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https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1389&context=neje

The impact will likely be similar to that of Transcendental Meditation, which, after much hullabaloo in the 1960s and 70s, is no longer in the public eye, but nonetheless continues to have a modest following.

Various studies have found that its possible that mindfulness can reduce cortisol levels as well as thicken grey matter in the brain, improving the ability to handle information.

This sounds exactly what entrepreneurs need and can utilize to make the most of their intense daily routines. I've seen too many entrepreneurs burn out and lose focus because they choose to hustle first and not think about their own well-being.

I think mindfulness can be associated with 'opportunity recognition' which is pivotal in the entrepreneurial process , in that case it possibly may enhance entrepreneurship orientation. However, it depends on either you use that mindfulness through entrepreneurial lens or not..

Interesting question. I guess we first have to determine whether mindfulnes has any effects at all; only then can we try to determine any effects on entrepreneurship. Or perhaps more specifically on entrepreneurial orientation (Covin / Slevin / Dess / Lumpkin etc) (Although these are more longterm constructs).

In general, mindfulness has been associated with improved wellbeing of an individual; from perceived stress to mental health, to physical health and beyond. Thus, it is a rationale extrapolation that the widely accepted notion of the benefits of mindfulness on wellbeing by disciplines like positive psychology and beyond is applicable in an entrepreneurial context. In fact, recent works (e.g., Wiklund et al., 2019) have called for investigations in the context of entrepreneurial wellbeing, which at the moment seems an emerging topic in the entrepreneurship domain.

Now, how does mindfulness contribute to an entrepreneur's wellbeing to entrepreneurial performance is interesting. To this end, the former, as noted above can be fairly deduced from the other disciplines that mindfulness (trait or state) contributes to entrepreneurial wellbeing. However, mindfulness's importance in the context of entrepreneurial performance needs a bit of empirical evidence. Nevertheless, it is possible to predict that there are a few mechanisms in which mindfulness can contribute to entrepreneurial performance. For instance, from a cognitive psychology perspective, as one of the commenters mentioned above, mindfulness might optimize the cognition of an entrepreneur, which might lead to enhancing "opportunity recognition."

Since I recently started exploring the topic myself, I wanted to give a little update on recent studies!

There is a study on the interplay of mindfulness and entrepreneurial intentions, which adds to the opportunity recognition idea:

Article Mindfulness and Taking Action to Start a New Business

One on loving-kindness meditation and fear of failure, which adds to the entrepreneurial well-being idea:

Article Self-Compassion When Coping With Venture Obstacles: Loving-K...

One on loving-kindness meditation and sustainability-driven decision making, which was not yet mentioned in this discussion:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0883902618305767

So there are some interesting developments in this regard and I believe that mindfulness, compassion, and meditation can do a lot for entrepreneurs. I also believe that entrepreneurial education and training could do more to harness these potentials. For example, MIT Sloan integrated a meditation-based program to one of their accelerators:

https://mitsloan.mit.edu/press/mit-sloan-accelerator-announces-results-first-self-awareness-program-entrepreneurs

I summarized my journey of exploring the topic in my book, The Mindful Startup:

https://www.onmindsandmotion.com/the-mindful-startup

Kind regards from Hamburg, Germany

Malte