First thing this morning, I spent a few minutes ensuring that I was awake... mentally and psychologically. I meditated. I was mindful. I now know that, at the outset, I did the right thing. But, have I done the right thing since the outset? In other words, has that mindfulness been brought to bear on what I'm doing now? Is my mindfulness impacting what I do and how I do it? Or was my morning meditation a prelude to nothing?

Meditation alone is not enough. If you don't join the dots - if you don't ensure that your developing mindfulness is maintained as you live your life during the day - then you're heading for trouble... it's like doing a great gym workout and then going down the pub for half a dozen pints with the lads - you think you're looking after your health because you went to the gym!!!

You've got to keep yourself on your toes, be constantly on your guard, never take your mindfulness for granted. After all, you are surrounded by normal crazy people - the temptation to join them is great. Your mind is peppered by 70,000 thoughts - all of them from inside your own head! - the temptation to entertain and be entertained by those thoughts is great.

Starting your day mindfully is only the start. Follow the steps in today's Quick Tip (above right) to keep yourself on the straight and narrow. And, if your stray, don't worry about it, don't beat yourself up - just pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start over... everything results from what you do - and how you do it - now.