The Oxford dictionary defines mindfulness as “a mental state achieved by focusing ones’ awareness on the present moment.”
Improving mindfulness improves the economy of your mental energy.
Fewer feral thoughts and distractions equals less mental fatigue.
Mindfulness is a tool I help my high performing clients develop so they can improve focus, productivity, and overall happiness.
If this is a tool you’ve ever tried to develop, but can’t seem to find the right vehicle to deliver you to the “present” however, I have some simple advice for you:
Drink better wine.
Years ago I was in Sonoma having dinner with the leader of a group I was working with.
That day I had been digging into the concept of mindfulness with him and his regional sales team. We did some breathing exercises, gratitude journaling, and a handful of other activities designed to bring attention and awareness to the present moment.
Over dinner, this leader, we’ll call him John, shared that he believed mindfulness was important, but the extroverted, quick-witted mental skillset that made him and his sales VP’s successful made mindfulness nearly impossible.
He said he had made peace with his lack of “mental peace” by this point in his career.
John was a big-time wine enthusiast so after some short conversation, he volunteered to order a bottle of wine. He scoured over the list for nearly 5 minutes to determine the best fit for our dinner.
After he ordered the wine, he went back to explaining his struggles with mindfulness and how he and his team just weren’t built to be “in the moment” for any length of time.
After the wine came, he halted our conversation to check the label, smell the cork, and give the thumbs up to the waiter so he could fill our glasses.
Next, in silent concentration, John swirled the wine in the glass explaining to me how he liked to see if the wine caused streaks on the glass called “legs”.
He then closed his eyes and took a big sniff, “Oh man, this is the good stuff,” he said excitedly.
Another swirl, another sniff, then he took a small sip.
He swished the wine around his mouth, his face glowing with focused contentment.
He swallowed, and seconds later, as if broken from a trance, triumphantly declared, “Winner!”
I had spent nearly an entire day pulling out all the stops to help him and his reluctant team become fully mindful and in the moment.
I should have just brought in a good bottle of wine.
This extroverted, hard-charging, future-focused leader could be mindful.
I pointed this out and we had a good laugh, deciding he and his team could be more mindful if they just drank more.
Obviously, the lesson here is not about alcohol consumption.
What John learned is that mindfulness isn’t an attribute and it’s not an “assignment”.
It’s a skill and an opportunity.
When he drank wine, he had learned to go through an intense and focused ritual so that the experience would be deeper, richer, and more enjoyable.
I suggested John and his team apply this “wine mentality” to magnify the moments in other areas of life.
AKA- be more mindful.
Where might you be able to savor a moment in order to bring more clarity, peace, and happiness to your life?
Instead of focusing on blocking out distraction because distraction is “bad”, what if you focused on savoring the moment fully because it’s “good”?
How might this impact how you work, live, and love?
Take a moment to be mindful and enjoy a glass of life today.
