(photo by imagemkr1)
What do Keith Ferrazzi, Brian Buffini and the late Mother Theresa have in common? All three spent long periods of time in meditation and mental focusing before starting the day. Whether you are a best-selling author like Ferrazzi, a real estate consultant like Buffini, or a humble woman from Calcutta, each person can start the day with a time of preparation and mental training.
What goes into this period of training? Depends on whom you ask, of course. The ancient practice of Lectio Divina takes a short passage and breaks it into four stages:
- Read a passage: choose something short and read it two times. Many Lectio practitioners choose something from a sacred text.
- Think about it: ask questions like who? what? where? when? what's being said here?
- Let it lift your heart: let the passage marinate and move inside of you. What is it telling your heart? How does it motivate your attitude, emotion or perspective? If you are a prayerful person, let the passage work its way into your words of prayer.
- Just sit and "be": don't do anything- just relax and listen to the passage. Silent contemplation. In a world of hustle-bustle, a few moments of silence go a long way.
Lectio Divina, like many meditative practices, leaves an impression on your mind. It gives you something to revisit during the day. A word, a phrase or a mental picture will return to you later in the day, giving a brief moment of grounding or even inspiration. It's a powerful process that etches a concept on your mind. Here are some great productivity phrases worth repeating at the start of the day.
- I am a fast worker.
- Speed matters.
- One thing at a time.
- Focus, focus, focus.
- Stay on task.
- I produce results.
- Be a part of the solution.
- Work matters.
- What I do, when I do it, makes a difference.
- Others benefit from what I am doing right now.
Write one phrase down at the start of the day, then read it again at lunch and once more before bed. The end result will be a greater level of productivity-awareness- always a good thing. After about four to five days of this, you'll only need to write it down once, leaving the rest of your day to benefit from your morning moments of mindfulness.
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