When I founded Notable 9 years ago I had so much to learn about being mindful at work. I learned through trial and error, successes and failures — and through practicing yoga — how to be mindful at work to positively effect my career and business.
In this article I’m going to share with you 4 of my key tips that have worked for me over the years, from the dark times of being dead-broke and depressed to bright times of mega-profit and high-fives, here are the tips that will help you be the most mindful, healthy, and positive person at your office. Remember, showing up isn’t enough, it’s what you do when you show up that makes you stand out.
Julian Brass’ Top 4 Tips for Being Mindful At Work
1: Understand that Waking Up is a Blessing
My first tip is a pretty spiritual one. But it’s also one that will forever change your life. Waking up is a blessing. So many people unfortunately aren’t given that blessing. If you are one of the lucky ones, then you gotta give thanks and gratitude for the opportunity to live another day, don’t take that for granted. Try not to moan and groan when you hear the alarm clock but instead to mindfully take a deep breath in when you hear it and with an intentional little grin, just whisper, “Thank You”.
When I became mindful enough to give gratitude just for waking up everything changed. And you can be sure that so did how I show up to work.
2: Own You First, Forget Your Boss!
That’s right. You come before your boss and your clients (if your boss doesn’t agree, you can send them my way). Don’t spend a second on your phone until after you’ve spent at least a few minutes on your mind. Get your head right before you get the universe right.
Before you let the external world impact your inner world even .001% you need to work on your inner world. Don’t look at your phone, don’t stress about the day ahead (know that you got it covered), and don’t let anything negative into your mind. If a negative thought does enter then just mindfully practice this exercise:
A) See the negative thought for what it is – just a thought.
B) Ask yourself: “is this thought serving me or hurting me?” If it’s not serving, it’s hurting, so say to yourself, “I’m going to let you go thought, bye bye.” So long sucker.
C) Practice Replacement Thinking: Put a positive, pleasant thought in your mind instead of the negative thought that you just released. That can be the positive inverse of the negative thought or a totally new positive affirmation, thought, or memory.
This tip moves us right into the next one, Move Yourself.
3: Move Yourself
That applies to both mind and body. Want to succeed in starting literally each and every day off at your most mindful and notable place possible?
Then move your body and move your mind. At least 5 minutes each. Yes only 5 minutes for this exercise.
For the mind. Just breath, meditate, be grateful, be present. Do you know how much had to happen for you to be alive this morning? Own that! Bring that gratitude and anything else that your grateful for to your office. In these first 5 minutes on your mind, try listing all of the things that you’re grateful for as you slowly inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose.
For the body. Move for at least 5 minutes. That can be active stretching and yoga, jumping up and down (like a kid, seriously), throwing on a dance track and dancing like nobody’s watching, it doesn’t matter! Just move!
* Do you have family? Well, congrats! Wake up 10-20 minutes earlier than your parental obligations begin so that you can move your body and move your mind.
4: Inject Positivity
Ready, set, inject … Positivity. Before bringing in the day, inject positivity into your life. Inject things like a few pages of a motivational book, podcast, or video to help get your mind injected with such profound positivity that you never wanna come back down but are so ready to change the world, and definitely your office.
Some of my favourite authors and books over the years for this have been authors like Dale Carnegie, Robin Sharma, Marianne Williamson, Tony Robins, and Napolean Hill, while some of my favourite books to inject positivity into my life have been The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, Think and Grow Rich, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, The Celestine Prophecy, The Alchemist, The Power of One, Personal Power, and Toward a Meaningful Life.
Now when you walk into the office not only have you inspired yourself but you also injected positivity into your mind and into your life. A decision you’ll never forget or regret.
Personally, I’m all about less ego and all about more amigo. The only focus that should be of your concern is to mindfully run your own race while understanding that as all of us go on our own mindful unique journey, we’re also simultaneously here to spread love, light, and positive energy to everyone around us. A key place that we have this opportunity is at the office/ where we work. So why wouldn’t you purposefully make some concerted efforts and changes, by implementing my personal strategies above to help you get there?
Related: Why You Need Mindfulness
Photo taken at the top of Aspen Mountain courtesy of Aspen Skiing Company
Julian Brass, Founder of Notable
Julian Brass is the Founder and Spokesperson of Notable Life (creator of Notable.ca, the Notable Awards, and Notable Yoga @ Equinox). He is a life coach, motivational speaker, investor, certified yoga instructor and soon to be published author. His first book “Living a Notable Life” is coming soon. Follow him @YogaCEO on Instagram and visit his personal site for more info: JulianBrass.com