Mindfulness and Competition: Book Yourself Selectively
By Maya Talisman Frost
While it is certainly powerful
to leave your country in order to see
it more clearly, there are many
cultural aspects you can view with
greater clarity without ever stepping
outside your front door.
For example, the day after
Thanksgiving is Buy Nothing
Day in the US, an intentional
opportunity to refrain from the
traditional day-after-
Thanksgiving shopping spree.
Instead of hitting the malls at dawn,
individuals are encouraged to spend
time at home puttering or playing,
sleeping or creating, connecting with
whatever they already HAVE instead
of fulfilling their desire to do or buy
MORE.
In other words, it’s a good time to
just be. And the more time I spend
outside the US (several years at this
point) the more I see that Americans
are just not good at that. What’s
worse is that we goad each other into
continuing to do/buy more because
of our culture’s tendency to be very
competitive.
There’s a website I have visited
that sort of sums up this approach.
It’s called “Book Yourself Solid” and
it offers strategies to help
coaches/consultants build a full,
thriving practice with a long
waiting list of clients.
I don’t want to pick on Michael Port
or his website–he actually does have
a sense of humor and approaches
his own work with great lightness.
But I DO want to poke a little fun
at his “Book Yourself Solid” idea.
The problem is that although
Michael does address the
idea of being selective, anyone
seeing his book or website title alone
is likely to zero in on the “solid” part–
and get stuck there.
Are we really supposed to book
ourselves solid? Is filling up our
schedules–in business
and in life–the end goal?
Hmmm. I don’t think so.
The only way you should be
“booked solid” is if you make sure
to fill your calendar with plenty
of hours marked “relax,” “play,”
and “daydream.”
Down time isn’t wasted time–it’s
essential for creativity. If you’re
spending every moment of
every day doing, you’re losing.
Losing.
Ooh, isn’t that a loaded word?
We don’t like to think we might be
losing out, losing time, or–yikes–
becoming a loser.
But when we focus on avoiding
losing time or losing
opportunities for more “doing”
we end up feeling lost.
One of the greatest skills we can
develop as humans is the ability to
reflect. As it turns out, reflection
isn’t something that occurs naturally
when we’re in go-go mode. It’s
just not easy to reflect and run a
meeting at the same time.
Reflection allows us to see if what
we are doing is what’s best for
us in a Big Picture way. Packing
your schedule with clients,
meetings, or extracurricular
activities isn’t likely to boost
your health, your relationships or
your ability to connect.
“Book Yourself Solid” might be a fine
mantra for someone mindlessly
pursuing a lifestyle that someone
else has deemed successful, but it’s
a lousy credo for anyone who doesn’t
want to feel lost in the process.
Book Yourself Selectively. Make
sure you’ve got plenty of time for
reflection. Open your eyes and see
the Big Picture.
And pay attention to your own
need to be competitive simply for
the sake of being competitive.
Skip the holiday shopping just for
today, and reflect on what it means
to create a life in which you cannot lose.
It might be your best gift EVER.
Maya Talisman Frost has taught thousands of people how to pay attention. Through her company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she teaches playful, eyes-wide-open alternatives to meditation. To read her free tips and tricks for practical awareness, visit http://www.Real-WorldMindfulness.com.
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