Do your best to be non-judgemental today... OK, it's not easy. In fact, it's almost impossible, because our autopilot is permanently in judgemental mode - it's how it enables us make it through the day by making everything and everyone predictable. So, let's make today's Tip a little more practical... take ten minutes out today - it might be for a walk, it might just be to sit and watch the world go by - but, for those ten minutes, simply see, feel, hear, smell and taste what is actually going on, while it's going on... awareness in practice.

If you do take ten minutes to attempt to practice today's Quick Tip, you will quickly realize that it is damned difficult to stop judging, for even a couple of minutes. We're at it all the time. The problem with judging, of course, is that we're not judging, we're pre-judging - we're all prejudiced by our own pre-defined thoughts - the thoughts that pre-occupy our mind, that have been pre-occupying our minds since we were too young to know the difference between whether we were judging or not.

Of course, now, we're too old to know the difference - because knowing the difference wouldn't only suggest that we would need to be aware... awareness is a pre-requisite. And, as normal adults, we are not aware, not at all - cognitive psychology proves it and, most tellingly, neuroscience tells us that the key brain structures that are needed for awareness are dormant from adolescence onward.

All these presets in our mind lead inexorably to a preset life - not just a life lived on autopilot but a life preset by what we learned, during our formative years when we hadn't got the ability to discern what was good learning and what would do us down. Preset living should not be mistaken for living. Sure enough, it feels real, we all appear to be in the same boat but, taking on board what UCLA's neurolab tells us, that boat is simply go around in circles.

Perhaps your life feels like that? If you've noticed, then you're half-way there - that, in itself, is a seed of awareness. Chances are, though, that you only get an odd glimpse of this eternal truth and that, on an ordinary day, to paraphrase Paul Simon (showing my age!) you think you're cruising down the highway when you're really slip-sliding away!

Oh dear, that's sad. I mean it - the saddest thing in life is that we're not living it. And that is why you need to practice not judging!

I've two upcoming events scheduled for Dublin: The Psychology of Success is scheduled for take-off again on Wednesday September 7th. Last time - a couple of weeks ago - we had a full house so, if you would like to learn how to take control of your mind and make everything so much easier as a result, you might like to reserve your spot for this Workshop sooner rather than later. You'll find all the details here...

Also in September - Thursday 8th to be exact - I'll be spending the day with a group of "old-stagers" - clients with whom I've worked before. This "Client-Only" day will be, in fact, the culmination of a personalized Program that will run over the Summer months, including an individual exploration of how each participant is getting on - I'll be using the Mindfulness Measurement Index™ as part of this process. Get full details of this Progam here: Purposeful Focus & Tangible Results - Evaluating Your Progress & Stepping Up