I get a lot of magazines delivered to me, most of which I don’t remember ever subscribing to. The ones that really have nothing to do with our conservatory business I call up and have canceled, like the Journal of Welding (or something like that). I can’t imagine how I got on the list for that one.
But some are relevant and interesting. Of course there are the usual copies of Window & Door, Woodworking and Glass magazines that arrive monthly and sometimes even Fast Company or something really hot.
But recently, I found something called Smart CEO in my box. It was the Baltimore issue and apparently there is also a Washington DC issue. In it I found a lot of the usual stuff, stories of successful young entrepreneurs that make me feel sick with envy, business advice, much of which is common sense or already well understood by anyone who has managed to stay afloat for more than a few years and lots of ads for everyone who wants to help me do everything better.
But in this April 2009 issue, one item stood out. A column called “Interior Matters” written by Alicia Rodriguez. Alicia is founder of Sophia Associates Inc., an “international executive and leadership coaching practice”.
The title of her column was “Creating Mindfulness- running on autopilot will get you to the same old destination”.
I have heard of lots of new age jingle jangle business stuff over the years- and even been involved with some, however I sense that Alicia has digested something quite real.
Her premise is that in today’s uncertain, complex and fast changing world, the clarity and understanding that is required to take qualitatively better action, must come from what is not already “known”.
She talks about the cultivation of a quality called “mindfulness”, which definition she quotes from the Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center as: “ paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.”
She says: “At its core, mindfulness is about being present to what is right in front of you. It is a quality of attention and heightened awareness, both of your internal landscape and external environment…”
She goes on to note the benefits: “It is only by cultivating this heightened awareness that you can recognize your default patterns and purposefully choose alternative actions rather than react out of …(the same habitual patterns of thinking and behavior that have actually created the situation to begin with).
I was interested to learn that Albert Einstein is credited with saying, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
In short, Alicia points out that “…creation and innovation only occur in the present moment, not in the past and not in the future” and that attention to the present moment is precisely what the cultivation of “mindfulness” is all about.
Her closing remark says it all: “If you think that cultivating mindfulness is just new age fluff, think again. On second thought, don’t think. Just pay attention!
Alan