What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is simply a present state awareness, where you are intentionally paying attention in the present moment, both inside and outside of you, and you are doing so without the usual judgment our analyzing mind creates. This allows you to stay calmer, clearer, more focused, more curious and more able to see options you couldn’t before.  Through this change of awareness you are no longer reacting on Autopilot, but rather responding mindfully to what is happening in your world.  

Through increased awareness, you improve your focus.  Or you are more able to notice patterns and opportunities you might have missed before.  Through increased self-awareness, you create a bigger gap between stimulus (there is a traffic jam when I’m already late for an appointment) and response (my blood pressure rises - or I remain calm).  As you slow time down, and take in more information, you make more conscious, and often better decisions and choices.

Here is a 1-minute video on What is Mindfulness? from an interview with CPABC in 2019:

What if...?

You had simple, clear and practical tools to:

• create a clear and calm mind,

• to delete the noise and distraction so can focus on what matters most,

• to get more done in less time,

• to have more time for the things that matter to you,

• be less reactive when triggered, and

• to have more joy and happiness in your day?

Image Credit: Greg Rakozy, Unsplash

Why do we need these skills?

Nobel-winning economist Herbert Simon foresaw in 1977 that in a coming age rich in information, what information consumes is “the attention of its recipients - hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention”.  It could be argued that this “wealth of information” also creates an abundance of stress and distraction.  All of which erodes our ability to focus and sustain real productivity - versus being very busy.

To navigate the landscape today, the busy professional needs tools and techniques to counter this wealth of information.  They need techniques to be more aware of what is happening around them, self-aware of what’s happening inside of them and to be more intentional in their focus and their choices. 

Mindfulness training and practice have been instrumental in my own work and life.  My goal is to help CPAs realize the many benefits of a mindfulness practice and to have more tools in their tool box as they navigate work and life.

The Mindful Wisdom Program

This program provides the skills and techniques for CPAs to improve focus, reduce stress and increase productivity.  The results being that they are more resilient to the stresses they face and more productive in the professional work they do – and in all areas of their lives.