Why we subsidize Transcendental Meditation at Susco
This is Susco's internal policy outlining the Transcendental Meditation (TM) benefit and why it's so powerful.
Policy Purpose
The Company's purpose is to help all people we touch to live more meaningful and fulfilling lives, and given the CEO's personal experience with TM and a plethora of scientific studies validating its efficacy, we feel this is a powerful tool for enrichment.
Terms
Applies to employees who have been at Susco at least 30 days.
This is a non-transferable non-negotiable optional benefit.
The Company will pay $500 of the course fee directly to TM.org (as opposed to reimbursing you).
The course fee ranges from $500 - $960 depending on your income level. https://www.tm.org/course-fee
Your portion can be paid over 4 months.
The Course is 1 hour / day over 4 consecutive days. The first day in person, the next 3 are remote.
There is a free intro session you can attend before committing to the 4 day course. To register, go here.
You can learn more about TM at www.tm.org.
Background
The Company's purpose is to help all people we touch to live more meaningful and fulfilling lives, and we feel strongly this is a powerful tool.
We are following the lead of Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates and Oprah is offering this subsidy to our teammates.
Jerry Seinfeld explains it very well here:
2020 Speech Neel gave explaining why it's a benefit
As you know, one of the special benefits of working at Susco is that we subsidize Transcendental Meditation training.
Some of you may be wondering about the backstory to this.
I’ve always been a big believer in continuing education,
so after finishing college I would always have something I was studying.
Usually it related to my career development,
Then on business and leadership,
And then I got into the psychology of peak performance.
It was around 13 years ago when I learned about the benefits of meditation,
How the claims it to calm the monkey mind,
manage stress,
And make better decisions.
But no matter how hard I tried,
I could never get into a good practice.
I would try to focus on my breath and it was torture,
And the idea of working up to 1 hour of day was frightening.
In August 2016, I turned 39 and realized in many ways my life wasn’t where I wanted it to be.
While I had accomplished a lot personally and professionally, I was working hard but not enjoying it,
I was able to lose weight many times I could never keep it off,
And my marriage wasn’t where it needed to be.
Luckily, a friend of mine recommended I read Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris,
It is a collection of 200 interviews from peak performers be across industries – be they Hollywood actors, athletes, technologists, or business people.
There were many common trends, as the majority of them got up early, exercised daily, had some type of gratitude ritual, and meditated.
My heart sank because while everything else was doable, but I knew I couldn’t do mediation.
Luckily, the author wrote a chapter where he outlined his own difficulties with traditional mindfulness mediation,
And recommended transcendental meditation, which is done for 20 minutes once or twice a day.
He insisted that it was much easier, and worth taking a class.
Flash forward to Feb 2017, I find myself getting in an argument with my wife over the dishes.
I was really bothered by the fact that we were going to be upset at each other for 24 hours because of dishes.
So, I immediately signed up to take the TM class.
While the first 4 days were difficult,
By day 5 it was easier.
Within 2 weeks I went from needing Ambien daily to sleep to not needing it at all.
I reduced my desire to overindulge in food and alcohol.
Over the course of the next year, my stress response totally changed for the better.
The same equanimity I could consistently manage in front of difficult clients,
I could now magically apply to difficult conversations with teammates, friends, and family.
I found no problem too big to solve,
And increasing reserves of willpower.
I didn’t think it was possible, but over time even my enthusiasm increased,
And now I’m even seeing my compassion levels go up.
In short, it’s helping me uncover the best version of me,
And that’s why the Company is willing to subsidize the training.