CrossFit South Bend

You make thousands of choices every day. What to do next... What to eat... What to say... Most of these choices don’t matter very much. You won’t remember them in a few weeks. About 1 dozen of these choices do matter. They aren’t the choices that define a day. They’re the choices that define your life. They’re the most important choices you'll ever make, and you get to make them every day.

When you wake up in the morning…

Choose gratitude, because life is filled with countless gifts. Choose happiness, because you can be a source of light for others. Choose humility, because you aren’t perfect and you’ll never be. Choose abundance, because the world is filled with opportunity.

When you come to a crossroads…

Choose action, because you have the opportunity to make things better. Choose your priorities, because you've only got one life to live. Choose persistence, because life’s resistance will try to stop you. Choose curiosity, because the world has endless wonders to discover. Choose patience, because creating lasting positive change doesn’t happen overnight. Choose courage, because doing the right thing usually isn’t comfortable. Choose ownership, because you’re in the driver's seat in life.

Above all else…

Choose awareness, because the biggest danger in life isn’t making the wrong choice, it’s not realizing you have a say in the matter. So what’ll it be? The choice is yours.

Get the free minimalist wallpapers to help you stay present.

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Patrick Buggy is a coach and writer at MindfulAmbition.net, where he shares mindful strategies to help you live your best life. To start every week on the right foot, join the free newsletter: Mindful Monday Mornings.

The interview did not go as you expected. How could this happen? After weeks of preparation, it should have been a piece of cake! Instead, the questions were surprising...Answers didn’t come as naturally as they should have. Such a bummer! :( "Bumps in the road" like this are a given in life. What's not a given: How you respond to these setbacks. It's a big indicator of your ability to invest your attention wisely. Given the unpredictable nature of these potholes, it’s impossible to prepare for the exact scenario that will arise. But you can develop a reliable approach for understanding what’s worth your energy, and what isn’t. There’s one rule I use to decide when it’s worth it to invest my time and attention in something. It’s especially useful for those unexpected bumps in the road.

Invest Time and Energy Where Your Priorities Meet Your Sphere of Influence

  This framework follows a simple rule. It's worth it to invest your time and energy on activities when they meet two criteria:

1. You have control or influence on the scenario.
2. It’s important to you.

The framework is simple and easy to understand. But in execution, it’s challenging due to two common traps that pull your attention in.

Stay Aware of Common Traps to Invest Your Attention Wisely

Trap 1: Low-priority activities

How it sucks you in: You’re drawn to do something because it’s in your control. Why it’s bad: These time-sucks often lead to regret in life...Wishing you would have spent time in a way that was closer-aligned to your priorities. (One look at the regrets of the dying will reaffirm the importance of living by your priorities.) Example of what this looks like: Surfing social media and reading countless articles on your feed. Although there may be benefits in learning and exposure to ideas, chances are you are spending your time on the priority of others, simply because the opportunity is there.

Trap 2: Unproductive worrying

How it sucks you in: You’re drawn to think about something because it’s important to you. Why it’s bad:  Since the outcome is out of your control, spending mental energy on it is fruitless worrying. This worrying is a great way to sabotage your own happiness and wellbeing. (Not to mention increase your cortisol levels.) Example of what this looks like: Anxiously checking the weather forecast multiple times per day leading up to a flight. You care about having a smooth travel experience. But stressing about if the weather will delay you is entirely out of your control. (I also see this frequently with others worrying about their loved ones. Many mothers claim it's "their job to worry". While I can't relate to being a mother, I'd challenge anyone's decision to worry about something that's out of their control. Chronic stress is a silent killer!)

4 Steps to Practicing an Even-Keeled Mindset

These time-traps are a danger at all times. But they’re especially magnetic when you hit an unexpected bump in the road. Moments of disorientation make it difficult to stay mindful of your actions. Try this approach to stay mindful next time you encounter anger, frustration, tension, or overwhelm in your life.

1. Cultivate awareness to see things as they are

The first step to making a clear decision is to see things as they are. Pause briefly to ground yourself with a few deep breaths, and take stock of the situation. Notice what’s happening in your body. What feelings are you experiencing? What thoughts are surfacing in your mind? For example: Let's say you’ve just missed the bus that will get you to work on time. Your face is flushed, you’re feeling frustration and disbelief at your actions, and fear of the consequences of being late. Thoughts of self-criticism and unworthiness pop into your head.

2. Reflect to understand your influence

Ask yourself: Can I influence the reality of this scenario by taking action? In the example, there are a number of things in your control. You could phone your manager to inform her of the situation, or hail a cab to get you to work instead.

3. Accept the things you cannot change

When the answer to the previous question is “No”, practice acceptance.

When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. ~ Viktor Frankl

You can’t always control the entire scenario. But you can always control your actions and reactions. Make a conscious choice not to worry/stress about this reality. Understand that it’s out of your hands. Know that you have limited time and energy, and investing it here isn’t a wise decision. Continuing with the example: You may choose to wait for the next bus. After phoning your manager, it isn’t worth stressing about the fact that you'll be late. You've done what you can do in the situation, so it’s time to accept the other elements for what they are.

4. Take action where your priorities meet your influence

If you do have influence in the scenario, ask: Is taking action here a priority for me? When something is both important to you and in your sphere of influence, it’s worth taking action. In the example: You may decide that arriving on time is enough of a priority that you're willing to spend the extra money on a taxi to get to work on time. You take action on it when it's a priority. It’s worth noting that there is a give and take between what’s in your control and what isn’t.Once you get in the cab, your arrival time is out of your control. It isn't worth worrying about how traffic will change their arrival time. Instead, choose to accept that you'll arrive when they arrive. You've done your best given the scenario!

Invest Your Attention Wisely

Your time and attention are your most valuable resources. Especially when life's challenges threaten to consume your attention, use this framework to stay mindful. Only invest your attention where your control and influence meet your priorities! Accepting the things you cannot change, and focusing on your priorities are surefire strategies to increase wellbeing moving forward.

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Patrick Buggy is a coach and writer at MindfulAmbition.net, where he shares mindful strategies to help you live your best life. To start every week on the right foot, join the free newsletter: Mindful Monday Mornings.

In a world of life hacks and hyper-growth startups it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind. There's a constant pressure to do more...and do it faster! But despite their presence in the media, these "overnight success" narratives are the exceptions to the rule. Optimizing every second of your day and starting a company that grows 10x per year are not the only paths to success. The other side of the story doesn’t get the level of attention it deserves. The truth might not be sexy, but it’s important: creating big positive change takes time.

Progress Takes Patience

The math is simple. Marginal improvements, repeated over time, create a massive impact. (This chart shows the difference between repeated 1% and .5% gains.) So if this math is so simple, why don't more people follow this advice? The answer is that patience is not easy. Our brains are even wired to prioritize short-term gains. Focusing on the long-game takes extreme discipline. Upon learning that progress takes patience, many people shut down.

"Well, I'm just not patient! I never have been!"

This conclusion is a serious misjudgment. It represents a fixed mindset instead of a growth mindset. Just because you've struggled with patience in the past doesn't mean you can't be more patient in the future. Patience is not a fixed quality, it's a skill you can develop! And since patience is a key element of creating positive change in the long-run, it’s worth understanding how to build that skill.

Deconstructing the Role of Patience

Any project, task, or activity breaks down into three phases.

1. Expectations: "I’m going to get to X and it’ll take Y time."
2. Action: "I'll work on A, B, and C to get to X."
3. Evaluation: "After Y time, did I get where I thought I would? Do I need to adjust?"

When you feel impatient, it’s often an issue of expectations. You expect something to happen quicker than it is happening in reality. The patient person is patient because they manage their expectations well. And they take the time to cultivate awareness of what phase they are in with a given activity. Each phase is separate, because each serves its own purpose. (i.e. Setting expectations is a fundamentally different activity from both taking action and evaluating progress.) But if you never take the time to deliberately think through these steps, impatience will start pushing the phases together. And when one phase cuts into another, it diminishes the unique value of both. In real-life, this looks like:

• Taking action before setting clear expectations…
• Constantly self-evaluating instead of focusing on the task at hand...
• Feeling rushed and not taking time to intentionally evaluate progress...

Awareness of the elements at play is half the battle. The other half comes in taking a more deliberate approach.

3 Ways to Build Patience Over Time

1. Commit to the practice of patience

Understand that patience is a skill you can develop. And make a conscious decision to work on building this skill over time. When you commit to the practice, you increase your chances of recognizing impatience as it appears. It then becomes easier to focus on the task at hand, instead of trying to do too many things at once.

2. Keep the "big picture" top-of-mind to stay present

When starting new things, or feeling anxious, take a few minutes to orient with the big picture. This helps you stay present to the plan moving forward.

1. Establish expectations: What am I hoping to do? Understand that goals and expectations are a guess. Hold yourself accountable to putting in the work, but stay flexible with expected results to avoid stressing yourself out.
2. Plan your work: What am I going to do to make progress? Planning your approach helps you stay focused when it’s time to work.
3. Set time for evaluation: When am I going to assess progress? Put specific evaluation time on your calendar. Reserve any self-questioning until that point. Side note: The evaluation phase shouldn't be about you or your self-worth (“Am I smart/good at my job?”) Evaluation is about learning, improvement, and flexibility. ("What happened when I did the work I said I would do?” / "Do I need to adjust my course?” / "Do I need to adjust my expectations?”)

3. When all else fails, hit pause

Even the best laid plans hit rough spots. The only certain thing in life is that life is full of uncertainty. If you get caught up in a moment of change, try these tactics to re-ground yourself:

• Take 5 deep breaths: Your breath is always with you, and it’s always in your control. Focusing on your breath is settling and calming.
• Count to 10 (in your head) before taking action: Avoid impatient reactions by giving your gears a few seconds to turn. A few extra seconds now can yield big benefits later on when you make better decisions.
• Recall a time where patience paid off: Most great breakthroughs (learning a new skill, solving a problem, winning a game) come after extended periods of focus and effort. Thinking back to a positive memory can make it easier to stay disciplined when you might otherwise falter.
• Change your physical state: Mind and body are one and the same. As peak performance strategist Tony Robbins says, "To change your psychology, change your physiology." If you're feeling antsy, get outside and go for a walk around the block. Look at the sky. Do a few jumping jacks or pushups. Then, come back to the situation with a fresh set of eyes.

Patience is a Skill

I won't object that "patience is a virtue." But far more importantly, patience is a skill that you can (and should!) practice. While others focus on shortcuts, hacks, and unreasonable work hours, let patience be your secret weapon. We know it's a reliable path to success. And it's healthier for your long-term wellbeing. Commit to developing patience in your life by staying aware of your expectations. Keep action and planning separate, and prioritize time for evaluation. And when impatience flairs up (which it will), take a quick break. Even if it’s just 10 seconds, addressing impatience in the moment makes it easier to combat down the road. Keep pressing on! With patience at your side, there’s nothing you can’t do.

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Patrick Buggy is a coach and writer at MindfulAmbition.net, where he shares mindful strategies to help you live your best life. To start every week on the right foot, join the free newsletter: Mindful Monday Mornings.

About a year ago, I learned a straightforward strategy that transformed my decision-making process. Since then, I've used it to break through resistance, and take action on important things in life. It all started with an observation that it was easier to give suggestions to other people than it was to solve my own problems. With friends, I could stay impartial. This helped me understand both the objective facts of their situation and the emotional biases clouding their judgement. This realization got me thinking...

How might I use this knowledge to re-engineer my own decision making process?

If I could give clear-headed advice to others, I could certainly learn to cut through the noise of my own challenges.

It's Hard to Stay Objective

When you’re the main character in your life’s story, it’s hard to stay objective. You live life in a 1st-person view. Your experiences are saturated with emotions, and instincts drive much of your decision-making. This isn’t inherently bad. Your instincts and emotions make you who you are! But those emotions aren’t always helpful for making sound decisions. You need a healthy level of detachment from your point-of-view in order to fully process any scenario. A mindfulness practice can help get you there. Meditation, journaling, and other activities work well to cultivate awareness. But they only go so far. What’s needed is a reliable strategy you can use to cultivate objectivity. Whether you’re faced with a tough decision or just want to do more reflection, the process of “zooming out” gives you the perspective to be objective.

Give Yourself the Advice You’d Give to A Friend

The gist of this strategy is to give yourself the advice you’d give a friend if they were in your shoes. Instead of “I need to make this decision”, it becomes “They need to make a decision”. There’s less pressure. You think more clearly. It can feel unnatural to treat yourself like a different person, but it makes a world of difference. Follow the steps below to make the exercise as effective as you can. This strategy simplifies into four main steps.

1. Awareness: Realizing you’re in a situation where your judgement could be clouded by emotions, fears, and other personal biases.
2. Perspective: “Zoom out” to get an objective understanding of your situation.
3. Analysis: Consider the pros and cons of potential paths forward.
4. Advice: Give advice to yourself.

Here’s what that looks like in practice.

Step 1: Cultivate Awareness to Know When to Start

As with most mindful practices, the first step is awareness. 😃 Be on the lookout for decision points in your life. Notice when you’re struggling with a tricky situation, or feel wrapped up in your own head. That’s when it’s time to pause, and zoom out. For practice: Meditation and journaling exercises are valuable to increase your awareness on a regular basis.

Step 2: Zoom Out to Promote Objectivity

Shift from 1st-person (“I have this decision to make”) to 3rd person (“[your name] has a decision to make.”) Envision stepping outside of yourself to see the situation with a fresh set of eyes. Then, write out all the facts of your situation:

• What are the biggest moving pieces? Why do they matter?
• What are the emotions you’re feeling? Why?
• Are you experiencing fear? Where is it coming from?

This is the most important part of the exercise, so I’ll repeat it again. Write out all the facts of your situation! It’s easy to be short-sighted when making decisions. This is dangerous, because it often leads to the path of least resistance. But avoiding short term discomfort in this way prevents great things from happening later on.

Step 3: Analyze the Situation With a Fresh Set of Eyes

This is where you start move towards a decision. Given the facts of the situation (that you listed out in step 2),

• What are the different choices one could make in this scenario?
• What are the likely outcomes of those paths, both positive and negative?

Stay aware of the fact that it’s common to inflate the impact of consequences relative to gains. Don’t let your fears prevent you from taking action. Stay true to the exercise of objectivity. If a friend gave you that list of fears, how would you respond? Treat them as if they aren’t your own.

Step 4: Give Yourself Clear-Headed Advice

After analyzing the situation, give yourself the advice you’d give to a friend in your shoes. Don't just think about doing this. Take physical steps to share the advice as you would with a friend:

• Write an email to yourself
• Write a letter to yourself
• Record a video to yourself

Whatever method you choose, do not skip this step! Physically going through the process of sharing advice promotes objectivity. And it primes you to commit and follow through.

Better Decisions Build A Better Life

Giving myself advice is my go-to strategy to make better decisions. It helps me follow through on important things (like having vulnerable conversations with others) when resistance and fear get in the way. This strategy is particularly useful for challenging situations. But it’s also useful for more regular journaling. For example, taking ten minutes to write about your life from a 3rd-person perspective once per week. It helps me live by the principles I believe to be important, but are difficult to follow through on. I hope it will do the same for you! The more you break through life’s natural resistance, the easier it becomes.

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Patrick Buggy is a coach and writer at MindfulAmbition.net, where he shares mindful strategies to help you live your best life. To start every week on the right foot, join the free newsletter: Mindful Monday Mornings.

There’s a common mistake people make when setting goals, or trying to create positive life changes. It leads to elevated stress and unhappiness if you aren’t aware of it. The mistake is to focus on the destination of where you’re going instead of the journey of what you’re doing. When you overemphasize the endpoint of a journey, you get caught longing for what will be, instead of accepting what is.

“Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get something.” - Naval Ravikant

Longing for the destination of whatever you’re doing creates unhappiness and distress in the present.

Veruca Salt Syndrome

Remember the demanding young girl in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?

“I want a golden goose...and I want it now!"

Desire fixed her focus on something she didn’t have. She wanted that golden goose, and not having it created incredible frustration! It’s an extreme example, but you and I behave like Veruca from time to time. This is an age of instant gratification. Food, movies, music, and more can be yours with the tap of a screen. Expectations of immediacy (impatience) creep into other parts of life without you realizing. I call it Veruca Salt Syndrome. ;) It’s when you let the fact that you haven’t reached your destination yet bring you down. Progress takes patience. Projections, goals, and expectations are great to hold you accountable. But sometimes it just takes longer than you think it will to accomplish something you set out to do. And that’s okay! When you latch on to the end result, you limit your satisfaction and happiness to a specific point in time. Crossing the “finish line” brings a surge of joy! But it doesn’t take long before you attach to another destination. The cycle repeats itself... Unless you decide to change your mindset! Instead of focusing on the end-point, think about what you can do to make progress towards the destination.

Focus on the Journey

Emphasizing the journey means you get satisfaction from the work you put in, not just the end result. Doing this links your satisfaction to something that’s in your control (the work you put in). Focusing on the results of your work (the destination) does the opposite. It links your personal satisfaction to something outside of your control. It will always be more productive to focus your energy on what's in your control. Here’s how to get started. [caption id="attachment_296" align="alignnone" width="650"] Hiking is literally about the journey. When you start wishing you were at the destination, the hike loses its fun.[/caption]

How to Start Paying Attention to the Journey

1. Accept that progress takes patience, and that a journey is made from small steps.

The infamous “startup in a garage” stories are a great lesson here. Anything great that’s ever been done started from nothing and grew over time. You don’t get where you want to go in massive leaps. It all happens in small steps.

2. Ask yourself three big questions every day to stay focused on the journey.

• What can I do today to make it a great day? This focuses you on action instead of desire.
• Am I working from my priorities? This question is about focus. I’ve been a Type-A overachiever for most of my life. I always tried to do too much at once. Now, I choose to do fewer different things in my life. But most things I do week-to-week matter to me. If you answer “yes” to this, then you know you’re heading in the right direction! If not, you need to rebalance what you spend your time on week-to-week. Clarify your priorities with The 20 Minute Life Checkup if needed.
• Am I working on high-impact activities?  There are countless ways to approach any goal/priority. If you believe you’re working towards your destination in an effective manner, take comfort in the fact that you’re working towards your destination! If not, take the opportunity to explore a different path.

3. Keep track of the little wins in your day-to-day

Some days, it can feel like you didn’t do much of anything. It’s a corrosive feeling that I’m all too familiar with it. But I started keeping better track of the little things in my life and work. It gives me pride to count the little victories every day. Here’s my current strategy for tracking the little things:

• Keep a "Work Journal” that answers two questions 1. What did I work on today? Appreciate what you’ve done. Even the little tasks! 2. What are the 3 most important things that I should focus on tomorrow? Prime yourself you for future action. It makes tomorrow easier. :)
• Keep a gratitude journal at home Appreciating the many gifts you have helps to raise your spirits when done consistently. For advice on how to get started, check out this guide.

Journey > Destination

When you’re doing something new, or chasing a big goal, it’s natural to get excited about what’s to come. Don’t let your enthusiasm infect you with excess amounts of desire. Latching on to your end goal breeds dissatisfaction. Instead, focus on the journey. :) When you get satisfaction from the process of taking action, you’re always in control. You don’t get bent out of shape when things don’t go according to plan. All that matters is the quality of the effort you put forth.

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Patrick Buggy is a coach and writer at MindfulAmbition.net, where he shares mindful strategies to help you live your best life. To start every week on the right foot, join the free newsletter: Mindful Monday Mornings.

The adrenaline hit me like a slap in the face. I had slept through my alarm...again. I developed the unfortunate habit of sleeping through my alarm while studying in Copenhagen, Denmark. It led me to miss half of a mid-term exam. And I nearly missed a bus departure for a weeklong class trip! Everyone has their own version of this story, feeling behind during an important situation. Trying to “catch up” is a stressful experience! Whenever I slept through an alarm, I would leap out of bed and start rushing around like a madman. In the moment, rushing feels like the only way to remedy the situation.

“I’m running behind, so I need to rush to catch up!”

But in reality, rushing to “catch up” is rarely worth it! The amount you “catch up” pales in comparison to the added stress you create by rushing.

The Myth of "Catching Up" (And why the Odds are Stacked Against You)

Rushing is a simple exchange, with inputs and outputs. You put something in (extra physical and mental energy) to achieve a result (“catching up”). But the positive results from rushing are marginal at best. You never truly catch up! And the cost for acquiring those marginal benefits significantly outweighs their benefit. Let’s say you’re running late to a meeting and decide to speed on your way there. Instead of going the 60mph speed limit, you push it to 72mph. What used to take you 15 minutes now only took about 12. But saving those precious three minutes costs you significantly. You're putting yourself at greater risk for physical harm (crash), mental harm (stress), and financial harm (speeding ticket). Rushing adds stress and anxiety to your life. Over time, this can make a big difference in your default mental state. Even if it doesn’t feel significant in the moment, the difference between a peaceful mind and a somewhat stressed mind is significant. It impacts everyone around you as well. The stress of needing to act quickly can be worth it when your wellbeing is threatened…But in modern times, those situations are few and far between. With that in mind, why don’t you bat an eye when you see coworkers frantically rushing around the office? Why is rushing so commonplace?

The Brain that Cried Wolf

The modern brain is poorly calibrated to understand threats. This has nothing to do with your intelligence. It’s a natural byproduct of human evolution. Fear’s role is to motivate you to act swiftly to prevent a threat to your wellbeing. But in today’s society, most people don’t experience situations with legitimately harsh consequences. Our distant ancestors faced frequent threats from wild animals, unforgiving elements, and warring enemies. Modern man’s most common “threats” involve nothing more than short-term emotional or physical discomfort. Your brain has new inputs in today’s world, but the operating system is the same as our “caveman” ancestors. This is why rushing around is so commonplace in modern society. Situations with minor consequences feel significant in the absence of anything more dangerous. The result: unnecessarily elevated levels of stress and anxiety.

You fear the consequences of “falling behind” at work, so you work frantically to try and make up for it. You fear what will happen if you arrive a few minutes late to something, and drive aggressively to get their faster.

Both of these scenarios exemplify the stacked equation of rushing. The marginal gains in either case aren’t worth the added stress. This isn’t to say that working quickly is never worth it. Sometimes it’s necessary. But it should come from a place of genuine inspiration and internal motivation, not fear. Letting fear take over on a regular basis is unnecessary and harmful to you and those around you. Fortunately, there are a host of ways to take control in these situations! You can learn to understand when it’s worthwhile to rush.

3 Situations to Cultivate Awareness and Reduce Stress

Awareness is your antidote to unnecessary stress. When you pause to identify the real consequences of everyday fears (rejection, “falling behind”, running late, etc.) you give yourself the opportunity to act intentionally. Instead of letting fear take over, you understand when the consequences of rushing won’t be worth the added stress. Here are three different situations where you can cultivate awareness to minimize rushing and reduce stress:

In the Moment

Cultivate awareness and notice when you start to rush. Take a minute to pause and evaluate your scenario. Think through the benefits and consequences of rushing by asking yourself two questions:

1. What’s the worst that could happen if I act normally, and don’t rush? This tends to be surprisingly insignificant. (e.g. “My friend will be by themselves for 10 minutes.” or “I get a little embarrassed for 30 seconds.”)
2. What are the best and worst-case scenarios if I choose to rush?
The best will likely be a marginal improvement from acting normally, while the worst may be significant. (e.g. Best: You arrive at my destination 5 minutes earlier. Worst: You get a speeding ticket or get in a crash.)

In Preparation

It’s easy to feel behind when you’ve lost control of your schedule. This lack of control is often a matter of priority. It’s a sign that you’ve let too many commitments into your life that don’t align with what matters to you. Give yourself more control with these three strategies:

1. Start saying “no”
 Take control of your schedule by saying “no” to more things. Spend your time on things that you value. (Use the 20 Minute Life Check to get started here.)
2. Organize to-do's by urgency and priority This framework was popularized by Stephen Covey (author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) and used by President Dwight Eisenhower. It will help you focus on the right tasks by identifying what's actually important.
3. Cultivate space Create space in your day by scheduling short breaks to reflect or give your mind a break. Active reflection time and subconscious processing time are critical to doing your best work.

After the Fact

Reflect on the times when you do choose to rush. Ask yourself:

• Was it worthwhile?
• Why or why not?

Hindsight is 20/20, so use it to calibrate your sense of urgency for future scenarios.

Vanquish Insignificant Fears to Live With Intention

Modern society has it’s legitimate dangers. But most common fears have insignificant consequences. Conquer your fear of falling behind by staying present to the true consequences of your actions. Some of the best advice I’ve ever received came from a friend in a three word text when I was running late.

“Sweet, no rush.”

Next time you’re running late or feel behind at work, take a minute to breath and find your center. Then, evaluate your scenario, and act accordingly. The world will be a better place when you do!

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Based in Chicago, IL, Patrick Buggy is a coach and writer at MindfulAmbition.net, where he shares mindful strategies to help you live your best life. To start every week on the right foot, join the free newsletter: Mindful Monday Mornings.

“I really want to be more mindful, but it’s just so hard to find time for it.” Does that sound familiar? Feeling “too busy” prevents people from doing new things all the time. Humans inflate the negative consequences of losing things they already have. Which makes it tough to re-prioritize your time to create new habits. This is especially difficult if you have a type-A, career-driven personality. Every day is chock-full of meetings, deadlines, and important tasks! How could you ever take 20 minutes to just sit and breathe? It feels completely out of reach. With that approach, mindfulness falls into the category of “things I don’t have time for”. Which sets you up for a downward spiral. A self-fulfilling prophecy of stress and anxiety. Get stressed —> Avoid cultivating space with mindful breaks —> Stay stressed —> Repeat Fortunately, there's a simple way to be more mindful while maintaining your existing habits. You don’t need to take time away from your current activities to live more mindfully. Yes, you read that right! You can increase the amount of mindful moments in your life without changing anything about your schedule or morning routine. "But...how is that possible?"

Mindfulness is a State of Mind

Mindfulness isn’t an activity that you do. It’s a state of mind. When you do something mindfully, you're fully present in the moment. You aren’t thinking about the past or the future. Instead, you place your attention and awareness on whatever you're experiencing at that time.  Many people make a simple mistake when learning about mindfulness. They characterize it as a set of activities: "Mindfulness is when you do yoga, or meditate, or journal…" You wouldn’t be wrong to define yoga and journaling as mindfully oriented activities. In fact, both are a part of my mindfulness practice! But they’re only a few of the countless ways to cultivate mindfulness--merely the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much more beneath the surface!

The Iceberg Method: How to Hack Your Routine to Create More Mindful Moments

The Iceberg Method works in three steps:

1. First, expand your view of what's considered a "mindful activity"
2. Second, find new opportunities to be mindful that you previously overlooked
3. Third, queue more mindful moments with physical reminders

1. Recalibrate Your Definition of Mindful Activities

Think about mindfulness as an iceberg. The ice represents all the opportunities to create more mindful presence in your life. Activities like meditation and yoga are the tip of the iceberg. They’re the clearly visible manifestations of a mindfulness practice in everyday life. What's “beneath the water”? It’s the rest of your day! Here’s what I mean by that... You can create mindful moments at any point in the day. Usually this means focusing on your breath, or paying specific attention to your senses. Every moment of every day is an opportunity to be mindful. Which doesn’t mean you need to be mindful and aware every second of every day. But it does give you the chance to cultivate mindfulness more often than you do now. If you haven’t thought of mindfulness in this way before, you probably didn’t realize the countless opportunities for mindfulness that already exist in your routine! You don’t need to set aside extra time to meditate to be mindful. (Although it does help, and I highly recommend it.) And you don’t need perfect conditions to be mindful. You just need to remember to pay attention! When mindfulness is an always-available state of mind, the hardest part isn’t having time, it’s remembering to do it! With the Iceberg Method, you can define new opportunities to be mindful that you previously overlooked. Repurpose everyday moments into mindful breaks and start building your mindfulness practice!

2. Define Opportunities to be Mindful in Your Daily Routine that Won’t Take Extra Time

Everyone has different routines. So it doesn’t really matter what parts of your day you pick for mindful breaks. The important thing is that you create these mindful moments every day! Here are 12 everyday moments I’ve used as opportunities to be mindful.

• While washing your hands…focus on the temperature and sensation of the water, soap, and towel on your hands.
• While eating food…focus on the taste, texture, and temperature of the food as you eat it. Notice how the flavors change as you eat.
• While moving/exercising…focus on your breath, and the sensation of the muscles you’re using.
• While drinking water…focus on the temperature, and the feeling of the water as it moves into your mouth and down your throat.
• While cooking…observe how the food reacts to heat, and changes form over time. Focus on the smells of the food and seasonings.
• While getting dressed…notice how the various fabrics feel on your body as you put them on.
• While cleaning…notice how the surface changes as you clean it. Focus on the patterns of your movement as you scrub or wipe.
• While showering…focus on the temperature and sensation of the water and soap against your skin.
• While outside in weather (wind, rain, snow…)…notice how the shifts in weather feel against your clothes and skin. Observe how your environment changes.
• While waiting…pay attention to your breathing. Take slow, deep breaths in and out through your nose.
• While writing…focus on the sensation of your pen against the paper. Notice how the ink dries on the page.
• While on the bus…close your eyes and listen. Notice the loud sounds around you. Then, try to find the quietest noise you can hear.

Think back to them in the coming days to create mindful moments throughout your day. (Or tailor the method to your habits with the free worksheet.)

3. Use Physical Reminders to Queue Mindful Moments

To make this habit easier, try using physical reminders as a way to queue yourself to be mindful. I do this with my gratitude journal by leaving it on my bed every night. That way, I'm guaranteed to remember to write in it before falling asleep. A few ways to do this:

• Leave notes for yourself You can put simple notes like “Breathe”, or “Accept”, or “Present” around your house where you know you’ll see them. The worksheets for this article have a full list of reminder words you can cut out. Place them where you know you’ll bump into them!
• Write on your hand/arm Just a small dot, letter, or short word will do the trick. (Or, repurpose the classic “rubber band around your wrist” reminder.)
• Put a “marker" on a high-use object Use a permanent marker to make a mark of some kind on your toothbrush, or deodorant stick. Or put a sticker on your phone case. Make it visible, and put it on something you use every day!

Anytime you notice one of these markers, take a deep breath, and use it as an opportunity to create a mindful moment.

Start Creating More Mindful Moments

Building this new mindful moments habit will take time. But soon enough, you’ll find yourself spending more time in mindful presence. You’ll start to recognize how beneficial these simple everyday moments can be! Remember the iceberg, and you’ll never have too little time for mindfulness! PS: Click here to download The Iceberg Method Worksheets and start hacking your routine for more mindful moments.

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Based in Chicago, IL, Patrick Buggy is a coach and writer at MindfulAmbition.net, where he shares mindful strategies to help you live your best life. To start every week on the right foot, join the free newsletter: Mindful Monday Mornings.