124 ⎸ Mindfulness Hacks for Accountants with Vimal Bava

In this interview episode, I chat with Vimal Bava, a CPA and stress management coach. He shares his personal journey of experiencing burnout and stress in the accounting profession and how he found comfort in mindfulness and meditation practices.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• examples of mindfulness and meditation practices
• how to incorporate Mindfulness into your busy schedule
• how the mind-body connection works
• the importance of taking brain breaks

About Vimal:
Vimal Bava is a CPA and Mental Fitness Coach with a passion for empowering his fellow accountants to experience joyful and stress-free work environments. Along with running his own firm, and mental fitness coaching, he's also currently pursuing a Doctoral degree at Florida International University.

Connect with Vimal:
💼 Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/vbcpa
🌐 Coaching website - Happy Bean Counters: happybeancounters.com

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Transcript

1:42

I see people posting online, all the successful people have. A 5 a. m. routine. You have to do this, you have to do this, you have to do this. And honestly, I think half that stuff is just made up to get you to buy into their course or whatever. Because as a real human, as a busy professional, you don't have a set consistent schedule. I mean, and that's why I try to work it into my routine or into my schedule. But one thing I try to do is before I start my day, if I haven't had time that morning to actually sit down and do any kind of reading or meditation, I'll try to spend at least five minutes just doing some kind of like meditation or breathing practice. Welcome back to the Ambitious Bookkeeper podcast. Today I have a special guest on with me, Vimal Bhava, and we met at XeroCon a couple years ago at this point, I guess. Is that like two summers ago? you may have seen him around at events with a fancy backpack. So I'll let you introduce yourself. And then we'll go from there. Great. Thanks for having me on Serena. I'm a CPA. I'm based out of Arkansas. I have my own practice, and I also do mental fitness, kind of stress management coaching for other accountants, bookkeepers, and then I'm also pursuing a doctoral degree. I've had my own firm for about seven years now, and, you know, I've been through the same highs and lows, and just kind of, a lot of the same client experiences, and based on all those experiences and my interaction with other professionals, I started doing this mindfulness or stress management kind of coaching, and it's just kind of all based on my own experiences that I just share with others. There was this article I read a while back that said we need to be reminded more than we need to be taught. And that's what kind of inspired me to go on this little journey. Oh, I like that. It's so true because sometimes, oftentimes, you'll hear information and you're like, I already knew that, but I definitely needed the reminder. Yeah. So, what, Brought you to the point of like, cause you, you talked about like your journey getting to that point. So like, was there anything like big that happened in your life that you're like, Oh man, I need to change the way I'm doing things. Or have you always kind of incorporated this in your lifestyle? No, so I always tell my little story to everyone. Like when I do these presentations, it's a lot longer. I'll make it short for you. So, you know, going back to when I started working in the professional world, I was just like any other college kid. I graduated just ready to take on the world and did whatever I was told to do. I never questioned my employers when they told me to work long hours. I never questioned those stressful conditions. I was just, you know, accepting the status quo. And then as I started moving through my career, I started experiencing burnout, stress. And then the mid 2010s was kind of a low point where it was really affecting me, like physically, mentally, and just my relationships. And I was just not a happy person. And then, uh, I started, you know, getting into more of these, mindfulness, meditation type things. And the summer of 2017, I had a friend in Austin, he was also a CPA, and we both went to grad school together. And he passed away, and it was because of stress. And that was kind of my big wake up call. And that was when I got really serious, and I told myself, I need to do something. Because I was going through the same things he was going through. And I did not want to become another one of my friends. And then that's when I started investing more in myself. Getting more into those mindfulness meditation yoga classes and then I started experiencing firsthand this Stuff, it really helps. Earlier in my career, I was just going through, but now I'm actually growing and I started also like my firm was also growing without me putting much effort into it. Well, at least it felt like I wasn't putting much effort. I was still working, but not those crazy hours that I used to work and I was still making more money. And then all those things just kind of started adding up and it told me, okay, you're not stressed out as much as you used to be. You're working a lot happier. So it has to be these things you're doing. And then COVID hit. And everyone's posting online. They're all locked up in their houses. And I'm seeing like a lot of my peers and other professionals that are going through similar things that are complaining about, you know, being stressed, being lonely, and that's when I started sharing the stuff I had learned and experienced and just by talking to others, I could tell that, okay, like I said earlier, just reminding them, like they already know. They need to be taking care of themselves. Just that little small reminder during our conversations told me, okay, this is something that's important. And then that's how I got into it. And last year, this past fall, I started pursuing my doctoral degree. And rather than complain and gripe about all these problems we have in our industry, I figured I want to find solutions and back it up with data. And so that's kind of how I went from just going through my career into growing my career now. Wow. Yeah. It's always interesting to hear, like, what the catalyst is of people, like, implementing change. Because there's definitely people out there that are like, Oh yeah, I've just been operating this way my whole life because this is how I was brought up. But I think for the majority of us, it's like something, a big something happens that drives us to make a change like that. So thank you for, Being a resource to our industry and talking about this. So I know personally, I like, and I'm sure you get a lot of people that have this same kind of pushback of like, meditation isn't for me. Like, it's really hard for some of us to sit still for one, and for number two, to be able to like, turn off our brains And, and all that. So is there something like that you specifically, coach people through when they are that type of person that's like, I can't sit still and meditate. That's just not for me. I can't do this. Do you have an alternative or a way of looking at things that you, that you bring forward? Yeah, so this is actually probably the biggest pushback. Even myself, like 2008 or 9, I had an uncle, he forced me to take a yoga meditation course. Back then, I told myself, I'm not, I'm young, I don't need this stuff, it's not for me. But as I started experiencing, there's one main thing that I learned about all this stuff, is We don't understand how we operate as this is, as a human, we, you know, if we buy a phone, we try to understand how the phone works, but we have a mind, we have a body. And a lot of times this mind is the one that's telling you, you don't have time. You're not the type of person for meditation, but the body is the one that needs it. The body wants it and you have to get out of the mind into the body. And so the biggest thing is just training your monkey mind. You can't shut off the mind. That's another thing I learned is, so all these emotions, feelings, thoughts are always inside of you. There's a snow globe. I carry it when I do these live presentations. And the snow and the glitter inside that globe represents all those feelings, thoughts, emotions. They're always inside that globe, just like those feelings are always inside of us. When you shake it up, like it gets cluttered in there. Like when our emotions, feelings, thoughts get all worked up, we can't think clearly or see clearly. So it's about just learning to control the mind. Because once you kind of train the mind, the mind is, I guess, in Buddhism, or just... The concept called the monkey mind where the monkey mind is always jumping around from thought to thought So it's something where you have to train the mind And it's not something that's going to happen overnight because your mind's a muscle and you just have to keep Practicing and practicing and then going back to the meditation. So mental fitness. It's a concept. That's I guess when we think of mental health we start thinking mental illness But when you think of physical health, you don't think of physical illness. You know, you think of physical fitness, physical health, two different concepts, just like that mental fitness is about becoming resilient, being a better, able to handle the stressors life throws at us. And so there are many different types of practices we can do. You don't have to just do meditation. With mindfulness, like you can train your mind to be mindful through many different activities. Like one of these programs that I took, they talked about mindful eating or even mindful cooking, mindful walking, where over time you slowly just training your mind to get out of the mind and into your five senses. It's like become more aware of what's happening around you. And then over time, then you slowly become less stressed out because now you're better able to handle what's happening outside of you. And so, I guess to answer your question, yes, nobody has time. I mean, I don't have time. Honestly, nobody has time. But, if you train your mind... And one other thing is, one day you're going to be forced to make time if you don't make time right now. Yeah. So would you rather just make time right now or be forced one day when you're not going to like it? Yeah, absolutely. Oh, I love that. I, and that's one of the, one of the things that I've come to realize too is that Meditation doesn't necessarily have to mean like sitting on a pillow, cross legged, turning off your mind. You can, you can get into that meditative state, like even when you're doing physical activity or like you said, mindful walking, like just being aware of your surroundings. I think a lot of us get into that, like. Productivity mode where it's like, okay, I'm getting my exercise in, but I'm going to plug in a podcast and learn while I'm walking. And then you're, you're going to be so like involved in that podcast that you're going to walk like three miles and not even realize it, which may sometimes be a good thing. Cause it helps the time go by faster, but that's actually having the opposite effect of what we want the physical activity to have, right? Yeah, exactly. And then breathing is also another thing. So one of the things I talk about in the programs is breaking these practices down in this short, just bite sized practices. Like, you know, if you're working, like I'll do this during busy season where I just need a quick two minute break. So I'll sit at my desk, close my eyes and just focus on my breathing. The slow inhales and exhales and that, you know, because our breathing is linked to our nervous system and that just kind of helps calm things down. And so to the people that say they don't have time or they're not the type of person that meditates, yes, you are because you're doing this stuff a lot of times without even thinking about it. Yeah. Yeah. And just the simple act of like doing it and thinking about it while you're doing it is in and of itself. Sufficient. Oh, I love that. One of the things that I do with my group of students in my accelerator program is we have co working sessions and we use a Pomodoro timer. And then it's really funny cause I'm always like, okay, we're going to do a 25 minutes of like working silently. I have like music on and whatnot. And then at the end of the 25 minutes, the timer goes off and I, and I unmute and I say, okay, you have five minutes, like get up, stretch, go get some water, give your mind a break. And like, no one ever gets up. So it's, uh, could you talk about like the importance of having that like break? I know a lot of us and myself included, I fall into this trap too, like. Well, I'm like almost to the, like, I've almost finished what it was I'm working on. If I stop now, I'll like completely lose focus. But do you know, like, I don't know if there's any insight that you can give on like the importance of taking that couple of minutes to get up and stretch and close your eyes or breathe or whatever. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's all about our Physical health and mental health. They're both, you know, important related concepts and with the there's also a mind body connection that often gets talked about like if you're always stressing out your mind working over working your mind and not taking care of this physical body then that can have a negative effect on your physical body and there are research studies that are back this up that stress and other just effects on your mind cause headaches and other chronic illnesses throughout your body and so Meat incorporates a little bit of physical activity too, and I don't have any stats, but I'm sure there are statistics out there about what, because we live a set, you know, a lifestyle where we're sitting a lot of the times, and actually I had someone, um, tell me a few weeks ago, they were like, I told him I was a little worn out because we were going through a deadline recently, and so the comment they made was, How can you be stressed out or just tired or exhausted when you're sitting all day? And I was like, well, yeah, but there's a thing, such thing as mental exhaustion, which, you know, makes your body tired. And so it's important we get around, even if you're just sitting or I have a standing desk too, so I'll try to rotate between standing and sitting. And so it's important or else we just become a little lazy. And then we train our body. The biggest thing is this mind. The mind is like this. We give the mind too much importance. We need to train the mind. Okay, I'm going to go and walk a little bit. Because your body doesn't have this little thinking thing, like the mind is the one that's doing all the thinking. But at the same time, his body is important too. Yeah. Yeah. That's such a good point. I remember my corporate days being so mentally exhausted. Like, yes, I was sitting at a desk all day, but I would come home so tired. Yeah, exactly. I didn't even think about like what we're going to have for dinner or anything. So thankfully, I've, you know, running your own business, you get to. Change things up a little bit. And I don't feel that mental exhaustion quite so much anymore. Yeah. And that's another thing I stress too, is like whenever I'm doing a lot of these seminars, make sure you're sharing this with your employees, the ones that are working for you. Because just because you're a firm owner or leader, it doesn't mean you should be the only one like doing these practices or thinking about these things. They work for you. And if they're not happy, if they're stressed out, they're not going to stay long. They're going to move on. You know, it's not a working environment, which is. a great fit for them. And so that's important too. Yeah. So we've talked about kind of just like mindfulness activities and then some little tips for throughout your day, but is there a practice that you make sure that you incorporate every day. Like, do you have a morning routine? Or is it like you go for a walk every day? Like, what do you do? how do you practice what you preach? So I'll be honest with you. There is no such thing as a morning routine for me. I have two kids and it's all over the place. Right? Yes. I try to make time. They wake up about 6. 30. We get them ready, drop off at school. When I come back. And then if I wake up around five, I'll try to get ready and do a little 30 minutes kind of breathing meditation type practice within those 30 minutes. It won't be a 30 minute straight practice, but a few different things where I'll try to do yoga, but it's not a consistent practice every day. And a lot of times I see people posting online, all the successful people have. A 5 a. m. routine. You have to do this, you have to do this, you have to do this. And honestly, I think half that stuff is just made up to get you to buy into their course or whatever. Because as a real human, as a busy professional, you don't have a set consistent schedule. I mean, and that's why I try to work it into my routine or into my schedule. But one thing I try to do is before I start my day, if I haven't had time that morning to actually sit down and do any kind of reading or meditation, I'll try to spend at least five minutes just doing some kind of like meditation or breathing practice. Yeah. Just to kind of get me started. Yeah, I totally agree with that. Whatever it is, like whatever habit that you're trying to implement, whether it's exercise or meditation or reading or writing or whatever it is, there's one thing that you want to have a part of your day every single day, even just doing it for five minutes is better than nothing. Yeah, right. You know, I have a couple of things like that too. For me right now, I mean, it should be meditating, but I guess this counts because it's also very creative, but I, I pick up my guitar or my ukulele every single day, even if I don't think I can sit down and play it for an hour. I'm like, as long as I touch those strings for five minutes a day, I have. established that habit and carried it through. Yeah, yeah, no, it's definitely, and you know, with mindfulness, uh, there's also mindful listening where, like, music instruments, you know, you try to pick out the sounds and it sounded, you know, it's meditative because you're playing the instruments and you're not thinking about work. You're just focused on the activity you're doing right now. Yeah. Yeah. That's so important. It's so important. It's something that's been coming up a lot lately of like, just trying to get people to like make time for something creative or calming or whatever. If the creative is scary to you because you don't identify as a creative, then call it something different. But having, giving your mind a break like that is, is so important. I personally notice a difference. for sure. when I'm allowing that time for myself. So, and like with, I mean, you know, we all have, we were modern humans and sometimes I have friends that I start complaining like that. Oh, they asked me, Oh, when do you get time? So I had one that I've talked to a few weeks ago and I was telling her to do my doctorate. And he's like, when do you have time? You have, you work, you have kids, you're going to school. So the first question I asked him was like, how much time do you spend on your phone or how much time do you watch TV? He's like, yeah, in the evenings I'll usually watch TV for a couple hours. I'm like, there's my time right there. The two hours you watch TV, that's the two hours I study. Yeah. And you just have to find, I guess, that time. And then also with my kids, like if I haven't had time to actually do some kind of practice during that time, during the day, like my kids, if they like to do coloring or crafts or something, I'll sit down and do it with my full focus and attention instead of worrying about work, because that's also a way of training my mind on the creative side too. Yeah. Yeah. That's so true. And it's a double benefit for your kids and for you. Yeah. Oh, this is so good. So what do you have going on in your world and, yeah, tell us all the things. Yeah. So I've been doing a lot of this so initially or this mindfulness, stress management coaching stuff. I started, it's evolved over time. And I went to Canada last month and I talked to the IGNITE. I had a session at their annual conference for the CPB, Canadian Professional Bookkeepers. And I got a lot of good feedback from that. And initially, so the name was Positive90, but it's transitioned into Happy Bean Counters. Because it's more relevant and we all want to be happy. And so my mission right now is just to kind of keep spreading this message. Make sure other accountants, bookkeepers, tax professionals, they work with less stress and work happier. And on top of that, I'm also with the doctoral. My whole goal is to just like, instead of complaining, sitting down, complaining about the problems we have, I want to actually find solutions to a lot of these problems. And back them up with data. A lot of like things like the, um, I'm not, you know, I'm not going to find all the solutions to these problems, especially things like the talent shortage or turnover in industry, but at least I can find data and give some insights that kind of help lead to some solutions. And so that's some of the things I'm working on. And on top of that, I still have my firm. And so luckily I have an employee. She's great. And she helps me run the firm while I can pursue my other interests and passions. Yeah. What is your, like, what is your firm structure look like? Do you have a specific niche that you serve or tell us, tell us about that too. Yeah, we, I do, um, I have a few healthcare practices and then a lot of real estate rental property owners. So we do that. And the majority, I'd say about 60 percent is tax work and about 40 percent is the accounting, bookkeeping type work. Okay. Yeah. Awesome. So you do a lot of tax strategy for real estate? yeah, we do a lot of the tax planning, tax strategy, and a lot of these clients are older clients. And so they already kind of know what they need to do. That's good. That's, that's helpful. Yeah. But, and that was the other thing too with my clients. Like in the beginning, when I started my firm, I used to work crazy hours and I used to overwork and worry and get stressed and things like that. And over time I've learned you can't care as much as your clients care. And just implementing a lot of my own practices into my own firm, this helps me work with less stress. Like this past deadline, or this past couple of years, we haven't really worked any weekends, even during a busy season, and our summers are more. Relax, because we're better able to kind of manage that time too, especially with our workflow and all that. Yeah. Yeah. It makes a big difference. It's especially if you incorporate that as part of your culture from the beginning. Yeah. It's going to be a lot easier to maintain that than to reverse bad habits. Yeah. Well, awesome. So if somebody wants to learn more about your coaching or where they can, you know, connect with you, where is the best place to reach out? Sure. So on the coaching, they can go to happybeancounters. com, or I'm also on LinkedIn, Vimalbhava, or on X slash Twitter, Vimal CPA. Oh, they renamed it. I haven't even been on Twitter and yeah, Lord knows how long. So awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing these insights with us today. I will link all of your information in the show notes, so anyone can feel free to reach out to you and we'll hopefully see you again at another event soon. Yeah. Appreciate you having me on. Thanks for the opportunity. All right. Talk to you soon. Thank you. Yeah. Bye.