I have been an avid follower and fan of Willie Horton’s work for a few years now. I completed his ‘Psychology of Success’ course which I highly recommend. I was delighted when he agreed to do a guest blog post. Thank you, Willie! Find out more about Willie at http://willie-horton.com
Many people have recently asked me how they should deal with difficult situations or people, how they should take bold action, the kind that makes them feel uncomfortable, or how they could simply do what they need to do without “all the stress”.
My answer is always the same: turn up, be present and you’ll do what you need to do effortlessly – no stress involved, no bravery or courage required, no blow-back from those so-called difficult people.
Again, they ask: “but what will I say or do?”. And, again, the answer is simple: when you’re present you know exactly what to say and do, in the right way, at the right time, to get the right result. Presence of mind frees us to do just what you need to do: you will always be the right person, in the right place, at the right time… even when the going gets tough.
This is the real and practical benefit of mindfulness. It is the polar opposite of normal, everyday, reactive mindlessness and, if these benefits were properly understood by those teaching mindfulness, it would be taught in an entirely different fashion.
Mindfulness is not about being happy – it’s about experiencing the joy of getting things done effortlessly, of experiencing daily flow and, most importantly, achieving the kind of life you actually would love to live: from a business, leadership, career, health, fitness and personal perspective.
Being fully present frees us from the thoughts that hold us back. No longer do we worry about doing things that we thought might make us feel uncomfortable or self-conscious. No longer do we doubt ourselves and no longer do we assume that we know what’s going on – with all the consequences that normal reactive (mindless) behaviour creates.
Not only does being mindful or present in the here and now set us free to do the right things effortlessly, it enables us better understand what we really want to achieve, the clearer one’s mind becomes, the clearer we understand exactly what we want out of life, out of our work or career, our relationships… all the way down to this moment, where we understand exactly what we want out of the here and now.
When you know what you want, when you’re sure as to why you turned up and when you inherently understand what is actually going on in the moment, not only do you deal with all life’s daily challenges in a totally different way, you start noticing and creating the opportunities that will lead you to achieve your goals and objectives in a way that the normal thinking mind simply could not imagine.
Normally, in business and in life, we set the goals that we think we want to achieve and use our thinking minds to plan out how they will be achieved. When we are in flow, a world where the baggage of normal mindless thought no longer constrains neither imagination nor vision, our doing mind knows exactly what we need to do to achieve our goals and objectives in an entirely novel way.
And, as a result of actually turning up to our own life in the here and now, we naturally have the kind of presence that makes an impact on everyone around us. In other words, mindfulness doesn’t just benefit you – it benefits everyone who, through your presence, you liberate from their inhibitions too.
So, here’s a simple question. Armed with even a little glimpse of the benefits of mindfulness, do you really want to struggle on mindlessly?
