Watch this inspiring, funny, ten-minute TED talk How to Gain Control of Your Free Time by time management expert Laura Vanderkam where she shares strategies for finding time for what really matters in life – whether it’s our career, relationships, or self-care. That even when we’re busy…there is time.
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A Great Book (and Video) for “Meditators with Day Jobs”
Richard Gere, actor and activist, discusses with Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson, two New York Times-bestselling authors, about their new book Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body.
They claim you have everything you need, that in fact, your mind is primed and ready to go and that it’s really about cultivating a practice of accessing what you already have.
That you can be a “meditator with a day job”, that is you don’t have to be a monk or yogi to start seeing the benefits – and that with as little eight-minutes of meditation, you can start to experience benefits.
Value of Meditation:
- Changes your brain and reshapes its circuitry in positive and lasting ways.
- Keeps you younger by slowing down the process of aging on the cellular and brain level.
- Cultivates qualities of love, empathy, joy, compassion, and kindness.
- Even helps with multitasking by keeping your attention sustained as you alternate back and forth between tasks.
- Tames your mind and enhances your ability to concentrate.
- And so much more….
Unfortunately leaders this is one thing you can’t delegate – you have to establish your own meditation ritual and do the practice yourself to see the benefits. Advice: practice, practice, and practice!
What the World Needs …
“The world needs leaders with unbridled emotional intelligence, shameless compassion, and abundant communication skills.”
– Elizabeth Lesser, Omega Institute Cofounder
When Perfect Becomes the Enemy of the Good
“Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.”
– Confucius
My client recently shared with me that he felt overwhelmed and exhausted – that his “all or nothing” approach was getting in the way of finalizing slides for an upcoming presentation to the CFO.
During our conversation, my client talked about how he was spending too much time writing and rewriting his power point slides to achieve a perfect outcome– that is a “perfect” presentation.
He realized it was time to let go. Other important tasks were becoming bottlenecked and his tendency towards perfection was now creating a time management issue.
When does striving for perfection get in our way – and good is simply good enough?
Strategies for achieving results without getting bogged down by perfection:
- What am I trying to achieve?
- What are my priorities?
- Am I able to delegate in this situation? Remember delegation is an opportunity for your direct reports to develop their own abilities as well as give you time to be more strategic and show up as a leader.
- What is the most efficient use of my time to achieve these results? One client who was hyper focused on one project, listed out his other projects and within five minutes he decided how much time to spend on each project and where to let go. As a result, he became more efficient, centered, and relaxed.
- How can I self-check to make sure that I’m not getting caught up in my perfectionistic tendencies? Is there someone I trust who can help me keep perspective?
- How might humor help me gently acknowledge my perfectionist tendencies and get back on track to achieving a more realistic, efficient outcome?
Remember perfection is an illusion, do your best, and check in with someone you trust (the reality check) to know when it’s time to keep going and when it’s time to let go. Good luck!
Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.
Take a few minutes to enjoy and be inspired by Louie Schwartzberg’s gorgeous TED video. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day. I personally love the meditation that starts at 4.25.