamaica, there is certainly an opportunity for you to position yourself as the thought leader and market if it proves viable. I wouldn't recommend that you pursue any certification until you validate that there's actual or likely demand through market research. You will likely have to engage the services of a research company to conduct first-hand research using surveys or focus groups among your target audience.

That being said, I reviewed the professional certified mindfulness coach training you want to pursue. At a cost of $1.2 million, it requires 125 hours of online instruction, 10 hours of mentor coaching, and 500 logged hours of practice coaching to qualify for the requisite credentials. One concern is that several of the courses have superficial titles, and the descriptions appear to be lacking in any real substance. I suggest you review and compare several other courses and also verify that the institution is legitimate, the programmes are accredited, and that the designation has real currency.

One love!

- Yaneek Page is an entrepreneur and trainer and creator-executive producer of The Innovators TV series. Email: info@yaneekpage.com Twitter: @yaneekpage Website: www.yaneekpage.com