Bizlife Smarts

Mindfulness is a term we encounter quite frequently nowadays. Like all trending terminology and catchphrases, it is definitely overused. I prefer to talk about ‘being mindful’. Let’s look at the real meaning of mindfulness, its impact and potential.

We should start with the word defined, in order for us to be on the same page.

Definition: Mindfulness [ mahynd-fuh l-nis ] – noun

the state or quality of being mindful or aware of something.

Psychology.

1. a technique in which one focuses one’s full attention only on the present, experiencing thoughts, feelings, and sensations but not judging them: The practice of mindfulness can reduce stress and physical pain.
2. the mental state maintained by the use of this technique.

Why am I writing about this?

First separating ivory tower jargon from real life

How many of you have heard the expression, ‘It’s not all about you!’? People say that to you, when they think you are being self-centred, petulant or harbour other such derogatories towards you. Well, I’m of a different mindset. It is all about you! Everything; from how you treat yourself, to how you treat and interact with others, begins from your mind and inner self. When your mind is good, those are good; however alternately, when your mind is cluttered, hurting or bad, then those tend to go pear-shaped.

I’ve observed interpersonal conflict become the default setting in today’s social interactions. This has led me to look at my own life experiences and observations of others, to gauge our hope in salvaging the situation. In this age of social media, abrasiveness appears to have become the lingua franca. https://bizlifesmarts.com/deleting-social-media. This has therefore led to work, personal and family life becoming more adversarial than collaborative. We see it either with kids and parents in continual conflict, friends and acquaintances sniping at each other, colleagues putting each other down to advance, or competitors trying to destroy each other’s reputations. At this rate, the end game will be our mutual and universal destruction!

Since time immemorial, human beings have built things through collaboration. That is why we talk about allies and teamwork. We need these in our families, in our social circles and in our workplaces. As society has advanced, modernisation has brought more diverse communities and characters together, and the digital age has broken down the barriers of distance and borders. Thus, diverse cultures, languages and personalities come together more often, both face-to-face and virtually.

Being mindful in the digital age

So, we find ourselves in a situation where the digital age has brought with it a reduction of civility. The sheer speed with which social media has molded people’s offline behaviour, rather than the other way around, has been astounding. Although I don’t consider myself to be a nostalgic, old-fogey; hearkening back to the “good old days”. Sayings like, “you only get to make a first impression once”, and “putting your best foot forward”, were all about how to best present yourself to others. I believe that this adage still holds in this day and age, but in a twisted way.

Nowadays, putting your best foot forward is using fake profile pics and vanity laced images of “living your best life”. First impressions are a bit more complicated, and make you wonder whether people are even concerned about them being good. As a leading social media entrepreneur said the other day, ‘We are always happy on FB, glamorous on IG and bitchy on Twitter’. Often, all these are about how they make me feel; and not about how the way I feel, makes those around me feel. The “me”, in all these instances, is selfish and self-centred, and not being mindful.

Further, the speed with which people post and respond on social media, makes you wonder whether they thought about their post before they did so. That is because the typos and “foot-in-mouth” statements indicate that someone is simply posting without care or thought. These streets are littered with the bodies of those who have issued apologies for, or deleted posts; suspended or closed social media accounts; or just generally regretted what they posted online. They could have avoided it all by being mindful.

From certificates to emotional intelligence

As technology makes many professions and manual corporate tasks obsolete, organisations will be recruiting for different attributes. Outside of technical professions like engineers, IT specialists, physicians and biotechnologists, many occupations such as accountants, marketers, travel agents and bank tellers are likely to soon be greatly diminished or obsolete. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/31/the-future-of-work-wont-be-about-degrees-it-will-be-about-skills.html. A key component of the new hiring will be a person’s skills, competencies and the ability to learn and adapt. Underpinning this is mindfulness.

By being in the moment and opening your mind, you are able to harness emotion, wisdom, vision and power; to become self-aware, intuitive, attentive, creative and decisive. In a fast moving and fast changing environment, these are the attributes that thrive.

Eliminating murkiness and nurturing clarity

Our inner selves tend to clutter our minds from within, and today’s world presents stimuli and information overload from the outside. Because of this, if we don’t get it under control, we risk moments or extended periods of mind-fog, and the emotional and psychological baggage that comes with it. That is the antithesis of being mindful.

You know those people who forget something you told them 5 minutes ago; like your name? Or, those people who don’t let you finish your sentence, as if they already know what you’re going to say? That’s because they are not mindful. They are so self-absorbed in their own thoughts, objectives, mindset and desires, that have little awareness of those around them, and low emotional intelligence. It’s bad enough when that person is your contemporary or your superior, but now imagine when that person is you, as a subordinate, and you exhibit that lack of mindfulness. Forget about not making a good first impression, because the 2nd, 3rd and ongoing impressions that everyone has of you, will be no good.

The path to mindfulness

The effect of a trained mind, to you and those around you, is like the benefit of spectacles to someone who has impaired vision. It gives you clarity to see that which you couldn’t previously clearly see. As I thought of this, the Johnny Nash song, ‘I can see clearly now’ came to mind, and my curiousity then led me to look into the real meaning of that song, as captured succinctly by Paul Cummings https://www.paulcummings.com/blog/i-can-see-clearly-now. The song brings out so many similar concepts to mindfulness, such as perceptions of life, moments of clarity, positive outlook and powerful vision. So, how do you get achieve that state?!

1. – Start By Standing Still And Calm Your Breathing. …
2. – Meditate To Get Your Spirit, Mind And Body In Sync. …
3. – Then Focus It All Through Your Body. …
4. – Increase Your Self, Spatial & Emotional Awareness. …
5. – Watch The World Go By, without FOMO, YOLO & such baloney. …
6. – Take Control Of Your Thoughts. …
7. – Give Those Around You The Opportunity To Be Heard. …
8. – Make ‘Everyone Winning’, More Important Than ‘Me Winning’. …
9. – Develop A Keen Antenna For Your Impact On Those Around You. …
10. – Always Take 10 Minutes To Do Nothing, But Absorb The Situation.

So, What’s the Outtake?

As our world continues to grow in disruption and turmoil, we need to build our ability to thrive in it. The increasing incidence of anxiety, depression, anger, conflict and violence in today’s world, are evidence of much of society not being mindful. I’m sure we all know more and more people around us undergoing emotional and psychological turmoil; if not even we ourselves. Being mindful is the counterpoint to this, which will bring us patience, peace, harmony, fulfillment and joy. This in turn will radiate to those around us, and those we engage with. In today’s world it is ultimately these more mindful, who others will be drawn to, and who people will not only want to spend time with, but to work with…and thrive.

For strategic advisory that will leverage uncommon sense and drive your bottom line, get in touch with us on [email protected]