How much attention do you pay to what you are doing at any given moment? Robin Wheeler suggests that the habit of "mindfulness", being fully focused on whatever we're doing, can help us perform at our peak.

Can you be mindful at high speed? This is the knack you need in today's world.

Everything is moving faster. The evidence is everywhere and the feeling is palpable. There is an acceleration in the evolutionary pace in business and the world. The unconscious human condition is to be swept along, and to run and think and work faster, while getting drawn away from yourself. Speed without depth feels heady but it is senseless.

You need to be on a journey into yourself. That is of primary importance, whatever you do. That has always been the case, but now it is central to thriving in the new economy. It makes life meaningful. It makes business work. You need to be yourself for a living, which means going at your best pace, using your intelligence. That comes from being conscious and mindful in whatever you do.

Mindfulness is how you stay alert yet relaxed, while in tune with the outer change. It is how you take the surface-level speed in your stride, while you grow deeper into yourself. It is how you find fulfilment in your career and add real value.

So mindfulness is the single most significant skill in business today. Although, it is not really a skill, it is a state of mind. More accurately, even, it is a state of no-mind. It is a higher state of consciousness that can be applied to anything and everything.

The consciousness with which you do something transforms it. Mindfulness makes you more alert, innovative, and responsive, and it helps you connect with people. It makes you more intelligent. And, it makes you happy!

If you live in your head, your mind works overtime. With today’s volume of change, your thinking never stops, even while you sleep. That is, if you do sleep! You cannot keep this up because you never get a chance to rest and reflect. Overworked, you are never at your peak.

Your peak is in just one thing: being present. Being here now, and doing everything with presence, with mindfulness. It is simple, but it demands all of you. When you find yourself drifting off into thought, or feeling tense, bring yourself back. Your presence will grow and you will learn to operate in it.

Do everything mindfully. Whatever you are doing, do only that and nothing else. Catch yourself running up and down, thinking frantically, and feeling like you are going nowhere. Catch yourself, slow down, and come back to the present.

Tune in to what is happening around you and inside you. Watch your thinking and feeling. When you are unidentified with them, you are far more discerning. From the position of the one watching, you are calm, lucid and effective. You are in the flow.

When you are walking somewhere, just walk. Watch yourself walk. Be in the present and experience it fully. It is not a goal or a means to an end, the present is the end itself.

When you are working on the computer, watch yourself. The space of watching is where creativity comes from. When you are talking with someone, watch yourself. Instead of thinking what you are going to say next, simply listen.

And watch. Whatever happens next, you will be there. And that, these days, is what you get paid for.

Robin Wheeler is a professional speaker and author of the INSIGHTS and FURTHER INSIGHTS books. Visit www.robinwheeler.co.za for more information.

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