🐦‍🔥 How to Transform Your Life During Times of Great Uncertainty 🐦‍🔥

    

A mentor of mine has been following a disciplined mindfulness practice for more than 15 years. He says it has helped him stay calm, clear and focused on the present moment.

It shows. Although he has a mountain of responsibilities, I’ve rarely seen him looking stressed out or anxious.

I thought he was onto to something. So, I began a mindfulness practice myself. I've be doing mindfulness exercises for 10 years and found them to be beneficial on many levels.

 

Why is mindfulness practice so helpful?

Because the present moment is really all we have. There was never a time when your life wasn’t not now, nor will there ever be. Your life is and always be “this moment.”

The odd thing about this realization is that it is both bone-crushingly obvious and, at the same time, seldom acknowledged.

Each day we’re caught up in our own personal dramas. We struggle to meet the deadline, finish the project, make the appointment, pick up the kids, drop off the car, stop at the bank, visit the folks, plan the dinner…driving around, we are swept up in the recollections of the past or more likely, endless planning and worrying about the future.

By living in a state of distraction, we deny ourselves the only time we have to be fully present. Right now.

Trust me, you cannot savor your Asian chicken salad with the water chestnuts and sliced tangerines (Or a deep-fried pork sandwich and a side of curly fries) if you’re worrying about next week’s budget meeting. Nor can you enjoy your afternoon by the lake with your grandson if you’re talking on your device or fuming about something you saw on a news feed.

You can only appreciate the good things in your life when you’re fully present. Doing this allows you to minimize your negatives, too.

All of us face situations that are depressing, frustrating, or maddening. Yet, more often than not, our anxieties are the result of our own faulty thinking. It may be tough to admit, but it is our mindset—rather than the situation itself—that creates the negative emotions.

As Shakespeare wrote, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking make it so.” Truly, it is our thoughts that torment us, not our problems.

Some may disagree. After all if you have a child with a serious drug addiction or a parent that is dying of cancer, the problem isn’t in your mind. It’s real.

But there are only two kinds of bad situations in the world: those that can be solved and those that can’t. If you have a situation that can be solved, get busy fixing it. If you have one that can’t, get busy accepting it.

After all, your thoughts determine your happiness. The good news is that you can control them. That’s the power behind Reinhold Niebuhr’s well-known Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can; and Wisdom to know the difference.

 

Click here to read a related post: The Serenity Prayer as a Pathway to Better Leadership  

Incidentally, while Niebuhr wrote this prayer roughly 85 years ago, there is an Irish rhyme dating back to 1695 that expresses a remarkably similar sentiment:

For every ailment under the sun,

There is a remedy, or there is none:

If there be one, try to find it;

If there be none, never mind it.

But when something truly sad or tragic happens, how do you keep from minding it? There is no easy answer to this one. Some wounds only time can heal. But returning to the present moment can help.

As Eckhart Tolle wrote in The Power of Now, “Narrow your life down to this moment. Your life situation may be full of problems—most life situations are—but find out if you have any problem at this moment. Not tomorrow or in ten minutes, but now. Do you have a problem now?”

Tolle says it’s impossible to feel troubled when your attention is full in the Now. You have situations that need to be dealt with or accepted—yes. But only worries about the future or regrets about the past can turn into personal quagmires.

Skeptics may argue that altering your thinking doesn’t change the problem, just your perception of it. But that’s the magic of it. Higher awareness is often that prelude to a solution.

Tolle says, “Accept—then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept is as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, no against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.”

How do you get started? Ironically, by becoming conscious of your lack of consciousness—something the majority of us never do—you take the first step toward an elevated state of mind. Your ability to enjoy your life, and deal successfully with your problems, increases the moment you become fully present.

Beware though. I found that living in the present moment means abandoning your old ways of thinking. In the present moment there is no judging, cherishing your opinions, or nurturing discontent.

It means slowing down. Relaxing. Focusing on your breath. Listening to the breeze. Or just taking a good look around.

You have the opportunity to enhance your life simply by choosing where to direct your attention. Where should that be?

Right here. Right now.

“The past is history, the future’s a mystery, today’s a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.”

Check out these related posts: 

 

7 Way to Boost Your Focus in Culture of Distraction. (2 min read)

 

Build Resiliency Against Stress By Managing Your Inner Dialogue (5 min read)

 

To your greater success and equanimity.

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile: 323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, energy storage, facility services & maintenance, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services,  real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.

⏰How to Use Timeblocking to Get Stuff Done Without Losing Your Mind ⏰

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s be honest: “just timeblock your work” sounds easy until your calendar looks like a game of Tetris and your to-do list starts multiplying like laundry. As a leader, you probably know that blocking time for specific tasks can help you focus. The tricky part is actually doing it in a way that doesn’t fall apart by 10:17 a.m. Here’s how to merge your calendar and your to-do list without turning your day into a productivity boot camp.

1.      Start with a quick self-planning meeting

Before the day runs away with your coffee mug, give yourself 5-15 minutes to plan. Treat it like a real meeting, even if the only attendee is you and your slightly suspicious-looking calendar. Look at what needs to happen today, what can wait, and what absolutely should not be shoved into “future me’s” problem pile.

• Pick your top three priorities for the day. If everything is important, congratulations, nothing is.
• Block time for work tasks, but also add breaks, exercise, reading, lunch, and personal time. Your brain is not a toaster; it needs more than being plugged in. Estimate realistically. If a task usually takes one hour, don’t give it 12 minutes and a motivational speech.
• Encourage your team to do the same so everyone knows when they are focused, available, or hiding from unnecessary meetings.

2.    Use the magic phrase: one thing at a time

Distractions are sneaky. One minute you’re writing a strategy memo, and the next minute you’re answering a message, checking a spreadsheet, and wondering why office chairs are so expensive. When that happens, come back to the basic rule of timeblocking: one thing at a time.

• Say it out loud to yourself or your team: “One thing at a time.” Yes, it may feel cheesy. Do it anyway.
• Turn off notifications during focus blocks, or at least silence the apps that behave like tiny panic buttons.
• Keep a “parking lot” note nearby. If a random idea pops up, write it down and return to the task instead of chasing it into the productivity wilderness. 
• Use a timer so the block feels real. A visible countdown can turn a vague task into a mini deadline.

3.    Build in buffers, because life loves plot twists

A perfect calendar is usually a fantasy creature, right next to inbox zero and meetings that end early. Tasks shift, people need answers, and sometimes your “quick call” grows legs and becomes a full-blown expedition. That’s why flexibility is part of the system, not a sign that you failed.

• Add 10- to 15-minute buffers between big tasks or meetings so you have time to reset.
• Group similar tasks together, like email, approvals, or quick admin work, so you aren’t switching gears every five minutes.
• If something urgent comes up, move a block instead of pretending you can magically do two things at once.
• At the end of the day, review what worked and what didn’t. Your calendar is not carved into stone tablets.

Make timeblocking easier for your team

If you lead a team, timblocking works best when it becomes a shared habit, not a secret solo productivity ritual. Set expectations about focus time, response times, and meeting boundaries. People should not need detective skills to figure out when someone is available.

• ·    Use calendar labels or clear titles like “Deep work,” “Email catch-up,” or “Team support time.”
• Protect focus blocks the same way you protect important meetings.
• Set team norms for urgent messages so “quick question” does not become the unofficial company ringtone.
• Celebrate progress, not just busyness. A packed calendar is not a personality trait.

Keep adjusting as you go

The point of timeblocking is not to create the world’s most beautiful calendar and then feel personally attacked when reality changes it. The point is to focus, make progress, and move forward with more intention. If a task becomes more important, shift your schedule. If a block was too short, adjust tomorrow. If you completely misjudge how long something takes, welcome to being human.

Timeblocking is less about controlling every minute and more about giving your attention a home. Start small, stay flexible, and keep coming back to one task at a time. You don’t need a perfect system to have a better day; you just need a plan that helps you begin, continue, and finish. And that’s a win worth putting on the calendar.

Now go forth, block that time, protect your focus, and give your calendar a fighting chance. You’ve got this!

 

Peter Mclees Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant
 

SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step...
Interested in learning how to develop your organization's leadership capability, culture, and employee engagement ? We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees or a SMART Development consultant please 

contact: Email: petercmclees@gmail.com or Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, energy storage and facilities management, distribution centers, food production facilities, wealth management services, real estate services, nonprofits, government agencies and other businesses create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth.

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.