Miboul – Mind, Body and Soul

There are so many people that I come in contact every day. I pass them by without ever asking them true questions. It’s always the robotic “Hey How are you” to which the systematic response is “Good/Great”. At this point I always tune out.

During lunch time I made a conscious effort to go further as I could see there was some distress. It was evident that there was a wall created but nonetheless I could understand from her slumped body language that there was something about. I pressed a bit further and finally put my art of listening in practice.

Next time I pass by people, I will make a conscious effort to understand if they are truly doing “Good or great”.

Listening is such a simple exercise yet it is difficult. The difficulty arises in not understanding where the other person is coming from instead we force our views/opinions onto the person.

A dear friend of mine started telling me about a sad situation. From the moment he started, my mind was focused on finding a solution that I thought was RIGHT. After every sigh or pause, I would say “You should do XYZ ” or “Why not try XSZ” just throwing out solutions that made sense to ME. However, I realized that my solutions are not necessarily the ones that fit his personal values/priorities. I got more upset with him because I felt as if I was speaking to a wall. This turned into a negative cycle within me.

I sat in meditation and tried hard to extract my mind and ego away from the situation. It was only then I realized how I was focusing on myself. Putting myself before listening to his true feelings. Placing my importance of fixing his problem over understanding his soul. Next time I understand that when someone speaks, I will try my hardest to put myself in their shoes and not let my ego get the best of me.

I have a habit of treating my family different from strangers. When I meet a stranger I am more tolerant, accepting and nicer to them. Its strange to me that I am nicer to strangers than my own family?

With my brothers I am rude and inattentive to their needs. Today, I decided to rather than be rude towards my siblings, I will provide compliments. It is not as easy as it sounds because there is a lot of history of the similar habit. But its time to break this nasty habit.

Go out and throw a compliment.

Mental thoughts plague my mind at times. Thoughts such as “I am this”, “Why can’t I”, “I am unable to” etc… hijack my mind. In a recent book, A New Earth, the author discusses how these thoughts magnify the ego and in turn removing your self from reality. Getting consumed in these thoughts leads to negative action. Case and point: before I pick up a phone to make my sales call, my mind blocks my confidence with insecure or negative thoughts. By the time the call is placed I am emitting negativity and hence reduces my chances to get a meeting.

To regain focus, it is best to bring your awareness to 1 of the 5 senses: Touch, Sight, Smell, Taste and Feel. There is a loud heating fan in our office. I shut my eyes, inhaled deep in my belly and focused on the fan. I maintained my focus until I was aware of my mental chatter. I affirmed “These are just thoughts and they are not me”

View thoughts for what they truly are: JUST THOUGHTS and NOTHING MORE.

The house of infinite resources and millions of worlds is the best place to be. There is no better place to get focused than the library. I tried numerous times “doing” things from my home but I have too many distractions. Eliminating my distractions by coming to the library has been the highlight of my weekend!

Make a trip to your local library and explore.

Before going into my sales position, I was reading books, articles, youtube videos on how to sell. I thought I knew everything. But my results in the first month proved otherwise.

Today, one of my sales manager was kind enough to spend 3 hours with me to refine my pitch and understand my weaknesses. His guidance and knowledge helped me direct where I was making mistakes.

I must become a student of life, not just in sales but everything. I make the mistake of knowing everything and in turn inflating my ego. This has taught me to take a step back and learn from every experience.

This week was very demanding of my positive attitude. I have been unable to arrange any sales meeting. Facing rejection after rejection on the phones, my confidence started to weaken. I started to stutter during my conversations with prospects.

Today, I hit the gym to change my mind set, a good workout gets my mind in the zone. I arrived home, opened my email and found a lead that was forwarded to be by my manager.

At first, I was very reluctant to accept it because I did not “earn it” (felt like a hand out). After an inner battle with myself, I called the lead and got the meeting. It was great talking to the prospect and getting the positive response. I have realized the world is willing to help me reach my goals. Have to put my pride aside and be open to the help.

In a rush to leave work, I zoom through traffic, ignoring the people around me. As I was driving through a street, a couple of people were waving from a bridge. I am quiet certain that they were not waving at someone in particular as they were on a bridge and the traffic had eased. I high beamed, honked, stuck my hand out and waved. Good to say Hello to a stranger.

In my busy day doing a million task, I never take out time for myself. Take time out to do nothing.

For the last couple of months I have let go of my daily meditation practice. Today I did my 10 minute meditation. Felt really good to be at peace with all that is around me. Meditation is my tool against the bad days and good days. There is no objective or goal of meditation. It is to help you with your mental chatter and the non stop mental clutter that blocks your awareness.

Sit for 10 minutes and focus on your breathing. Its easier than it sounds but its well worth it.

I finally got myself to go for an early run. It was not as early as I liked it to be but nonetheless the morning sun was beaming in all its glory. I saw about 5 flocks of Geese making their way south. Very refreshing and peaceful to run in the morning.