Four Mindful Ways To Be More Effective

One of my friends is into mindfulness and has engaged in it for past several years. In almost every conversation with him, I have observed that he gets irritated with something that has happened or something that is about to happen. Yet, he is quick to clarify that mindfulness has helped him and he swears by it. I am not sure why he offers this clarification every time.

Mindfulness and courses on mindfulness has grown in geometric progression in the past two years. Anything with a mindfulness angle surely gets noticed.

⇒Are all those who talk about mindfulness and those who promote mindfulness, always mindful ?

⇒How can we be mindful in the time driven world of ours? Does it necessarily involve hours of practice, silent retreats and meditation?⇐

I read an interesting article on HBR that piqued my interest

The title of that article was Mindfulness -Search Inside Yourself

It talks about “just six seconds of mindfulness” can make you more effective. The crux of this article which caught my attention is that you can do away with the mental baggage, during your day, when you approach each new situation with a present, focused mind. You achieve a calm and agitation free mind by consciously taking one mindful deep breath.

Conscious deep breathing is what gets affected when we are stressed out or are agitated about something. To relax our Amygdala and make sure that our PFC, rational part of our brain is functioning, a deep breath helps.

♥Yet, how do we remember to take that conscious deep breath in that moment of agitation, anger or our Amygdala hijack?♥

Our brains are driven by reward and purpose. I am going to consciously practice in that “moment of stress” to take a deep breath.

How can you remind yourself to take that deep breath? By the Gift of PACE (Purpose, Attention, Challenge, Empathy)

1.Purpose

What is the purpose of that meeting or the conversation ? Would I be moving away from my purpose if I react to my vulnerability? Asking yourself this question and taking a deep breath is a good reminder not to fall victim to your Amygdala hijack.

2.Attention

I will remind myself to give my “gift of attention” to those whom I am in conversation with. Whilst I do this well as a Coach and as a Facilitator, I will remind myself to increase this in my daily walk of life to listen to myself and my thoughts. The more I listen without judgment, the more curious I get about others’ thoughts and interests, I will remind myself that I am being mindful.

3.Challenge

Challenge is something I enjoy and whenever I get frustrated I will remind myself that this is a challenge that I can seek to overcome. I will overcome this by taking a deep breath and again reminding myself of the “purpose”. Remind of yourself of the challenges that drive you.

4.Empathy

Encouraging others are great and one we all are reminded to do. However, what about self-encouragement? I will encourage myself by reflecting on what I did well and what can I do differently in my moments where I feel challenged and may be tempted to give in to my emotion? I will remind myself about being empathetic to myself.

Mindfulness is particularly hard when you are trying to overcome your moment of vulnerability, no matter what that has been caused by. Be empathetic to yourself by seeing an improvement in how you were either conscious of that moment of vulnerability or how you dealt with it differently.

This is a path I will continue to consciously practice and reflect on my journey of transformation and progress.

What are your thoughts? Would you like to join me in this journey?

Transitions are part of life and how we deal with it is entirely up to each of us. And in some of the transitions, having a person as a sounding board, a person who to challenge your assumptions and a person who can help you see your potential helps. Consult me for one-on-one coaching, training, group coaching, facilitation and speaking on leadership, communication and transitions.