Mind Full or Mindful?

12 October, 2021
Life

In a world where it is easy to get triggered by the actions of others, in a world where it is easy to become distracted by external influences, and in a world where it feels like we are often making decisions in a hurry, it is easy to act from a place where our mind is full, rather than a place where we are mindful. Acting with our minds full may mean that we are not congruent to our values, whereas being mindful allows us to stop and think about the impact of our actions and their outcomes.

Mindfulness is the practice of being present and aware of what you are feeling in any given moment without placing judgment around your thoughts. It helps to reduce stress and it also relaxes your body. When you are mindful, you are aware of your feelings in any given moment.

If you can pay attention to the experiences around you, you are also able to choose the beliefs that you draw from those experiences. Through becoming more mindful, you can choose your attitudes, and as a result, you are also able to choose your reactions.

Becoming more mindful in your day-to-day life will see you feeling more relaxed, more grateful, and more appreciative of your surroundings.

Mindfulness also allows you to see that in any given moment, everyone is doing the best they can.

So how do you begin to become more mindful?

Below are 5 quick wins to help get you started:

Step 1: Set your daily intention.

When you wake up in the morning, choose how you would like to show up for both yourself and those around you. This may include your children, your spouse, or your colleagues at work. What three words would you use to describe your best self and how would you like others to describe you?

Step 2: Plan out your mornings.

Instead of just jumping out of bed to begin your day, take some time to be alone. Set you alarm a little earlier, sit in silence, do a meditation, go for a walk, or do whatever works for you, to begin the day so that you can feel a sense of calm and control.

Step 3: Visualise your larger goals.

Rome was not built in a day, and likewise your dreams and goals are a work in progress. Spend a couple of minutes each day to visualise where you want to be, or that star you want to reach. On days when it seems too hard, too far away, or unachievable, try and just focus on the small steps that will slowly get you heading in the right direction.

Step 4: Listen to your body when it needs to rest.

Be sure to recharge. Do you have daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly recharge habits? Remember, you are not a robot, and most of the tasks on your ‘to do’ list can wait. Listen to your body when it becomes tired and take some time out for yourself when needed. Doing this will make you much more productive later.

Step 5: End your day on a positive note.

Before you go to bed, instead of focusing on what went wrong, and looping on those thoughts, begin practicing what went right. What were you grateful for? What did you achieve? What progress did you make? Taking this one step further, what are you specifically grateful for that was unique to that day? When we create the space to see what makes us happy and what we are grateful for, it is much easier to welcome more of that into our life.Step

Do this and you will be well and truly on your way to living a successful, purposeful and fully charged life EVERYDAY!

Written by

Belinda Colubriale