Personal and Leadership Development

No: 513 - March 23, 2017

On my last visit to Dublin, I found myself on the 6.37am train into town - an experience that, many years ago, was akin to riding a Ghost Train - everyone was fast asleep. However, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, everyone is now... well, dead from the neck up! It no longer shocks me to find people in need of reconstructive surgery to remove their 'phone from their hand. But what really gets me is what people are doing, early in the morning, to mentally prepare themselves for the day's work ahead. Some are on Facebook, some are playing Candycrush (or something along those lines, I couldn't really tell you even if my life depended upon it) but an increasing number of people are getting ready for the day ahead by watching movies or series - Game of Thrones, House of Cards, God knows what. Nice to know that, by the time they actually get to work, they'll already be exhausted from their trip to Fantasy Land.

	A Quick Tip
	RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
	Often, the things we have to do to bring about change in our lives appear difficult or, at least challenging - we're not used to moving beyond our comfort zone. But the only thing that will move you towards where you want to go is new focused action. If you have something you need to do, however challenging our unpalatable it might be, just do it... forget about the useless thoughts that abide only in your own head - the ones that are holding you back.

	DO YOU WANT TO FOCUS? DO YOU WANT TO BANISH STRESS?
	In one intensive but relaxed day, you will learn what is wrong with our normal neural "wiring" and how, as a result, our mind normally works against us. You will learn how to:
	Purposefully focus - it doesn't come naturally, we're actually "wired" to not focus Set goals in a way that energizes your subconscious into focused effortless action Make your very best decisions and solve problems with ease - your brain can do this effortlessly Banish stress - we're ordinarily "wired" to be stressed
	The Psychology of Success will take place in Dublin on Wednesday, May 10th. You can find all the details here... and read participants' testimonials here

COULD YOU BE BETTER OFF BEING MINDLESS?

I was recently chatting with a client who claimed to be a consummate expert at keeping an eye on his state of mind and mindfulness during the course of the day. It is, of course, in the course of the day that we really do need to keep ourselves on our toes for, with the best will in the world, ten or fifteen minutes total clarity, through meditation, at 6.30 in the morning can quickly turn sour if the train (the 6.36am above, perhaps!) is late, or your car breaks down and, when you get to work, you discover the system's down or last night's production was a disaster, or clients or customers, the boss or HQ is screaming for action... when you'd planned a totally different day for yourself!!

OK - got that off my chest! - back to my consummate expert. In the Mindfulness Measurement Index, he had given himself 10 out of 10 for the statement "I deliberately stop during the day to see how I'm doing"... I don't see that very often! However, he'd also given himself 10 out of 10 for "I regularly find myself running late..." or a whopping (not) 1 out of 10 for "I can easily stop myself when I find myself behaving inappriately"! What, he's really good at noticing how he's doing or behaving, but damn all use at doing anything about it. As a coaching friend said to me "He's great at self-awareness and terrible at self-management"!

We could develop all the awareness in the world (something you definitely won't do if you start your day by watching Game of Thrones!) but, until we use our awareness to take right action, not only is it of no real use, it's actually dangerous... I could be aware of the magic of the moment but do nothing in the moment, I could be aware of the singing birds and the blue sky to the extent that I forget to do what I need to do to get to where I want to go, so lost am I in the mindfulness of the moment. You'd be better off staying mindless because, at the very least, the mindless are wired to make it through the day without doing themselves any self-harm!

Awareness is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Same goes for mindfulness - our mindfulness enables us fully live our lives. And living your life means getting fired up to not just experience the joy of the moment but the exhileration that goes with doing what you need to do and the satisfaction of seeing tangible results.