What makes you perform at your peak? What makes you happy? You are at your best and perform with peak efficiency when you are happy in what you are doing!
Think about what makes you happy. Is it baking, running or reading, even work perhaps?
I am not a runner but you hear runners talk about getting” in the zone”. They just run. The adrenalin kicks in and they only things they focus on are running, their time and their style.
Have you ever gotten so absorbed in a book you couldn’t put it down? You read and read turning page after page. You are completely committed to that book. Suddenly hours have gone by. That is being in the moment!
You will have happiness and power when you focus on doing what you are doing when you are doing it. Say that 3 times fast!
When you drive a car while thinking about other things like work, the baseball game, what you have to get from the store, your reaction time is slower. You fail to see potential problems and you are more likely to have or cause an accident. Inattention is the primary cause of auto accidents. There is no auto pilot on your vehicle.
Daydreams and distractions ruin your job performance. You try to go on auto pilot, do things out of habit or routine; you lack joy, make mistakes and therefore do not have power. Because you are not giving your best, you produce less and what you do produce is not up to the standards that you are capable of.
The ability to devote 100% of your attention to a task is difficult, at first. Yet when you start to live your life in the immediate present, in this exact moment of time, with little or no attention on the past or future, you feel more alive, happier, more productive and more powerful. You have taken control of yourself and your destiny.
Imagine being able to focus all of your attention on everything you do as you do it, when you do it. This is happiness! This is power!
Staying in present time, in the moment unleashes extra amounts of natural ability. For example, just before you leave on a vacation, you on specific things you need to accomplish and quickly get them done. When you only daydream about a vacation, you slow down and become less effective.
Imagine how much more effective and productive your conversations would be if you stayed in the present. People would feel you understand them better when you are doing nothing but listening, with no other thought in mind.
The stronger your focus is, the greater your happiness and the greater your power!
Practice doing what you are doing when you are doing it and nothing else in all your activities.
Here are some suggestions:
Do a simple task at your desk such as clear off some paper or write a note. Do this right now. Do absolutely nothing else when doing it. Concentrate on clearing the paper not just pushing it to another pile. Concentrate on writing the note focusing on your penmanship, on the content. Practice this until your attention is more in the present than ever before.
The next time you are talking to someone, give him or her 100% of your attention. Think of nothing outside of the conversation. Focus on the person, the topic and the issue. Notice the person’s reaction. Notice the surprise and the appreciation they have for your attention.
Have you ever driven your car someplace and when you got to where you are going you realize you have no idea how you got there? What did you see along the way, what lights were red, what was the name of the road you turned onto? We don’t know these things because we weren’t focused on driving, we weren’t in the moment. The next time you drive your car; do what you are doing when you are doing it. Don’t listen to the radio, don’t talk on your cell phone and certainly don’t text, don’t eat a snack, don’t think about work or do anything besides drive. Extend your focus all around your car. Notice how alive you feel, in more ways than one!
At your job, spend a complete hour doing absolutely nothing but work. Nothing but work for a whole hour. A strange concept for some! Do exactly what you are doing when you are doing it. Ignore other thoughts, other acts and other tasks. Take no breaks. No miscellaneous conversations, no Facebook, no phone calls to your friends. Do nothing but work. How much more productive will you be?
Here’s a power tip from Lao-tzu, “He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”
Have you mastered yourself? Doing what you love makes you productive, happy and powerful!
Are you happy with your relationship, your friends, your hobbies and your career? If not perhaps it is time you take control and make changes. You cannot be happy or powerful, you cannot achieve your greatness unless you are happy, and happy with yourself and your environment.
Don’t be too surprised when you learn how powerful you can be just by being happy and in the moment!
