Do You Even Meditate Bro?

10 replies
Hi guys. Would anyone like to contribute to a discussion about what we do outside work that has the biggest positive effect on our work?
Ive come around to that way of thinking recently that we, as well as anyone who does any kind of non-physical work that requires any deal of mental application, are mind athletes. This sounds super corny I know, it sounds kinda like "mathlethes" or something. But our work requires us to think critically, logically and to focus, strategize and implement, so our work is basically based on mental performance.
So lets compare our jobs to those of athletes, who depend on mostly physical performance. Most athletes will leave no stone unturned in their quest to ensure that their bodies are in peak physical condition in order to perform at the highest level possible.
If you look at some of the practices that some athletes have turned to these days its actually amazing how far some of them reach to get an edge and to fine tune their bodies. Rugby players do yoga, professional basketballers use flotation devices soccer players get acupuncture, the list is endless.
The point is that there is a massive range of resources available to help fine tune our mental capacities and help us to do our jobs better.
Brain training exercises can help us to strengthen the mental muscles responsible for logic, strategy and creativity for example. Meditation can help clear our mind, discard unnecessary thoughts and focus for longer periods of time, yoga can help focus the mind and make our bodies more limber and more comfortable during the countless hors and hours of sitting down that goes with the job.
These are only a couple of examples that I can think of off the top of my head.
Ill get the ball rolling and say that Ive been doing mindfulness meditation for the past year or two and it has helped me massively in terms of helping me be able to clear away my thoughts and focus on what needs to be done. It has also helped me to better deal with the occasional bouts of stress, boredom and whatever else might come my way. Personally Id recommend it to anyone who is looking to up their work performance.
What other rituals or practices can you guys recommend that can help your work performance? It can be something like meditation, a form of excersise, a learning course or listening to a particular motivational speaker or literally ANYTHING else that you feel has helped you to perform your job better.
Lets spread the info and our knowledge to help ourselves get better. It was this way that I came to meditation and it has helped me hugely so hopefully pooling our knowledge and experience like this can help a few people out.
#bro #meditate
  • Profile picture of the author norahwhitlow
    Good post indeed. And thank you for reminding training mind. I do meditation sometimes and I surely know it works, but sometimes the mess and the hectic jobs just make me forget to do that favor for my brain. I often do it with meditation music, and the tip is to get focused into every note of the music you are listening and let the music do the works.
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    • Profile picture of the author FutureSiliconCEO
      Originally Posted by norahwhitlow View Post

      Good post indeed. And thank you for reminding training mind. I do meditation sometimes and I surely know it works, but sometimes the mess and the hectic jobs just make me forget to do that favor for my brain. I often do it with meditation music, and the tip is to get focused into every note of the music you are listening and let the music do the works.
      Hi NorahWhitlow, Thanks for contributing to the discussion. Thats really interesting about the meditation music, i can see that being really beneficial, I must try it myself. And yeah I know what you mean about life geting in the way of keeping up the meditating practice, its so easy to forget about it. Especially when you might have a half an hour of spare time to yourself. It takes a lot of discipline to chose to spend that time meditating instead of just going on facebook or watching TV. Many times I've chosen the latter but i guess any bit of meditation or relaxation will help in the long run. Best of luck
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  • Profile picture of the author gpacx
    I actually go to my local health club on a regular basis and get into the hot tub with my business partners. We relax, talk about strategy and what we have coming up the next day or in the following week, but the focus is on relieving the stress that we feel throughout the day and refocusing our energy on the things we'll have to worry about in the future.

    We also shoot basketball at the same health club - personally, my best sport is Soccer and I know that playing puts me in the best possible frame of mind for stress relief. It's similar to meditation in that I become mindful and enter a flow state where my attention is totally occupied but I remain in a state of total relaxation. If I'm playing in a game, I usually have a moment at some point during play where I realize that I actually have a life outside the game and that for the previous 75 minutes I haven't thought about anything except what I'm doing on the field.

    I suspect that people who have their lives changed or strongly impacted by something like meditation are missing this type of stimulation - they're never in a flow state, an environment where they can let go of everything that life is throwing at them and entirely shift their focus onto something different that can be stimulating, satisfying and relaxing all at the same time.

    I would definitely say that the time I spend relaxing in the hot tub and the time I spend playing sports have the biggest impact on helping me perform my job better. The 3rd thing that I would add is strategizing the night before - you'll be much less stressed when you arrive at the office in the morning if you already know what you're planning to accomplish and can dive right into it rather than needing to get settled, get your bearings and figure out your priorities from there.

    Planning and scheduling isn't just a time management tool, it should also be viewed as a stress management tool that helps you feel better while getting more done. Effective time management can also help to reduce procrastination - you'll realize that if you put something off it actually won't get done and when you see that reality in front of you, you'll want to take action.

    These three activities are giving me a lot of mileage right now when it comes to being more productive in my work environment.
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    • Profile picture of the author FutureSiliconCEO
      Originally Posted by gpacx View Post

      I actually go to my local health club on a regular basis and get into the hot tub with my business partners. We relax, talk about strategy and what we have coming up the next day or in the following week, but the focus is on relieving the stress that we feel throughout the day and refocusing our energy on the things we'll have to worry about in the future.

      We also shoot basketball at the same health club - personally, my best sport is Soccer and I know that playing puts me in the best possible frame of mind for stress relief. It's similar to meditation in that I become mindful and enter a flow state where my attention is totally occupied but I remain in a state of total relaxation. If I'm playing in a game, I usually have a moment at some point during play where I realize that I actually have a life outside the game and that for the previous 75 minutes I haven't thought about anything except what I'm doing on the field.

      I suspect that people who have their lives changed or strongly impacted by something like meditation are missing this type of stimulation - they're never in a flow state, an environment where they can let go of everything that life is throwing at them and entirely shift their focus onto something different that can be stimulating, satisfying and relaxing all at the same time.

      I would definitely say that the time I spend relaxing in the hot tub and the time I spend playing sports have the biggest impact on helping me perform my job better. The 3rd thing that I would add is strategizing the night before - you'll be much less stressed when you arrive at the office in the morning if you already know what you're planning to accomplish and can dive right into it rather than needing to get settled, get your bearings and figure out your priorities from there.

      Planning and scheduling isn't just a time management tool, it should also be viewed as a stress management tool that helps you feel better while getting more done. Effective time management can also help to reduce procrastination - you'll realize that if you put something off it actually won't get done and when you see that reality in front of you, you'll want to take action.

      These three activities are giving me a lot of mileage right now when it comes to being more productive in my work environment.

      Hi gpacx, thanks for contributing to the discussion and for adding your opinions and experience. That's really interesting that you and your business partners relax in a hot tub together and use that time to strategize. I personally dont do it myself - I guess my relationship with my business partners is not as open as yours - although I wish it was kinda haha. But I can see how beneficial it would be .to change up the location of where ye talk business to somewhere that is as un-stressfull as possible. I can imagine that creativity and problem solving skills are greatly enhanced in that setting.

      Yeah you're absolutely right about sports providing the same mental space as meditating. Personally I play rugby and I've never experience the feeling of release from the outside world that I do when I play rugby or any sport. The felling of releasing all reservations and acting completely on instinct is truly good for the mind, body and spirit. It can obviously be a source of stress at times, if your team is having a loosing season or if you don't play as well as you'd like. But all in all it is the best stress reliever and I'm legitimately worried about the day when I become too old to play.

      like you, i try to always try to strategise the night before. your right about how effective it can be regarding making the best decisions reagarding how to allocate your time and how much of a positive effect it can have on you as you start work the following day knowing that all you really need to do is tick tasks off a list as you complete them. It sometimes makes it seem that you are working as an employee with a to do list, rather that running a company where every decision has massive consequences and you can only really rely on yourself, which is a nice feeling to have from time to time.

      Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts on the subject. Best of luck with the soccer(football).
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  • Profile picture of the author james flynn
    Originally Posted by FutureSiliconCEO View Post

    Hi guys. Would anyone like to contribute to a discussion about what we do outside work that has the biggest positive effect on our work?
    Ive come around to that way of thinking recently that we, as well as anyone who does any kind of non-physical work that requires any deal of mental application, are mind athletes. This sounds super corny I know, it sounds kinda like "mathlethes" or something. But our work requires us to think critically, logically and to focus, strategize and implement, so our work is basically based on mental performance.
    So lets compare our jobs to those of athletes, who depend on mostly physical performance. Most athletes will leave no stone unturned in their quest to ensure that their bodies are in peak physical condition in order to perform at the highest level possible.
    If you look at some of the practices that some athletes have turned to these days its actually amazing how far some of them reach to get an edge and to fine tune their bodies. Rugby players do yoga, professional basketballers use flotation devices soccer players get acupuncture, the list is endless.
    The point is that there is a massive range of resources available to help fine tune our mental capacities and help us to do our jobs better.
    Brain training exercises can help us to strengthen the mental muscles responsible for logic, strategy and creativity for example. Meditation can help clear our mind, discard unnecessary thoughts and focus for longer periods of time, yoga can help focus the mind and make our bodies more limber and more comfortable during the countless hors and hours of sitting down that goes with the job.
    These are only a couple of examples that I can think of off the top of my head.
    Ill get the ball rolling and say that Ive been doing mindfulness meditation for the past year or two and it has helped me massively in terms of helping me be able to clear away my thoughts and focus on what needs to be done. It has also helped me to better deal with the occasional bouts of stress, boredom and whatever else might come my way. Personally Id recommend it to anyone who is looking to up their work performance.
    What other rituals or practices can you guys recommend that can help your work performance? It can be something like meditation, a form of excersise, a learning course or listening to a particular motivational speaker or literally ANYTHING else that you feel has helped you to perform your job better.
    Lets spread the info and our knowledge to help ourselves get better. It was this way that I came to meditation and it has helped me hugely so hopefully pooling our knowledge and experience like this can help a few people out.
    For me a good morning walk and an evening gym keeps my mind on track and my physical self motivated.reason because most of my work revolves around staring at a computer screen and analyzing a huge amount of data which fries up your brain within no time. Habits like these prevent my mind from loosing it's creativity and keeps it focused.
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    • Profile picture of the author FutureSiliconCEO
      Originally Posted by james flynn View Post

      For me a good morning walk and an evening gym keeps my mind on track and my physical self motivated.reason because most of my work revolves around staring at a computer screen and analyzing a huge amount of data which fries up your brain within no time. Habits like these prevent my mind from loosing it's creativity and keeps it focused.
      Hi James Flynn. Thanks a lot for contributing to the discussion. I'm a big fan of an evening walk myself, as well as a gym session. There is noting like the feeling of simulation growth and progression in your physical body through excersise and good diet that will help keep you mentally motivated.

      I'm a big fan of Tony Robbins and he always impresses the mind/body link that if you keep your body simulated and challenged, your mind will follow suit.

      Thanks again and best of luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author Believe In You
    Pardon me if I may impose on you, if you're looking for some good dose of paramount acoustic deliverance that speaks in your soul, straight through your ears, then the hypnotist, the Cosmic Master namely, will flank your sides on the quest to unequivocal empowerment.

    That's all the tapping there is.
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  • Profile picture of the author Just Jess
    To Become Magnetic...

    You must *feel* it on the inside.

    The naked truth is that others see it this way too.

    When you believe in yourself...

    Then the obstacles are demolished before your very eyes and...

    Potential is Realized.

    Sometimes you have to snatch the low hanging fruit.

    And start building upon the seeds of mega wisdom.

    Then the tree will start growing.

    As you feel magnetic - from the inside out.
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  • Profile picture of the author Make Me Coffee
    Meditation is an effective way to relax and find inner peace. Done right, it can turn into a natural faculty of the mind to visualize and sometimes see through things. If you want to cross a spiritual path and are looking for tranquillity and mind over matter, all you have to do is get in trance.
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  • Profile picture of the author Master Blake
    Yes and notably, I have learned how to "peace out" the inferior mind that blurbs endlessly.

    It's time you've said it to shut up.

    And cherry-pick the thoughts that will lead you to the fruition of the goals.

    Success is floating along with thoughts that uplift you, thoughts that matter.
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