Change Your Stinkin' Thinkin'

Meditation

The emphasis on mindfullness and success through stillness is something that society needs to bring back. Meditation has been around almost since the beginning of humanity. At some point in time, the importance of meditation and being aligned with your inner self was pushed to the wayside. Meditation turned into something shunned by society and became, "oh...you're one of 'those' people..."

I have been meditating for only about 9 months - 20 minutes each morning. I'm very new at this, and I spent a few months "looking in to it" before I decided to try it. In just the first 3 months there was a noticeable difference in how I feel, how I react to situations, how focused I feel, and how controllable my impulses feel. After just one week I felt like I could take myself off Adderal for my ADHD and stopped taking it. I now honestly feel like I have to mediate every single day, without fail.

Because of my own experience, I just want to share this with all of you; I hope someone might find value to this and maybe implement it in their life.

Medical Evidence of the Benefits of Meditation
Working towards improving our ability to block out distractions has been overlooked for a long time. In today's time we have more distractions than ever before. So many things are constantly going on and our brains are working way too hard. Meditation allows us to develop the ability for focus and control at all times. There is more and more medical evidence coming out about the affects of meditation that prove the health benefits.

- Meditation actually has been found to reduce stress levels in people after just 3 days of one 25-minute session a day.

-Reduced stress levels lead to reduced cortisol which can reduce belly fat

-MRI's reveal that meditation strengthens the brain - it actually builds grey matter in your brain.

-Medically documented effects of meditation on the brain:
Frontal lobe
This is the most highly evolved part of the brain, responsible for reasoning, planning, emotions and self-conscious awareness. During meditation, the frontal cortex tends to go offline.

Parietal lobe
This part of the brain processes sensory information about the surrounding world, orienting you in time and space. During meditation, activity in the parietal lobe slows down.

Thalamus
The gatekeeper for the senses, this organ focuses your attention by funneling some sensory data deeper into the brain and stopping other signals in their tracks. Meditation reduces the flow of incoming information to a trickle.

Reticular formation
As the brain’s sentry, this structure receives incoming stimuli and puts the brain on alert, ready to respond. Meditating dials back the arousal signal.


Learn to Meditate
There are several different forms of meditation that I've learned about. Here's just a few:
1. Mindfullness. This is what I practice and what I know most about. Mindfullness is about being in tune with all your thoughts and being aware of how the things around you make your senses feel. It's about being in the "here and now", being very mindful and conscious of everything going on around you. I'll expand on my experience with this later.
2. Transcendental Meditation is what I interpret as the evolution of Mindful Meditation. I think I'm slowly moving more towards this method .
3. Qi gong. This is a form of meditation that focuses on the breath and spreading energy around your body. It's a taoist method.
4. Guided Visualization. This is a newer method that involves visualization and concentration on an image or place.
5. There's also trance based, Zazen, and even heart-rhythm based meditation too.

Success Through Stillness - Russell Simmons
I started with reading this book. It finishes with Russell explaining very simply, how to meditate using the mindful/transcendental methods. This book got me rolling and inspired me. He tells stories about his successful friends like Oprah, D. Wade, Ellen, and others who attribute a huge part of their success to meditation. This is an excellent read for anyone who wants to get started with meditation. I'll try and post up a quick summary of a simple meditation method that he uses with a very simple mantra.

5 Skills to Become a Tremendous Leader

Found this on an article originally posted on Entrepreneur.com and had to share it with everyone.

In today's landscape, the demand for great leadership should be considered a top priority. However, according to a Deloitte survey released in October, there is a perceived shortage of skilled workers that presents an obstacle for growth in many organizations. Fifty-two percent of the executives surveyed said that direct reports did not have the skills to take on greater leadership roles.

At the exact same time, fifty percent of the managers polled said they did not have access to the leadership training they needed.

So while executives perceive there is a lack of talent, managers perceive there is a lack of training. To further the problem, most leadership-development programs focus on outdated models that train more on management than leadership. The future of leadership at its core is about connecting people and developing relationships that foster an aspiration in people and inspire them to perform at their highest level.

Here are the 5 key skills from the original article to learn in order to be a great leader:

1. Being a good listener.

It's no coincidence that "listen" and "silent" represent an anagram. Effective leaders listen to understand, pause before speaking, are fully present in a conversation and have a knack for picking up nonverbal cues.

2. Possessing moral courage.

Simply put: Do the right thing even when it might be easier or faster not to. Trust that taking the ethical path always pays off in the long run.

3. Asking better questions.

Significant and meaningful insight can be gleaned by asking thoughtful questions. A leader acquires a tremendous amount of information from asking questions and talking less.

This approach will also win the hearts of employees, as you'll be viewed as a leader who understands the perspectives of others and cares enough to ask for staffers' opinions.

4. Offering support.

Serve those you're leading not the other way around. Part of your job as a leader is to remove barriers to success by observing what might be standing in the way of employees' achieving their goals.

Be able to determine how you can facilitate their progress without eliminating their accountability.

5. Relinquishing control.

There are times when seizing the reins is appropriate, but on other occasions letting go can be invaluable. By relinquishing control, you empower employees and create opportunities for them to build confidence and self-esteem and become engaged.

 

Source: Susan Steinbrecher - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/242477