Attention

You are exactly where you need to be

You are exactly where you need to be

How would things change for you if you knew that wherever you are in your life, is exactly where you should be?

In other words, regardless of whether you're satisfied or unsatisfied with your life, or experiencing immense happiness or working through an extremely difficult situation, that any and ALL of these experiences are exactly where you should be?

On the surface, it might not be easy to wrap our minds around these ideas. After all, aren't we happier when we're constantly keeping busy, achieving things and in pursuit of something better? Yes, perhaps, at least for some of the time, this might appear true. 

But when we're constantly focused on the road ahead, as opposed to where we are right now, there are some surprising consequences.....

What's the point of silence?

What's the point of silence?

I remember my first retreat only too well.

I had announced to some of my work colleagues at the time, that I was heading to a monastery for 8 days of total silence with a bunch of monks. The look on their faces said it all. Heck..I had the same look on my face, which equated to: "Am I nuts? I'm a globe-trotting marketing executive and I'm voluntarily going to go spend my vacation with some monks in complete silence, sitting and meditating all day." 

So what's the point in silence you may be wondering...?

Is flow the secret to happiness?

Is flow the secret to happiness?

"THE MORE FLOW WE EXPERIENCE IN DAILY LIFE, THE MORE LIKELY WE ARE TO FEEL HAPPY OVERALL."         

Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a leading authority on positive psychology.

A good friend of mine living in Singapore asked me recently if I'm finding 'a flow' with all I'm learning and doing - as a side note - I recently transitioned from a 19 year career in marketing and branding to move into the business of emotional resilience.

I digress, back to flow.............

I LOVE that she asked that question.

BECAUSE OVER THE PAST MONTH, I FOUND AN UNEXPECTED..........

An age of distraction: Why you probably won't finish reading this.

An age of distraction: Why you probably won't finish reading this.

In the few minutes it will take to read this post, it's highly likely you will pause to answer a text, check your phone, glance at a status update, or perhaps your mind will wander into things you have to do today.

DID YOU KNOW?

#1 47% of the time, our minds are in a state of 'partial attention'. When this occurs we are not focused on what we are doing and we are less happy.

#2 The average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds. Meanwhile, goldfish

3 powerful ways to quiet your worried mind

3 powerful ways to quiet your worried mind

Constant worrying takes a heavy toll.

It can keep us up at night and make us edgy during the day. We agonize about matters that often never occur. So why is it so difficult to stop worrying?

Worrying is a built-in feature of our brain's safety processing. It's part of our fight or flight response system which is never turned off. It puts us into a state of heightened awareness so we're prepared for...

10 ways to listen better

10 ways to listen better

Listening well can be one of the most important skills we have. How well we listen has a profound impact on our life and work and on the quality of our relationships with others.

Here are ten lessons I've learned from mindful listening that have helped me to better understand the difference between only hearing someone rather than deeply listening to them.  

1. CREATE SPACE

Pay attention to the urge to speak or offer input too soon. Hold that feeling in your awareness and continue to listen rather than respond too quickly. 

2. DON'T JUDGE

While judging can be a helpful way to evaluate, maintaining a non-judging, curious attitude can encourage the speaker to relax and be more...

I don't have time

I don't have time

I think time is an illusion.

The more we fill our lives with time-saving devices the more rushed we are. While the possibilities of information technology are potentially endless, they also put us under more pressure than ever to get more done, in less time. 

At some points we may feel there is never enough time to do what we need to do and time passes too quickly.  At other times...