“Mindfulness.” Everyone’s talking about it. People – really smart people practice it. There are entire books written about it. There’s an app (dozens of apps) for it. It seems important. And pervasive. So pervasive, that it’s started to be the brunt of jokes. Apparently someone wrote an article about pooping mindfully.
I get the jokes. It seems pretty silly. Hokey. Like its really only something hippies do when they’re high on drugs. Be … in … the moment, dude. You might wonder how is it possible to not be in the moment? Where ever I go, I’m there; in the moment. Right? You might be thinking “clearly I must be missing something”.
My take is, yes, you probably are missing something. I’m no expert, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what mindfulness is. You see, it’s easy to get sucked into your job or the routine forced upon you by work and all your other responsibilities. You wake up, say hello to your spouse, your partner, your roommate or your kids, then you go to the bathroom, have coffee, go to the bathroom again, take a shower, have breakfast, take the kids to school, finish your commute, go to work, check emails, attend a daily meeting, process orders, write part of a report, have a quick lunch, write more reports, check more emails, make sales calls, and attend another meeting. Then you pick your kid up, sit in traffic, run an errand, get home, say hi to your spouse, partner, or roommate, have dinner, fall asleep with the TV on, and then wake up and do it all over again, again and again.
Your day is probably the same basic day every day, crammed full of tasks. Focusing intently on those tasks/chores, you’ll fulfill a whole lot of someone else’s dreams. And before you know it, 15 years will have passed you by. Like Ferris Bueller said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Other than fulfilling your life’s work or your career goals, there are other problems that a lack of mindfulness could cause. Important people in your life might have had all sorts of interesting things happen to them while you’ve been busy with your chores. Or by ignoring and bottling up other minor emotions over a long period of time in favor of playing a role that requires strong emotionless and intense focus, you could risk having a panic attack or a nervous breakdown. Kevin Love, a nine-year veteran basketball player on the Cleveland Cavaliers discussed a panic attack he had recently during a basketball. Love has made millions. He doesn’t work in a cubicle and has much fewer mundane tasks to perform than the average person. But this can happen to anyone.
I don’t want to miss life. I want to live life to the fullest (that was actually one of my wife’s and my wedding vows). That won’t be easy, but mindfulness seems to offer help. So yeah, it could mean the difference between the full satisfaction of a life well-lived, and the painful regret of a life wasted.
Seems like mindfulness could be very helpful in a transitioning world. People are very frustrated. Stressed beyond belief. Finances stretched. Internet trolls. Political debates between parties so convinced they’re right that no one will ever win. People pointing fingers at one another everywhere you look. Seems we should all take a bit of a step back and observe to try to identify what’s going wrong. Maybe there’s a new way of looking at things that’ll help people be happier. Enter mindfulness.
With all that as a premise, here are a dozen ways to generate mindfulness:
- Meditate: take as little as 5 minutes, close your eyes and focus quietly on your breathing. Making it a point to do this during a busy day will force you to realize that your tasks don’t own you.
- Keep a journal or notebook: write down your deepest thoughts as they come up. I think a lot of men think of journals as a “diary” for girls. That’s ridiculous. It takes a real man to face their challenges and live life on their terms. That may require writing down your personal thoughts, aspirations and goals. You’ve probably got a job where it pays to take notes and make lists. Do that in your notebook, and then when you have what feels like an important thought about your life, write that down too.
- Daily calendar: I have a daily peel off calendar from the History channel that lists a significant historical event that occurred for each day. It’s interesting to realize that many amazing things have happened on every day of the year. Your day might be ridiculously boring, but throughout history that day on the calendar is a day where some historical figure made their mark and attained some incredible feat. Make it a part of your day to read what happened on this day in history, and realize you could make history some day too.
- Go for a walk: take a break from your daily chores. Give yourself a little 20 minute reward of fresh air and a change of scenery.
- Exercise: similar to taking a walk, just treat yourself to some exercise. Sit ups, push ups and squats can probably be done in your cubicle in like 5 minutes. This has the benefit of pumping blood and beneficial hormones and other chemicals thru your body, refreshing your cells and giving you a natural high.
- Memento Mori coin: Memento Mori basically means “remember you will die” in latin. A lot of people shy away from thinking about their eventual death, and I understand why. But considering your mortality regularly (and healthily) should motivate you to be sure to follow your dreams and live your life to the fullest. Someday I’ll write a post about mortality. You can purchase a Memento Mori coin at www.dailystoic.com.
- Podcasts: Many successful people talk about their secrets to success on podcasts, including how to be more mindful. They’re free, and they’re plentiful enough now to listen to several new episodes everyday.
- Play an instrument: This is a great way to use a different skill set than what your daily habits require. Every little bit of improvement will bring a little pride and joy. Doesn’t have to be any serious instrument. Just get some bongos. Or a little Casio keyboard for like $30 or $40. Just tap out some of your favorite tunes.
- Listen to music: play new songs or old favorites. You can do this right at your desk. If you haven’t listened to music for a long long time, this simple step can feel like such a game-changer.
- Picture the moon or some other place in outerspace: This is one of my favorites. Outer space is real. It’s quiet, peaceful and beautiful. And it’s almost entirely void of human drama. Someday soon you may be able to travel to outer space.
- Look at old photo albums: think about the good old days. I’m sure there are some bad old days too, but that’s ok. The bad days existed in order to make you who you are today. Try to rekindle some of the excitement and creativity of your youth. That’s who you are at your core.
- Look out the window: Just look out the window and observe the world going about its day. Let your eyes really soak up the light. Stare at objects or people and think about their purpose and how they’re connected to everything else in the world.
- Draw a small picture: Some people are good at drawing, and some just need practice. Doodling is very underrated. Even if you need practice, start with a stick figure, and just slowly add details to it.
Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone some times. This will open up doors for you, help you build and maintain your confidence, and remind you that there’s a big world out there ready to welcome you as you pursue your dreams.
What did I miss regarding mindfulness? Any other steps that can build mindfulness. Comment, like and share!