Sunday 30 April 2017

Forthcoming Posts (Updated 30th April)

Hi it’s Dave and greetings from Ilfracombe, N Devon, UK - today is Sunday the 30th April 2017 Alison is soon to start a new weekly intense physiotherapy course.. 

It has been a fantastic week for me  – the new album “Dragon’s Gate” is being released as a digital download tomorrow (Monday) and I am very excited by this.  The new app is still work in progress and if you look up to the top of the page you will see that we have taken another step towards our full brand identity by adding a shopping tab.  The “merch” is being populated now and there are now some items available to purchase if you so wish.   We have also designed a new Tribe T-shirt and as soon as we have finalised pricing and styles they will be going onto the “merch” page.

Work is progressing on the next chapter of “The Path To You”  - my new book and although no firm date is set I am looking to publish by the end of the summer holiday.

So here is the list of the topics for the next 5 weeks together with the posting dates for each one.

Wednesday 3rd May – “4 Ways To Train Your Mind To Work Better”

Wednesday 10th May – “Let Checklists Take The Strain”

Wednesday 17th May – “Self Discipline”

Wednesday 24th May – “The Limiting Belief Quagmire”

Wednesday 31st May – “15 Short Steps to motivate you to get things done”

All of the above posts contain simple steps that anyone can follow to make significant changes and hopefully, improvements in their lives.

Some of you may be asking what qualifies me to write these posts?  In order to answer that question let me give you a small insight into the world of Dave Baxter 

I have been a life coach since 2006 and hold an Honours Diploma in the subject and this qualification provided me with membership of “Associated Stress Consultants”.  I hold a Diploma in Music Therapy, I am a certificated Reiki Practitioner, a certificated Crystal Therapist and I am currently studying towards a Diploma in Colour Therapy.

I have had several Personal Development articles published in the USA, I lead guided meditations and run the virtual light centre The Crystal Spring with my business partner Kaz and I also run The Blue Sky Company which is my coaching / personal development brand.

If you would like to ask any questions about the blog, my therapy word etc, then please feel free to email me at:- underblueskies@europe.com

If you are interested in becoming a member of our tribe then please go to Facebook and search for Under Blue Skies – “The Tribe” and I will look forward to seeing you there.

Whilst I am talking about the tribe it would be great if you would spread the word about the blog, the tribe, the work that we do etc. to your friends and family.

LINKS


If you would like to subscribe to this blog please go over to the right hand side of this page and click the BLUE button that says “Follow”.  Once you do that you will be added to my list of subscribers.

I also send out daily emails containing a new Inspirational Phrase.  To receive these emails then they are only available by subscribing via an email to moonshadowmedia@mail.com  quoting “add me” as the subject line.  Once you have subscribed the phrases are delivered to your mail box each day completely free of charge...

Have a fantastic day and live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!


DAve x

Wednesday 26 April 2017

The Fires Of Self Esteem

Hi it’s Dave,

Greetings from Ilfracombe and welcome to the Under Blue Skies blog.  I am very excited with how everything is progressing. I find that sharing these pages with everyone goes a long way towards stimulating me to keep writing them.

So welcome to

The Fires Of Self Esteem



Recently I have been looking at the quality of self esteem and asking what is it and where does it come from?

I have now reached something of a conclusion:- self esteem has two facets, one  negative and one positive.  These two different sides can be likened to having two fires burning inside you and if you ask people which fire they would like to burn the brightest the majority would answer, without hesitation, the positive one!

When the answer has been given it opens the door to the next question

What three things does a fire need to be able to burn? 

Anyone who has completed even basic fire training will know that the elements required for a fire to burn are fuel, oxygen and a source of ignition, however the only part of this we need here is “fuel”

In order to make the positive self esteem fire burn the brighter of the two fires we need to provide it with the fuel of positive decision making.  How many positive decisions have you taken today?
These are all that is required to make the positive self esteem fire burn the brightest.  The more positive things you do the brighter the fire will burn and the better you will feel.

However, as I said earlier, there are 2 fires inside all of us.  The first of these is the fire of positive self esteem and the second represents negative self esteem.  The principle of the triangle of elements applies equally to negative self esteem. If you carry out a negative act or behave in a negative way, the negative self esteem fire will begin to burn brighter.

Both fires want more fuel and neither of them wants to be extinguished and die. 

Therefore, it stands to reason that to keep the positive self esteem fire burning brighter and hotter the more we need to take positive action and do lots of positive things.

If you start feeling that something is not right for you or you are tempted to do something negative, it is likely that you negative self esteem fire is trying to get more fuel.  There are those who are “auditory people” that would liken this to a voice saying “Don't forget about me, I need fuel too”. This is the time when we really need to watch what we are doing because if we are not careful we will slip backwards and as a result of this slip we will probably do something to get that negative fire burning brightly again.

As part of my research I was talking this theory through with a client and during that conversation she asked me this question – “Can the negative fire ever go out?”  My answer was that nobody can definitely say that it does but if you keep doing the positive things and making the positive fire burn very strong and really hot it keeps getting easier to make positive choices in your life and that way of thinking becomes a habit.

Remember! You are the only person who can add fuel to your self esteem fires, nobody else can feed them because they are fed by the actions that you take.

Make it a habit to ask yourself regularly which fire you are feeding by this action.

If you stop feeding the negative fire it will die down and although it may never go out completely you will have it under control and the benefits of a positive life will be yours for ever!

So as we reach the end of this week’s post I would like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read the words.  I hope that you will find them useful as you move forwards in your daily life.

If you have enjoyed the post then please click on the follow link and sign up so that you never miss another post from me.  Also please leave a comment in the box if you have enjoyed what you have read or found it useful

Additionally, if this post has prompted any questions, then please feel free to add them as a comment in the box below or to email me:- blueskycompany@europe.com

ooo000ooo

About Dave I am a coach; speaker; radio presenter and founder of The Blue Sky Company.  I am also a therapist and co-own a virtual light centre called The Crystal Spring.  My therapy work includes music therapy; reiki; crystal therapy

LINKS


I have recently discovered that a book written by a friend of mine is available via Amazon so I would like to share a link to that book with you.  This lady is an amazing person and I am sure that if you have enjoyed reading my blog you will also find her work of interest.  Click on the picture to buy The Fearless Life Guide.



And below is a link to my first book of inspirational phrases “Inspirations”









Have a fantastic day, live a life of Passion and Power.



And above all


Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!


DAve x


I also send out daily emails containing a new Inspirational Phrase.  To receive these emails then they are only available by subscribing via an email to moonshadowmedia@mail.com  quoting “add me” as the subject line.  Once you have subscribed the phrases are delivered to your mail box each day completely free of charge...

Sunday 23 April 2017

Forthcoming Posts (Updated 23rd April)

Hi it’s Dave and greetings from Ilfracombe, N Devon, UK - today is Sunday the 23rd April 2017 as I am writing this Alison’s recovery is progressing nicely and it looks as if I will be back to normal work routine tomorrow. 

It has been a really productive week for me personally – my new album “Dragon’s Gate” is due for release next weekend and if I was to say that I am very excited by this that is an understatement.   The blog address has now been changed (as you will know if you are reading this). The new app is work in progress and in testing as we speak and if you look up to the top of the page you will see that we have taken another step towards our full brand identity by adding a shopping tab.  The “merch” is being populated now and there are some items available to purchase if you so wish.   

Work is progressing on a new chapter of “The Path To You” - my new book and although no firm date is set I am looking to publish by the end of the summer holiday.

So here is the list of the topics for the next 5 weeks together with the posting dates for each one.

Wednesday 26th April – “The Fires Of Self Esteem”

Wednesday 3rd May – “4 Ways To Train Your Mind To Work Better”

Wednesday 10th May – “Let Checklists Take The Strain”

Wednesday 17th May – “Self Discipline”

Wednesday 24th May – “The Limiting Belief Quagmire”

All of the above posts contain simple steps that anyone can follow to make significant changes and hopefully, improvements in their lives.

Some of you may be asking what qualifies me to write these posts?  In order to answer that question let me give you a small insight into the world of Dave Baxter 

I have been a life coach since 2006 and hold an Honours Diploma in the subject and this qualification provided me with membership of “Associated Stress Consultants”.  I hold a Diploma in Music Therapy, I am a certificated Reiki Practitioner, a certificated Crystal Therapist and I am currently studying towards a Diploma in Colour Therapy.

I have had several Personal Development articles published in the USA, I lead guided meditations and run the virtual light centre The Crystal Spring with my business partner Kaz and I also run The Blue Sky Company which is my coaching / personal development brand.

If you would like to ask any questions about the blog, my therapy word etc, then please feel free to email me at:- underblueskies@europe.com

If you are interested in becoming a member of our tribe then please go to Facebook and search for Under Blue Skies – “The Tribe” and I will look forward to seeing you there.

Whilst I am talking about the tribe it would be great if you would spread the word about the blog, the tribe, the work that we do etc. to your friends and family.

LINKS


If you would like to subscribe to this blog please go over to the right hand side of this page and click the BLUE button that says “Follow”.  Once you do that you will be added to my list of subscribers.

I also send out daily emails containing a new Inspirational Phrase.  To receive these emails then they are only available by subscribing via an email to moonshadowmedia@mail.com  quoting “add me” as the subject line.  Once you have subscribed the phrases are delivered to your mail box each day completely free of charge...

Have a fantastic day and live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!

DAve x



Wednesday 19 April 2017

Thoughts On Communication.



Thoughts On Communication




Hi it's Dave and this week I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on communication 

In Britain today there are some 64 million people all running around thinking, and those 64 million thoughts at any time are shaping 64 million dramas and helping to create 64 million destinies. Now I ask you this question - with all those thoughts trying to control things is it any wonder that the UK is in such a turbulent mess? 

Never before in the history of mankind have we humans done so much thinking.

We are living in an “experiential” world.  Everyone wants experience and they want it now!

This constant search for experience has created a whole new industry called quite simply “experiential marketing”.

No longer is it sufficient to run a 30 second radio advert or TV commercial!  There has to be something more, something deeper. The seller has to create a multi- dimensional strategy, otherwise they will fail to bring their new product to market in a successful way.

This demand for experience has recently been illuminated by the phenomenal growth of the Blogging industry.  No longer is creating a simple advert and sitting back acceptable – today’s consumer is looking for additional experiences of the product hence the growth of diverse media platforms such as You Tube; Twitter; Pinterest; Snapchat and Instagram to name but a few.

It would appear that the majority of these newly devised experiential marketing companies who are now self appointed specialist in branding are exclusivy controlled and run by women and this prompts the question why?

In response to this question I am prompted to say that the reason women seem to excel in the experiential marketing industry is simply because they are excellent communicators.

This leads me to my next point which is - what is the purpose of communication and why do we communicate with each other? To get some answers to this I conducted a brief survey and from the results I was able to compile a list.

The list goes :-

to learn 
to connect 
to express feelings 
to get something done 
to express fear
to make ourselves understood 
to not be alone
to promote understanding
to make decisions 
to inform
to resolve conflicts
to meet social needs
to persuade

So let us drill down into each of these and see if we can discover the commonality between each answer 

To learn - why? 
We want to gain more understanding -why? 
so that we can feel good about ourselves.

To connect - why?
to relate with another human being - why?
To share the experience of connection - why? 
to feel good.

To express feelings - why?
to rid ourselves of anger - why?
to feel good.

To express love - why?
to gain love back - why?
to feel good.

To get something done - why?
to feel good

So maybe you can see where this is going. The essence of communication is most likely the desire to feel good about oneself.

As part of my research I also spoke to a number of people about my theory and the majority understood where I was going and what I was talking about,  

BUT there was one particular lady who decided that whilst it was possible that communication at sometime was designed to help us feel good.   There were other times, and this is where she began to quote Eckhart Tolle at me, where “the pain bodies” as she put it, take over and then it was impossible to feel good.

I began to explain to her that my belief was that the theory of pain bodies stopping you feeling good was not quite correct. The whole purpose of pain bodies is for them to make you feel pain and if that is correct then they will feel good at making you feel pain. 

So then the purpose of communication is the opposite of making you feel good and is to make you feel bad.

This process, in turn, makes the pain body “feel good” so that is confirming my theory that the purpose of communication is to feel good.
Now let us take a look at inter-personal communication!  

There is something very dangerous that we can utilise to hurt another person and that is our mouth.

All the parts of the body get weaker as we grow older with the exception of the mouth – as we all know old people can talk for ages and their mouths never seem to get tired. 

However we often find that we don’t talk properly – to get things done we have to learn how to talk to people skilfully, in a way that creates peace and harmony.

We must learn NOT to talk too much because this can create problems for other people.  I am sure you have heard the phrase “Empty vessels make the most noise”.  Naturally, it follows that if you talk less then you listen more.  So this prompts a question

How many people actually know how to listen effectively?

It is important to make sure that when you talk, someone is listening and similarly when someone else is talking, you are listening.  Silence is very important because it is through being silent that we learn the most.

If you want to create a strategic advantage when someone has been scolding you – just allow a gap of 20 to 30 seconds after they finish speaking before you say anything.  This time will force them to reflect on what they have just said. Used properly silence is an extremely powerful too

Silence = Mindfulness / Awareness / Sensitivity

Establish Kindness before you speak

This brings forth so much more from other people.  The other person realises that they are being valued and listened to.  It is a fact that if you continue to see good things in someone eventually they will begin to see them in themselves.  Use the right time and place to give praise!

Children

Have you ever listened to children talking together – it is often critical and some would say – hurtful.

Have you ever listened to the way teachers talk to children? – it is often critical

Have you ever listened to parents talking to their children? – it is often critical

As a result children hear so much criticism and such little praise is it any wonder that they disappear to the solace of their own room and take comfort in cyber love?

It is often the case that a child has so much criticism and pressure, that they have dimished self esteem and consider themselves to be lacking in self worth.

As adults, there are several  things that we can do to help ease that situation for our children.

We can   

Make an effort to praise them
Respect them and their right to privacy
Ask for and then respect their viewpoints on things

Keep a note of how many times you actually praise your children compared to how many times you criticise them and point our their faults.

The watchwords here are Praise / Respect / Kindness

And now, one final point on this subject of Communication –

Gossip should be a No Go Area – “If you can’t say something nice – Keep Quiet”

                    ooo000ooo

If this post has prompted any questions, then please feel free to add them as a comment in the box below or to email me:- underblueskies@europe.com

About Dave I am a coach; speaker; radio presenter and founder of The Blue Sky Company.  I am also a therapist and co-own a virtual light centre called The Crystal Spring.  My therapy work includes music therapy; reiki; crystal therapy

For those of you who would like to become more involved with what we are doing here at Under Blue Skies and The Blue Sky Company.  I would love you to join our “Tribe” where I post some exclusive content and videos.  Membership of the tribe is totally free and I would love to see you over there. 

Please follow this link to get there and sign up


Some useful links


I have recently discovered that a book written by a friend of mine is available via Amazon so I would like to share a link to that book with you.  This lady is an amazing person and I am sure that if you have enjoyed reading my blog you will also find her work of interest.



And below is a link to my first book of inspirational phrases “Inspirations”






Have a fantastic day, live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!

DAve x

Inspirational Phrases

I also send out daily emails containing a new Inspirational Phrase.  To receive these emails then they are only available by subscribing via an email to moonshadowmedia@mail.com  quoting “add me” as the subject line.  Once you have subscribed the phrases are delivered to your mail box each day completely free of charge.



Sunday 16 April 2017

Forthcoming Posts (Updated 16th April)

Hi it’s Dave and greetings from Ilfracombe, N Devon, UK - today is Sunday the 16th April 2017 and we are now well into the recovery stage following Alison’s surgery to replace her worn out knee.  Mind you she has had a minor set back after stumbling on the stairs, but all is fine. 

It has been a really productive week for me personally – my forthcoming new album “Dragon’s Gate” is due for release on the 1st May 2017.   The blog address has now been changed and the new app in the making so we have taken another step towards our full brand identity.  I finished writing the 2nd chapter of “The Path To You” - my new book that I am looking to publish by the end of the summer holiday if not before.

So here is the updated list of the topics for the next 5 weeks together with the posting dates for each one.

Wednesday 19th April – “Thoughts On Communication”

Wednesday 26th April – “The Fires Of Self Esteem”

Wednesday 3rd May – “4 Ways To Train Your Mind To Work Better”

Wednesday 10th May – “Let Checklists Take The Strain”

Wednesday 17th May – “Self Discipline”

All of the above posts contain simple steps that anyone can follow to make significant changes and hopefully, improvements in their lives.

Some of you may be asking what qualifies me to write these posts?  In order to answer that question let me give you a small insight into the world of Dave Baxter 

I have been a life coach since 2006 and hold an Honours Diploma in the subject and this qualification provided me with membership of “Associated Stress Consultants”.  I hold a Diploma in Music Therapy, I am a certificated Reiki Practitioner, a certificated Crystal Therapist and I am currently studying towards a Diploma in Colour Therapy.

I have had several Personal Development articles published in the USA, I lead guided meditations and run the virtual light centre The Crystal Spring with my business partner Kaz and I also run The Blue Sky Company which is my coaching / personal development brand.

If you would like to ask any questions about the blog, my therapy word etc, then please feel free to email me at:- underblueskies@europe.com

If you are interested in becoming a member of our tribe then please go to Facebook and search for Under Blue Skies – “The Tribe” and I will look forward to seeing you there.

Whilst I am talking about the tribe it would be great if you would spread the word about the blog, the tribe, the work that we do etc. to your friends and family.

LINKS


If you would like to subscribe to this blog please go over to the right hand side of this page and click the BLUE button that says “Follow”.  Once you do that you will be added to my list of subscribers.

I also send out daily emails containing a new Inspirational Phrase.  To receive these emails then they are only available by subscribing via an email to moonshadowmedia@mail.com  quoting “add me” as the subject line.  Once you have subscribed the phrases are delivered to your mail box each day completely free of charge...

Have a fantastic day and live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!

DAve x



Wednesday 12 April 2017

The Excuse Toolkit

Hi it’s Dave,

Well I really can’t believe that this post is the 15th since I began to work seriously on developing this blog.   So by way of a celebration I thought we could have a little bit of fun with

The Excuse Toolkit
18 Amazing Excuses To Get You Out Of Almost Any Situation

I have come across most of these excuses over time but it never really hit me that 
by collecting them all together you are creating an “excuse toolkit”.  Having this toolkit at your disposal means you should have a ready made excuse to get you out of doing virtually everything that can be thrown at you.

1)   It Will Be Difficult

2)   It's Going To Be Risky

3)   It Will Take A Long Time

4)   There Will Be Family Dramas

5)   I Don't Deserve It

6)   It's Not My Nature

7)   I Can't Afford It

8)   No One Will Help Me

9)   It Has Never Happened Before

10) I'm Not Strong Enough

11) I'm Not Smart Enough

12) I'm Too Old (or Not Old Enough)

13) The Rules Won't Let Me

14) It's Too Big

15) I Don't Have The Energy

16) It's My Personal Family History

17) I'm Too Busy

18) I'm Too Scared

Have fun using these, there may be a couple that you have not used so go on give them a try!!!!

However, on a serious note if you take a close look I am sure that you will find you have used every single one of those excuses at some point in your life.  At the very worst all they really do is stop you from taking responsibility for who you are, and that in turn prevents you from living the life you are supposed to.

                                                                 ooo000ooo

If this post has prompted any questions, then please feel free to add them as a comment in the box below or to email me:- blueskycompany@europe.com

About Dave I am a coach; speaker; radio presenter and founder of The Blue Sky Company.  I am also a therapist and co-own a virtual light centre called The Crystal Spring.  My therapy work includes music therapy; reiki; crystal therapy

LINKS


I have recently discovered that a book written by a friend of mine is available via Amazon so I would like to share a link to that book with you.  This lady is an amazing person and I am sure that if you have enjoyed reading my blog you will also find her work of interest.








The electronic version of my own book "Inspirations" can be found via this link :-


                                        https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/115019



Have a fantastic day.  Live a life of Passion & Power, and above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!

DAve x

PS I also send out daily emails containing a new Inspirational Phrase.  To receive these emails then they are only available by subscribing via an email to moonshadowmedia@mail.com  quoting “add me” as the subject line.  Once you have subscribed the phrases are delivered to your mail box each day completely free of charge...

Sunday 9 April 2017

Forthcoming Posts (Updated 9th April)


Hi it’s Dave and greetings from Ilfracombe, N Devon, UK - today is Sunday the 9th April 2017 and we are now well into the recovery stage following Alison’s surgery to replace her worn out knee. 

It has been a really productive week for me personally – I have almost completed my forthcoming new album “Dragon’s Gate” and we are currently on track for the release on the 1st May 2017.   The blog address has now been changed and there is a new app in the making so we have taken another step towards our full brand identity.  I am also well into the writing of the 2nd chapter of “The Path To You” my new book that I am looking to publish by the end of the summer holiday if not before.

So here is the updated list of the topics for the next 5 weeks together with the posting dates for each one.

Wednesday 12th April - “The Excuse Toolkit”

Wednesday 19th April – “Thoughts On Communication”

Wednesday 26th April – “The Fires Of Self Esteem”

Wednesday 3rd May – “4 Ways To Train Your Mind To Work Better”

Wednesday10th May – “Let Checklists Take The Strain”

All of the above posts contain simple steps that anyone can follow to make significant changes and hopefully, improvements in their lives.

Some of you may be asking what qualifies me to write these posts?  In order to answer that question let me give you a small insight into the world of Dave Baxter 

I have been a life coach since 2006 and hold an Honours Diploma in the subject and this qualification provided me with membership of “Associated Stress Consultants”.  I hold a Diploma in Music Therapy, I am a certificated Reiki Practitioner, a certificated Crystal Therapist and I am currently studying towards a Diploma in Colour Therapy.

I have had several Personal Development articles published in the USA, I lead guided meditations and run the virtual light centre The Crystal Spring with my business partner Kaz and I also run The Blue Sky Company which is my coaching / personal development brand.

If you would like to ask any questions about the blog, my therapy word etc, then please feel free to email me at:- blueskycompany@europe.com

If you are interested in becoming a member of our tribe then please go to Facebook and search for Under Blue Skies – “The Tribe” and I will look forward to seeing you there.

Whilst I am talking about the tribe it would be great if you would spread the word about the blog, the tribe, the work that we do etc. to your friends and family.

LINKS


If you would like to subscribe to this blog please go over to the right hand side of this page and click the BLUE button that says “Follow”.  Once you do that you will be added to my list of subscribers.

I also send out daily emails containing a new Inspirational Phrase.  To receive these emails then they are only available by subscribing via an email to moonshadowmedia@mail.com  quoting “add me” as the subject line.  Once you have subscribed the phrases are delivered to your mail box each day completely free of charge...

Have a fantastic day and live a life of Passion and Power.

And above all

Don't Predict The Future - CREATE IT!

DAve x



Wednesday 5 April 2017

10 Ways To Be More Mindful At Work




Recently I have been spending a lot of time working in and around the practice of mindfulness; both in daily life at home and also at work. 

During the course of my research into Mindfulness at Work I came across articles by Shamash Alidina and Tara Healey and with all due credit to them I have decided to adopt a lot of these practices into my own work and that is why you are reading them in my blog.

The first of these posts is

10 Ways to Be More Mindful at Work

Image result for mindfulness at work

You don't need to block out 30 minutes to practice meditation in order to experience the benefits of mindfulness at work. Here are a few ways you can stay in the present moment to do your best during a busy day.

Mindfulness may seem like a great idea, but how do you become more mindful in the context of a busy work day? You may have emails, phone calls, meetings, and presentations to deal with. And, of course, your own work! In the middle of all that, how can you apply the principles of mindfulness so that you feel more alive and present, as well as being productive? Here are a few popular and other more radical ways to be mindful at work.

1. Be Consciously Present

Mindfulness is, above all, about being aware and awake rather than operating unconsciously. When you’re consciously present at work, you’re aware of two aspects of your moment-to-moment experience—what’s going on around you and what’s going on within you. To be mindful at work means to be consciously present in what you’re doing, while you’re doing it, as well as managing your mental and emotional state. If you’re writing a report, mindfulness requires you to give that your full attention. Each time your mind wanders to things like Helen’s new role or Michael’s argument with the boss, just acknowledge the thoughts and bring your attention back to the task in hand.  This scenario sounds simple, but many aspects of your experience can get in the way.

Here are some ideas to help you stop being mindless and unconscious at work and more mindful and consciously present:
Make a clear decision at the start of your workday to be present as best you can. Pause for a few moments before you start your work day to set this intention in your mind.

Make an effort to work more consciously, even if that means that you need to work a little slower at first—doing so pays in the long run.

Keep all the advantages of working mindfully in mind to motivate you.

Connect with your senses rather than getting lost in trains of thought when        you’re doing a task.

Give your full attention to seemingly mundane tasks like washing your hands, opening doors, dialling phone numbers, and even just feeling your breathing as you’re waiting in a meeting room. These little moments add up to make the day a more mindful one.

2. Use Short Mindful Exercises at Work

Mindful exercises train your brain to be more mindful. The more mindful exercises you do, the easier your brain finds it to drop into a mindful state, thus optimizing your brain function. In the busy workplace, finding time for a 30-minute mindful exercise can be difficult. So does that mean you can’t be mindful at all at work?  No! Mindful exercises can be as short as you wish. Even a minute of consciously connecting with one of your senses can be classified as a mindful exercise. You don’t need to close your eyes. You don’t even need to be sitting down. Be creative about finding slots in the day to practice mindfulness exercises. At times of excessive pressure at work, practicing a short mindfulness exercise can be a saviour. The process helps to rebalance your nervous system, toning down the fight-or-flight response and engaging the wise part of your brain, so that you make reasoned decisions rather than automatically react to situations.

3. Be a Single-Tasker

Single-tasking is doing one thing at a time. Multi-tasking is trying to do two or more tasks at the same time or switching back and forth between tasks. Nobody can actually multi-task. In reality, your brain is madly switching from one thing to the next, often losing data in the process. Most people know multitasking is ineffective nowadays. If multi-tasking is so inefficient, why do people still do it? The reason was uncovered in a study by Zheng Wang at Ohio State University. She tracked students and found that when they multi-tasked, it made them feel more productive, even though in reality they were being unproductive. Other studies found that the more you multitask, the more addicted you get to it.
Here are a few ways to kick the multi-tasking habit and become a mindfulness superhero:
Keep a time journal of what you achieve in a block of time. Work out when you’re single-tasking and when you’re multi-tasking. Note down what you achieved in that time block and how mindful you were.

See whether you can notice your productivity going up when you single-task—noticing the benefits can motivate you to do one thing at a time in a mindful way.

Group tasks in categories. For example, put together emails, phone calls, errands, and meetings. Then you can do them all together in one block of time rather than switching from emails to calls to running an errand.

Switch off as many distractions as you can. Silence your phone, log off from your email account, and so on. Then set a timer for the amount of time you need to work, and record how much you get done. Do what works for you to focus on one task for a fixed period of time.

Practice mindfulness in your breaks between tasks. Stretch, take deep breaths, or go for a mindful walk.

4. Use Mindful Reminders

The word “mindful” means to remember. Most people who’ve read about or undertaken training in mindfulness appreciate the benefits of mindful living. Unfortunately, they keep forgetting to be mindful! The reason you forget to be mindful is because your brain’s normal (default) mode is to be habitually lost in your own thoughts—running a sort of internal narrative.

When you’re going about your usual daily activities, your brain switches you into this low energy state, which is unmindful, almost dreamy. Doing some things automatically, without thinking, is fine but research undertaken at Harvard University showed that 47 per cent of a person’s day can be spent lost in thoughts. The same research found that day dreaming can have a negative impact on well-being.

Being on auto-pilot means that you’re not fully present and awake to the opportunities and choices around you. You can’t be creative, plan something new or respond appropriately if you’re operating mechanically.

By using some form of reminder, you can be mindful again. The reminder shakes you out of auto-pilot mode. Try these reminders:
Setting an alarm on the phone – even a vibrating alarm that doesn’t disturb others can work well.

Putting mindfulness in your calendar – setting an appointment with yourself!

A small note or picture on your desk to remind you to be mindful.

Associating certain activities with mindfulness, such as meal times or meetings or when finishing one task and starting another.

Using the sound of bells and rings in the workplace as “bells of mindfulness.”
So, every time your phone rings, you take a mindful breath. Every time you hear the ping of a text message, you pause to be mindful of your surroundings rather than immediately reacting by checking the message. All these things are opportunities to come back into the present moment, to see yourself and your surroundings afresh. You take a small step back and reflect rather than automatically react to what’s coming at you in the form of demands, tasks, and challenges.

5. Slow Down To Speed Up

Mindfulness at work does seem counter-intuitive. You’re considering the fact that, by stopping or slowing down, you can become more efficient, productive, happy, resilient and healthy at work. You may not think that slowing down and being conscious can have such an effect.

Imagine being asked to stop sleeping for a week. Sleeping is resting—and resting isn’t work. So, simply stop sleeping and just keep working. Maybe you’ve experienced this when studying for exams or trying to meet a deadline at work. Eventually your efficiency drops to almost zero; you’re completely living out of the present moment and perhaps even hallucinating! You need to sleep at least seven hours every night to be able to function effectively.
Clearly, rest can increase efficiency. If you do manage to get about seven hours of sleep and achieve a certain amount of work, imagine what would happen if you also did a few mini-mindfulness exercises during the day? Your brain would become even more efficient, focused, effective at communicating with others, and better at learning new skills.
Being in a panicky rush leads to bad decisions and is a misuse of energy. Instead, pause, focus on listening, stroll rather than run, and generally take your time when at work. Effective leaders, workers, and entrepreneurs slow down and reflect to make the best decisions and actions—they slow down to speed up. That’s a mindful way of working.

6. Make Stress Your Friend

Recent research conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, asked 30,000 people the same question: “Does the perception that stress affects health matter?” The results were astonishing.
The researchers found that people experiencing high levels of stress but who believed that stress was good for them had among the lowest mortality rates. Whereas highly stressed people who believed that stress was bad for their health had the highest chance of dying. Your beliefs about stress clearly affect how they impact on your health and well-being. Another study even found that the blood vessels constricted (as is seen in those with heart disease) in people who believed that stress was bad for them, but stayed open and healthy in those who believed that stress was good for them.
If reading this didn’t make you go “wow,” try reading it again. It’s the most exciting research I’ve read this year!
So if you want to make stress your friend, you need to change the way you think about it and, in turn, your body’s response to it. Mindfulness can help you achieve this change in perception. The next time you’re facing a challenge at work, notice how your heart rate speeds up and your breathing accelerates. Observe these responses and then switch your attitude—respond to your stress creatively rather than negatively. Be grateful that the stress response is energizing you. Note that your body is preparing you for your upcoming challenge and that a faster heart rate is sending more oxygen around your body. Be grateful that the process is sharpening your senses and boosting your immune system. By viewing the stress response from this perspective, you see your upcoming problem as a positive challenge and recognize your body preparing to meet it. This small change in attitude can literally add years to your life and improve your productivity and achievements in the workplace.

7. Feel Gratitude

Humans have a “negativity bias.” Essentially, this means that you’re much more likely to focus and dwell on something that’s gone wrong than on things that have gone well. Behaving in this way every day means that you ultimately adopt an excessively negative and unbalanced way of thinking.
Gratitude is the antidote. Plenty of evidence suggests that actively practicing gratitude makes you feel better and has a positive impact on your creativity, health, working relationships, and quality of work. Gratitude makes being at both work and home more positive experiences.
If you feel like you’re stuck in a job you don’t enjoy, the first step is to practice gratitude. What’s going well in your job? Maybe you’re grateful for the money? Even though it may be less than you’d like, you probably prefer it to having no salary at all. You may not like your manager, but maybe you’re friends with a couple of colleagues? You hate the office politics, but they give you insight into what you don’t like in a job, so in the future you know what to look for. After practicing gratitude, you can then consider whether you want to continue in that role or need to find another job.
Being mindful of what’s going well at work helps to improve your resilience. Rather than allowing your mind to spiral into anxiety or dip into low moods as you brood over all the aspects of the job you don’t like, you can feed your mind with thoughts of gratitude to raise your well-being. Then, if you do decide to find another job, your positive mental state can help you select an appropriate position and optimize your performance in the interview. People hire positive people, not those who just complain about what’s going wrong. Use gratitude to neutralize your brain’s natural negativity bias.

8. Cultivate Humility

Humility comes from the Latin humilis, meaning grounded. Humble people have a quiet confidence about themselves and don’t feel the need to continuously remind others of their achievements. Humility may seem counter to our culture of glorifying those who make the most noise about themselves, grabbing our attention. But actually, humility is attractive—no one enjoys being around those who continually sing their own praises, and most people enjoy the company of those who are willing to listen to them rather than talk about themselves all the time.

In Jim Collin’s hugely popular book Good to Great, he identified leaders who turned good companies into great ones. He found that the companies exhibiting the greatest long-term success (at least 15 years of exceptional growth) had leaders demonstrating all the skills of your standard leader but with one extra quality—personal humility. They were willing to work hard, but not for themselves—or the company. If things went wrong, they didn’t seek to blame other to protect themselves. And if things went well, they immediately looked outside of themselves to congratulate others. They didn’t have an inflated ego that needed protecting all the time.

Humility is often confused with meekness or timidity but they’re not the same. Humility does not mean seeing yourself as inferior; rather, it means being aware of your natural dependence on and equity with those around you.
How is humility linked to mindfulness? Mindfulness is about accepting yourself just as you are, and being open to listening to and learning from others. Mindfulness is also synonymous with gratitude—you appreciate how others have helped you. And someone who is grateful for the contribution of others is naturally humble.
To develop a little more humility, try the following:
Undertake mindful exercises: Mindfulness reduces activity in the part of the brain that generates the story of your self—sometimes called the narrative self. Giving too much attention to you and your own story is unhealthy. Mindfulness practice helps you to be more connected with your senses—the present self. Your attention widens and you can see how much others contribute to your everyday successes.

Consider who has helped you right now: Spend a few minutes thinking about the number of people who have enabled you to read this page: your parents, guardians, or teachers who taught you to read; your employers who help you afford to pay for it; the people involved in writing, editing and producing the copy; the distributors, sales people, providers of ink; the trees that were used to make the paper. We could go on. Think in this way from time to time to identify just how many people help you every day.

Show appreciation: When someone helps you out, in whatever way, show appreciation. It sounds obvious, but doing so is an act of humility and reminds you to value the contribution of others: the driver who let you into her lane; the postman who delivered your letters; the person who held the door open and the cleaner who vacuumed your office—they all count.

Value other people’s opinions: If someone makes a point that challenges yours, suspend judgement. You can easily jump in and argue—but that implies that they’re wrong and you’re right. How can you be so sure? Stop and consider in what ways they may be right, too. This is true mindfulness in action—non-judgemental awareness together with curiosity and respect.

9. Accept What You Cannot Change

Acceptance lies at the heart of mindfulness. To be mindful means to accept this present moment just as it is. And it means to accept yourself, just as you are now. It doesn’t mean resignation or giving up. But it does mean acknowledging the truth of how things are at this time before trying to change anything.

Here is a workplace example. If you went £30,000 over budget, that’s a fact. It’s already happened. As soon as you accept that, you can move forward and try to deal with the situation. Lack of acceptance can lead to denial of the fact (maybe causing you to go even more over budget) or avoidance (you keep skipping meetings with your boss) or aggression (you vent your anger at your team unnecessarily, adversely affecting relationships and motivation). Instead, you can accept the situation, talk to the necessary people, learn from your mistakes, and move on. Acceptance actually leads to change.
Personal acceptance is even more powerful. Self-acceptance is embracing all facets of yourself—your weaknesses, shortcomings, aspects you don’t like and those you admire. When you accept yourself, you cut down on energy-draining self-criticism. You’re then much better able to enjoy your successes and smile at your shortcomings. Through self-acceptance, you can create a clarity of mind that allows you to work on those aspects of yourself you wish to improve. The starting point of self-improvement and personal development is self-acceptance.

10. Adopt a Growth Mindset

According to Carol Dweck and her team at Stanford University researcher, people essentially adhere to one of two mindsets—a growth or a fixed mindset.

People with a fixed mindset believe that their basic qualities, such as their intelligence and talents, are fixed traits. Instead of developing their intelligence and talents, they spend their time hoping their traits will lead to success. They don’t seek to develop themselves, because they think that talent alone leads to success. They turn out to be wrong—brain science has proved otherwise.
People with a growth mindset believe that they can improve their intelligence and talents with effort. By applying themselves, they think that they can get better. They see brains and talent as just the starting point, and build on them with hard work and determination. Brain scans have actually revealed that effort does lead to growth in intelligence and enhancement of initial talent over time. People with this mindset have a love of learning and demonstrate greater resilience. Success at work depends on having a growth mindset.
Mindfulness is about adopting a growth mindset. Mindfulness is about giving attention to the present moment and not judging your innate talent or intelligence, but being open to new possibilities. When you adopt a growth mindset at work, you don’t mind getting negative feedback as you view it as a chance to discover something new. You don’t mind taking on new responsibilities because you’re curious about how you’ll cope. You expect and move towards challenges, seeing them as opportunities for inner growth. That’s the essence of mindfulness at work—believing that you can improve and grow with experience, moving towards challenges, living in the moment, and discovering new things about yourself and others.
Use the following four steps to develop a growth mindset, based on research by Dweck and colleagues:
1. Listen to the voice of a fixed mindset in your head. This is about being mindful of your own thoughts when faced with a challenge. Notice if the thoughts are telling you that you don’t have the talent, the intelligence or if you find yourself reacting with anxiety or anger when someone offers feedback to you.

2. Notice that you have a choice. You can accept those fixed mindset thoughts or question them. Take a few moments to practice a mindful pause.

3. Question the fixed mindset attitudes. When your fixed mindset says “What if I fail? I’ll be a failure,” you can ask yourself “Is that true? Most successful people fail. That’s how they learn.” Or if fixed mindset says “What if I can’t do this project? I don’t have the skills,” reply with “Can I be absolutely sure I don’t have the skills? In truth, I can only know if I try. And if I don’t have the skills, doing this will help me to learn them.”

4. Take action on the growth mindset. This will make you enjoy the challenges in the workplace, seeing them as opportunity to grow rather than avoid. Use the above system if you mind starts leaning towards the fixed mindset.

Over time, you’ll find yourself habitually of a growth rather than fixed mindset, leading to greater success and personal mastery that before.
This article was adapted from Shamash Alidina’s book  Mindfulness at Work for Dummies

If this has made you think about how you act, or if it has prompted any questions, then please feel free to add them as a comment in the box below or to email me:- blueskycompany2@europe.com

About Dave I am a coach; speaker; radio presenter and founder of The Blue Sky Company.  I am also a therapist and co-own a virtual light centre called The Crystal Spring.  My therapy work includes music therapy; reiki; crystal therapy

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