Can Trusting the Universe Help You Achieve Your Goals?
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How senior leaders can use spiritual practices to discover purpose, expand wellbeing, and achieve corporate success
You make strategic decisions based on metrics, forecasts, and competitive intelligence. So the idea of "trusting the universe" probably sounds like the polar opposite of everything you've built your career on.
But what if you didn’t have to choose between strategic rigour and ‘spiritual’ practices and could integrate both?
Whether it’s meditating before a board meeting, box breathing and grounding yourself to prepare for a potentially life-changing interview, or visualising the best outcome as you set the strategy for your team.
Trusting the universe may have become a bit trendy, but that’s because it works.
What "Trusting the Universe" Actually Means for Leaders
Trusting the universe doesn't mean abdicating responsibility or waiting for opportunities to appear magically. It's not about crystals and vision boards (but it could be).
For senior executives, trusting the universe means:
Releasing attachment to outcomes you can't control while taking strategic action on what you can
Aligning with flow rather than forcing through resistance and recognising when to pivot versus when to persist
Cultivating trust in your intuition alongside your analytical capabilities
Staying open to unexpected opportunities that don't fit your predetermined plan.
In other words, instead of trying to control everything, keep an open mind, give yourself time and space to consider and reflect on alternatives, and, in the words of Bruce Lee, “Don’t think, FEEL”.
What High-Performing Leaders Gain from Turning to Spiritual Practices
The corporate world is experiencing a quiet revolution. Executives who once would have dismissed meditation as "woo-woo" are now building daily practices. CEOs are hiring executive coaches who integrate mindfulness and other wellness practices. Leadership development programs at top business schools include contemplative practices.
Why the shift?
Because traditional success metrics such as job title and compensation aren’t enough, and since the pandemic, people are waking up to the fact that:
Burnout isn't a badge of honour; it's unsustainable and impacts decision-making quality
Connection matters more than competition, and that collaboration and authentic relationships drive better business outcomes
Purpose fuels performance, and knowing your "why" creates resilience during challenging periods
Wellbeing is strategic; mental clarity, emotional regulation, resilience and physical vitality are competitive advantages.
This isn’t about abandoning ambition. It's redefining what success looks like, and spiritual practices can help you get there faster and with greater satisfaction.
Five Spiritual Practices That Enhance Executive Performance
1. Meditation: The Strategic Advantage of Mental Clarity
What it does: Meditation improves focus, emotional awareness, gratitude, and connection—precisely the qualities that distinguish exceptional leaders from adequate ones.
Why it matters for executives: Your ability to make clear decisions under pressure, regulate emotions during crisis, and maintain perspective during complexity directly impacts your effectiveness.
How to start:
Begin with just 5 minutes daily before your first meeting
Use apps like Calm or Headspace for guided sessions
Focus on breath awareness or body scanning
Track how your decision-making quality changes over 30 days
2. Gratitude Practice: Rewiring Your Brain for Opportunity
What it does: Regular gratitude exercises boost happiness, enhance emotional well-being, and literally rewire your brain to notice opportunities.
Why it matters for executives: Your mindset shapes what you perceive. A gratitude practice trains you to see possibilities, connections, and resources that pessimism blinds you to.
How to start:
Start your day on a high note with 10 things that you’re thankful for
Include professional and personal aspects
Notice patterns in what consistently appears
Spend 5 minutes each evening reviewing the day and acknowledging the one thing that you’re most grateful for
3. Visualisation: Mental Rehearsal for High-Stakes Outcomes
What it does: Creates mental clarity about goals and accelerates progress by engaging all senses in imagining desired outcomes.
Why it matters for executives: Elite athletes visualise performance. Surgeons mentally rehearse complex procedures. Why wouldn't you prepare for critical presentations, negotiations, or strategic decisions the same way?
How to start:
Identify a specific upcoming high-stakes situation
Spend 10 minutes daily visualising yourself navigating it successfully
Engage all senses—what you see, hear, feel, even smell
Include potential obstacles and how you handle them effectively
Notice how your confidence and actual performance improve
4. Connection Practices: Building Authentic Professional Relationships
What it does: Strengthens wellbeing and creates genuine rather than transactional networks.
Why it matters for executives: Your network determines your opportunities. But authentic connection, not just strategic networking, creates relationships that endure.
How to start:
Reconnect with three people monthly with no agenda
Practice active listening in meetings, truly hear rather than preparing your response
Share vulnerabilities appropriately and admit when you don't have answers
Celebrate others' successes genuinely
Build relationships before you need them
5. Self-Awareness Practices: Knowing Your Operating System
What it does: Personality assessments, human design, numerology, and similar frameworks provide language for understanding your natural strengths, blind spots, and optimal working conditions.
Why it matters for executives: You can't leverage strengths you don't recognise or mitigate weaknesses you don't acknowledge. Self-awareness is the foundation of leadership effectiveness.
How to start:
Complete comprehensive assessments (MBTI, Enneagram, StrengthsFinder, etc.)
Notice patterns in when you perform best versus when you struggle
Identify your energy drains and energy sources
Structure your work around your natural rhythms where possible
Build teams that complement your profile
Discovering Your Purpose: The Strategic Foundation
Purpose isn't something you find in a weekend workshop or download from an Instagram guru. It emerges through consistent practice, honest reflection, and willingness to question assumptions about what success means.
Questions to explore in your journal:
What activities make you lose track of time?
What would you do if compensation weren't a factor?
What problems in the world genuinely frustrate you, and could you help solve?
When have you felt most alive professionally?
What legacy do you want to leave in your industry?
If you could craft your ideal next chapter, what would it include?
The career-purpose integration process:
Audit your current reality: What percentage of your work aligns with what matters most to you?
Identify misalignments: Where are you compromising values for security or status?
Explore adjacent possibilities: What shifts could increase alignment without requiring complete reinvention?
Test hypotheses: Can you pilot new directions through advisory roles, board positions, or side projects?
Make strategic moves: As clarity increases, take calculated steps toward greater alignment.
Expanding Wellbeing into your Leadership Must-dos
Wellbeing isn't self-indulgence. It's a necessity.
Your mental clarity, emotional regulation, physical vitality, and spiritual connection directly impact your:
Decision-making quality
Stress resilience
Relationship effectiveness
Innovation capacity
Sustained performance over decades
Five evidence-based wellbeing practices for executives:
Physical activity: Regular movement improves mental clarity and reduces stress, whether you’re a gym member, a dedicated runner, a yogi, or a hot Pilates enthusiast. It’s about finding your thing.
Nature connection: Time outdoors restores attention and reduces cortisol; it might just be getting out of the office, noticing how your shoulders relax and your jaw softens once you’re under the vast expanse of the sky
Creative expression: Engaging creativity activates different neural pathways, enhancing problem-solving
Learning new skills: Continuous learning builds cognitive reserve and confidence
Giving to others: Contributing to others' success creates meaning and connection
Integration strategy:
Don't add wellbeing practices as separate tasks to an already overwhelming schedule. Instead, integrate them:
Walk during phone calls (physical activity + work)
Openly discussing wellbeing and spiritual practices with colleagues (wellbeing + leadership)
Meditate before critical meetings (mental clarity + performance)
Mentor emerging leaders (giving + skill development)
Schedule strategy sessions outdoors (nature + business planning)
Your Corporate Elevator Pitch Meets Spiritual Practice
Here's where this gets practical. There are times when you need to articulate who you are and what you offer, whether to headhunters, board members, or potential employers.
Your elevator pitch shouldn't just describe what you do. It should convey your purpose, your values, and what makes you uniquely valuable.
Traditional executive pitch: "I'm a CDTO with 20 years of experience in luxury retail, specialising in digital transformation and operational efficiency."
Purpose-integrated pitch: "I help heritage luxury brands navigate digital transformation while preserving the craftsmanship and values that built their reputation. I believe technology should enhance human connection, not replace it. I've led three successful transformations that increased revenue while deepening customer loyalty."
See the difference? The second version tells people not just what you do, but why you do it and what you stand for. That's the integration of strategic capability with purpose and values. And when you speak from the heart, rather than learning a script, it’s really powerful!
Developing your purpose-driven pitch:
Clarify your unique value: What transformation do you create for organisations?
Identify your "why": What deeper purpose drives your work?
Articulate your approach: What principles guide how you achieve results?
Practice ruthlessly: Your pitch should feel authentic, not scripted
Adapt for context: Adjust emphasis based on the audience while maintaining the core message
Six Steps to Trust the Universe While Achieving Corporate Goals
Ready to integrate this practice into executive life?
Step 1: Notice Where You're Forcing
Pay attention to situations where you're exhausting yourself trying to control outcomes. Forcing rarely produces sustainable results. Does it feel like you’re trying to push a boulder uphill, not gaining traction despite your best efforts?
Step 2: Clarify Your True Desire
Get specific about what you actually want, not what you think you should want, or what would look impressive, but what would genuinely fulfil you.
Step 3: Release the "How"
Set clear intentions but hold them loosely. Get clear on your specific vision, but don’t be rigid about how you’ll achieve it.
For example, you want to pivot into sustainability leadership. You're targeting leadership roles at major brands. But the perfect opportunity might come in the form of an advisory position at a startup, a board seat, or consulting work that eventually leads to the ideal role. Stay open.
Step 4: Take Aligned Action
Take consistent action that aligns with your values and goals, even when you can't see the entire path. Build your visibility, strengthen your network and trust that the right opportunities will emerge.
Step 5: Practice Patience and Timing
Not every opportunity is right for you now. Sometimes the timing isn't aligned. Sometimes you need to sidestep or take small stepping stones to achieve your desired goal.
Step 6: Look for Evidence of Support
Train yourself to notice when things work out, when help appears, when opportunities emerge. Your brain will seek what you direct it to. Keep track of wins, unexpected opportunities, helpful connections and moments when something even better shows up.
The Integration: Strategic Rigour Meets Spiritual Practice
You don't have to choose between being strategic and being spiritual. The most effective leaders integrate both.
Strategic rigour provides:
Clear goals and metrics
Structured plans and accountability
Risk assessment
Data-driven decision-making
Spiritual practice provides:
Purpose and meaning
Intuition and wisdom
Resilience and adaptability
Connection and collaboration
Wellbeing and sustainability
Together, they create:
Sustainable high performance
Meaningful success
Authentic leadership
Strategic flexibility
Long-term fulfillment
The Bottom Line for Senior Executives
The executives who will thrive long-term in modern business won't just have strong strategic capabilities. They’ll have sustainable practices that support wellbeing, purpose, and connection.
Trusting the universe isn't about abandoning responsibility or strategic thinking. It's about recognising your role in a larger system and learning to work with it rather than exhausting yourself trying to control it.
The leaders who integrate spiritual practices alongside strategic rigour:
Make better decisions under pressure
Maintain resilience through challenges
Build more authentic and valuable relationships
Create greater impact aligned with their values
Sustain high performance over decades, not just years
You've spent your career developing strategic capabilities. What if investing equally in these practices could amplify everything you've already built?
The question is whether you will explore spiritual practices through this leadership lens.
What's one practice you'll commit to trying this week?
I'd love to hear what resonates and what you're sceptical about.
And if you're ready to explore how to integrate purpose, wellbeing, and strategic career planning, let's talk. Because the next chapter of your leadership journey doesn't mean you have to choose between success and fulfilment, you can have both.
—Tracy
Tracy Short is a former executive headhunter turned personal leadership coach, specialising in senior executives navigating career transitions in fashion, luxury, and lifestyle sectors. She integrates strategic career planning with purpose discovery and intuitive practices to help leaders create sustainable, meaningful success.