Yesterday I had stuff to do – guest posts to write, videos to create, and some new ideas to wrangle into submission. So, what did I do?
Well, watch the video to find out…
And guess what? Sitting at the centre of the labyrinth, I created three videos, finished a writing assignment, and came up with a couple of new ideas. Productive? You betcha.
In my e-workshop, How to Lead with Your Paint Clothes on, there is a section called “Pause and Reflect” about the importance of incorporating times of quietness and contemplation into our leadership journeys.
Here’s an excerpt:
When M. Scott Peck, a busy writer and internationally-renowned speaker, is asked how he gets so much accomplished, his answer is “Because I spend at least two hours a day doing nothing.” Those two hours of doing nothing are the most important hours of his day. For three forty-five minute periods throughout the day, he spends time in solitude and silence, meditating and praying. It’s the only way he can keep up with the demands of his schedule of writing, traveling all over the world, and speaking to thousands of people every month. “I cannot survive without it,” he says.
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“We are always doing something, talking, reading, listening to the radio, planning what next. The mind is kept naggingly busy on some easy, unimportant external thing all day.” – Brenda Ueland
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Leaders often make the mistake of assuming that quiet contemplative time is a luxury they can’t afford. I would argue that we can’t afford NOT to take those times. If we keep denying ourselves the kind of space and time for our minds to take a deep healing, re-energizing breath, we will burn ourselves out, blow up at our staff, and/or cease to be of any value to our organizations.
Want to be more efficient, proficient, productive, and just plain brilliant? Go find a park, a labyrinth, a meditation cushion, or just a lawnchair in your backyard.
You can purchase How to Lead with your Paint Clothes on and join the learning circle that already includes some amazing people here.
One of the videos I created in the labyrinth was specially for the Paint Clothes tribe.