Spoiler: Number Five will be Life Changing!!
Are you someone who is easily distracted? Me to. Funny, the other day I was pumping gas at a local gas station and pulled out my credit card from my wallet… The action was no big deal but my mind went on a roller coaster of thoughts.
Seeing my credit card reminded me that I had to pay the credit card bill…which reminded me that I charged airline tickets on the card so it has a higher balance than usual…which reminded me that I am heading to Colorado in December so I have to make sure I let my staff know…which reminded me that I have to hold a staff meeting to discuss calendars. All because I pulled out my credit card just to fill my car with gas.
I think that qualifies as being distracted, do you agree? Is it just me or does that happen to anyone else? (Please say yes)
I remember reading a book to my children when they were very young called, “If you give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Numeroff. Sometimes my mind wanders from one thing to the next and don’t even remember where it started. Here’s the text of the book and see if you could relate to it or not?
“If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk.
When you give him the milk, he’ll probably ask you for a straw. When he’s finished, he’ll ask you for a napkin.
Then he’ll want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn’t have a milk mustache. When he looks in the mirror, he might notice his hair needs a trim. So he’ll probably ask for a pair of nail scissors.
When he’s finished giving himself a trim, he’ll want a broom to sweep it up. He’ll start sweeping. He might get carried away and sweep every room in the house. He may even end up washing the floors as well!
When he’s done, he’ll probably want to take a nap. You’ll have to fix up a little box for him with a blanket and a pillow. He’ll crawl in, make himself comfortable and fluff the pillow a few times. He’ll probably ask you to read him a story. So you’ll read to him from one of your books, and he’ll ask to see the pictures.
When he looks at the pictures, he’ll get so excited he’ll want to draw one of his own. He’ll ask for paper and crayons. He’ll draw a picture. When the picture is finished, he’ll want to sign his name with a pen. Then he’ll want to hang his picture on your refrigerator. Which means he’ll need Scotch tape. He’ll hang up his drawing and stand back to look at it.
Looking at the refrigerator will remind him that he’s thirsty. So… he’ll ask for a glass of milk.
And chances are if he asks you for a glass of milk, he’s going to want a cookie to go with it.”
I will honestly tell you, this happened quite often to me in the past and still does at times. I have learned to cope and happy to say that episodes like my credit card gas experience doesn’t happen like it used to.
What I have found is that meditation and mindfulness practice is the solution for distractibility. It has helped me tremendously and in turn, it has helped many people I work with at Empowered Mastery and my Martial Arts students. You may have heard me say this before and I’ll say it again, we have an average of 60,000 thoughts a day and the majority of those thoughts are what we could call…non-essential. It is the busyness of the mind at a conscious level where those thoughts continue to come in and have no significant meaning. Some people call it “monkey mind” or “mind chatter” or “mind clutter” which is exactly what happened with my credit card episode and the mouse with his cookie. There is a solution…
The only way to push through the “mind chatter” is to slow down your brainwaves and allow thoughts to arise from your sub-conscious mind. Then and only then will your thoughts be more meaningful. You’re able to find solutions for challenges you’ve been facing and in some circumstances, even epiphanies or life altering ideas come to the surface of your mind. It has happened many times in my life, only when I was in meditation or a mindful activity. It never happens in a “monkey mind”.
Mindful Activities:
A mindful activity is something that you do where it requires you to hyper-focus on a single action or moment keeping your mind focused on one thing. Right before I wrote this article, I was running on a recreation path listening to an audio book, appreciating the environment and able to clearly appreciate what I was listening to. It was a mindful activity. When I train in the martial arts, I am only focused on my training and the “monkey mind” has subsided for the time being. The same is when I write. I am focused only on what I am doing and because of this, there is an energy flow and nature takes over. Sometimes it seems that I am not even doing the running, training or writing and it is an outer-body experience. An energy flows to and through me easily and effortlessly, an experience that is hard to explain. This is where the subconscious has taken over and you have slowed down your mind maximizing its true capability.
Meditation:
There cannot be enough said about the benefits of meditation. The last two articles I have posted on “Why we should practice meditation” and “How to practice meditation” so please take a look. Meditation has the ability to slow down your brainwaves, break through the “monkey mind” and tap into your sub-conscious mind. I remember one morning practicing an hour meditation and about half way through I had a break-through idea come to me. I was frustrated for a moment because I had allotted the time for meditation and knew I was only about half way done but I didn’t want to lose the idea. I stopped my meditation, wrote down my idea and then continued on. (I felt guilty for stopping but it was a really good idea that I didn’t want to miss)
Later that week when I was having tea with Grandmaster Byung Min Kim (My spiritual mentor and Taekwondo Grandmaster) I explained to him what had happened. He said that happens to him as well and recommended that I meditate with a pen and paper next to me so I could capture the ideas should they arise. That is exactly what I do to this day and I still find myself writing down things in the middle of my meditation training.
Here are five things that you could do today…I mean today to break through the “mind clutter” and tap into more meaningful thoughts, ideas and solutions.
1. Start practicing meditation:
Read the last two articles where I discussed extensively on an easy and effective way to practice meditation. You will be amazed on how great you will feel after. Remember the saying, “Everyone should meditate for 20 minutes a day. If you don’t have time to meditate for 20 minutes, you should meditate for an hour.” Believe me, it’s a lot easier than you think.
2. Engage in mindful activities:
This is simple as well. In fact, I wrote a book on this subject called “Mindful Meditation for Busy Lives” that will be released in January…(more to follow on that). Maybe it is going for a run, a walk in the woods, par-take in art classes, cross word puzzles, gardening or anything that you enjoy. Many people as my daughter has taken up adult coloring books as a meditative mindful activity and she absolutely loves it.
3. Stay away from Social Media:
Social Media is the ultimate distraction. Millions of people wake up in the morning and the first thing they do is check Facebook or Twitter or whatever. Now, I enjoy Facebook. I love to see what my friends are up to but not at the expense of what I am doing. Only on a free moment will I do so. If I have a task or project to complete, I will do what I have to do and then if time allows, check Facebook.
4. Stay away from technology:
OK, stay away from Social Media is one thing but just step away from anything technology related. Get away from your smart phone, email, social media, television, computer and give yourself the ability to focus on one thing. It is amazingly liberating when you do so. Give your family a 24 hour time with no technology. Also, it will help everyone appreciate time with it and time without it.
5. Sign up for the “Quick Start to a Healthy You” Virtual Summit:
This is a must….Empowered Mastery has organized an incredible FREE event with experts in the fields of nutrition, alternative exercise, yoga, intimacy, weight lifting, self-defense and of course, meditation. It is a free virtual summit and you have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. Click the link and sign up today!!!!!!!
In closing, please find the time to take care of yourself. I know you have a ton of responsibilities, we all do. Wouldn’t it be better to maximize your time to get the best results possible? By being mindful in your approach and able focus more clearly, you will get the most out of your day. Quality time with your work or profession, quality time with your family, quality time with those you care about is a lot better than just time. Think about that…
I look forward to seeing you at the “Quick Start to a Healthy You” Virtual Summit so don’t forget to register today. Here’s the link to make it even easier for you.
All the best
Respectfully,
Chris Berlow