How I Meditate: Aneace Haddad

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“I’ve always felt that resilience under pressure was something that I was good at, but I believe meditation has taken it to a new level, rounding out the rough edges, making life smoother and “rounder”.”

Aneace Haddad is the CEO of Taggo, a social marketing platform that drives in-store fan acquisition, engagement and loyalty. His work over the past 25 years has focusd on the moment of payment; his prior startup, Welcome Real-time, became the leading provider of credit card loyalty software to banks in 30 countries. He’s also putting his experience to work as an executive and life coach.

Why did you start meditating? What was your goal?

I struggled many years with an extremely active mind that is very good at imagining worst case scenarios for lots of things. I felt the need to quiet my mind to find peace. I had also heard that meditation could enhance one’s spiritual practice and feelings of connection and oneness with others.

What is your meditation routine?

I meditate 20 minutes every morning as soon as I wake up, before checking email and before even my morning coffee. I actually meditate while lying in bed. I use a simple audio recording of a tamboura drone with an occasional gong to bring me back.

Can you tell me a story about how meditation improved your performance, productivity, creativity, or leadership?

I see the impact of meditation everywhere in my life. Clarity, focus, empathy, joyfulness, intuition. A surprising one for me was to discover greater resilience, the ability to quickly bounce back from painful situations and setbacks without getting stuck in a depressing spiral of blame. I’ve always felt that resilience under pressure was something that I was good at, but I believe meditation has taken it to a new level, rounding out the rough edges, making life smoother and “rounder”.

Do you think meditation gives you a competitive edge? Why?

My intuition has grown considerably. This has been very useful for my tech business startup as well as in the new direction I am taking my life’s work, executive and life coaching. I can hear more clearly what people are saying without words, whether conscious or subconscious. This is proving to be very valuable in helping me guide others towards more clarity and focus in their own lives. In many cases, intuition has even slipped into clairvoyance, seeing scenes in a person’s life which are highly meaningful for their present situation, and which I had no knowledge of.