The beginning of each new year starts with promises we make to ourselves to be the best we can be and have a lifestyle that supports our well being in all spheres. Routines and schedules kick in and the promises begin to fade or drop off the priority list! As we approach spring, I am reminded of conversations I had with 50 senior leaders 10 months back. We discussed the importance of inspiration and the extent to which external inspiration gets imbibed in the mindset.
These 50 senior leaders and many I have spoken to during the course of my career, have all echoed that renewing your interest in your own self creates sustainable results. Being your own Best Friend is the magical ingredient of life! This magical ingredient has five facets.
- Valuing and preserving unstructured time! Time to wonder and think big. Away from technology and noise of meetings and networking interaction. Tuning into internal noise and allowing it to take form in scribbles or pictures or recording or observing one’s mind. Many have a daily routine or some schedule a weekly unstructured time.
- Welcoming Serendipity! Chance encounters provide stimulation and opportunities for life and projects. At times it is not the speaker on stage at a conference, it is the chat in the coffee queue that creates serendipity. When the power of serendipity is valued it works right away.
- Becoming conscious of Bandwidth! There will always be that extra email one wants to respond to and one more friend to add on Facebook or one more tweet ……..sometimes! Prioritising helps! Response has to be a want and not a need. The Japanese philosophy of IKIGAI advocates that concentrating on a single task makes achieving flow more likely and increases productivity and our power of retention.
- Daily Meditation Practice! The winner of the 1988 Olympic gold medal for archery was a seventeen year old from South Korea. When asked how she prepared, she replied that the most important part of her training was meditating two hours each day.
- Acknowledging Accomplishments! Taking note of progress is a significant motivator! In the process of doing, accomplishments can go unseen! A daily habit clicks the renewal button and the flow continues!
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Aristotle
Anjana Nathwani is a Business Psychologist and a two time Cancer Survivor! She believes LifeIsALuxury. Post her second cancer journey, she decided to be her own best friend to revive her own career and she is now launching programmes on Cancer & Careers and Wake Up & Live retreats. www.athenalearningacademy.com