The Power of a Calm Mind

A theme that we often see mentioned in posts, memes and the like is “Calmness”.  As our lives, the world and business climb onto their roller coaster du jour,  calmness is invariably the antidote to ill-advised or rash decision making that may sometimes result.  Specifically, a Calm Mind.

Depending on the circumstances, sometimes the challenges come thick and fast, and they can seem daunting, overpowering or totally overwhelming. If we let it, our brain could easily spiral, and take us to a place that isn’t much fun to be at all. Scary roller coasters in fact!

The challenges might be things at work, challenges at home, something going on in the world around us or, as is delightfully sometimes the case, maybe one or more of each, just to add to the “fun”.  So, overwhelmed? Maybe…sometimes a lot and sometimes a little.

This is where the Power of Calm really steps up to the plate and almost always delivers.

A moment to reset, having a mental circuit-break, this can really help usher calm into the picture.  Breathe…..just focus on that for a moment or two, and nothing else. A half dozen in and out.

Now, lets not beat ourselves up about this, nor fight it..…lets just try acknowledging to ourselves that anyone in this scenario wouldn’t be performing even remotely close to optimal. Acknowledge that there is nothing wrong, in fact its perfectly natural to have feelings like this. In truth, it would be a little odd if you didn't !!

If you can, and you feel the need, talk to a work colleague, a friend, neighbor, coach or mentor. Merely saying the words out loud to a good listener will often provide the little break in the mental cycle, some vocally induced respite, to allow us to re-engage with a calmer mind….and with a little more clarity as a result.

Acknowledge (and say out loud if possible) that “I make better decisions when I’m calm….when I’m in neutral”. Say it again, continue to breathe and navigate steadily towards neutral.  Now lets think about this again, lets prioritize our actions, lets organize our thoughts and lets work the decision-making process calmly and objectively.   Order, organization and assuredness play really well with calmness.   Lastly….how about knocking a scenario or two out in series instead of parallel for a while.  A singular laser-focus, one thing at once, a focus that is directly on what’s in front of us, also will promote calmness.

So, whatever challenges you face today, also realize ….they don’t define you, they don’t reshape you, own or judge you.  They are just moments, scenarios and situations, things to be dealt with. That's it.

You have the choice in how you respond, even in the grips of something a little chaotic, you alone get to choose your response. So be self-aware enough to know when you need to stop, breathe, acknowledge, reframe, apply order and organization and then re-engage with clarity of thought and next level calmness.  You got this……

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