Build Your Awareness Muscle With This Easy Tip
Build Your Awareness Muscle With This Easy Tip
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Episode Transcript
Hey there and welcome to the innovative mindset podcast. I’m your host. Izolda Trakhtenberg welcome to mindful Friday. If that’s, when you’re listening to the show, if not, then it might be mindful Monday or mindful Tuesday. I wanted to talk about awareness in last week’s mindful Friday, we talked, uh, I talked a little bit.
I explored what it means to start building that. And this past week, we’ve been talking about ideas. And how does having an idea give you the potential to change the world? Right. If you listen to the idea of when it comes up, if you, if you note it down, if you follow it, if you find collaborators. If you have compassion, it can definitely help.
There are lots of layers to this, but it’s really important to keep thinking about it in these terms, because that’s how it’s done. Right? You find your creative genius inside yourself. You listen to the ideas that pop up out of your subconscious and then you. Find the team, you build the team collaborators, but before any of that happens, you have to have the awareness to be present and ready for whatever idea will.
And I talk about meditation a lot and it’s hard because we’re not all able to find the time to sit down and meditate for half an hour a day. I try to find that time, but it’s sometimes really difficult. I have to admit I’m up to 15 minutes, twice a day. And, uh, there are times that I’m like, hurry up, hurry up.
And I have to be okay with that. Right. And waiting for the little alarm to ring, to tell me that my meditation time is over. I don’t know if you watch the TV show, billions, but all of the main characters meditate. That’s one of the things that they do because they realized that it gives them an edge, right.
That, that ability to be agile. Happens when you meditate, you’re more agile, you’re more aware you’re more present and you’re able to respond better and faster if you’re in that mindful state. So when Bobby Axelrod from the show, billions needs to be mindful. He meditates beforehand. So yes, I am going to advocate for meditation almost every mindful Friday, for sure.
But what if you just don’t have time? So here’s a really great. Easy way to build some mindfulness into your commute. Right? And I’m not a, if you’re driving, I’m not saying you need to close your eyes or anything, please don’t drive safe. All of that. Absolutely. You must drive safe. You must stay aware of what’s happening on the road around you.
But I am going to ask you to start thinking about when you’re at red lights. For example, if you’re, if you’re driving to work and you’re at a red light, uh, let the red light guide. So while the red light is red, breathe in for a count of four and breathe out for a count of four and breathe in for a count of four and read out for a count of four.
And then when the light turns green go, and hopefully you’re not stuck in traffic. I know, uh, And if you’re walking or if you’re commuting, commuting is beautiful. If you happen to take the subway, you can look at the lights that pass through the windows and just notice each light. You don’t have to do much of anything else with it, but it’s a way of getting into that mindful meditative state without having to sit on a cushion and breathe rarefied air.
If you’re walking count, you remember that, uh, uh, It’s a horrible little thing, but it’s like walk a step on a line, break your father’s spine thing, and step on a crack break your mother’s back. I mean, they’re horrible. They ha they are horrible, uh, little sayings, but kids play like that. Right. So, but you can use that.
You can use that as part of. Mindfulness training. Just notice each line and notice whether or not you stepped on the line or off the line and just pay attention. Right? That’s all I’m asking you to do is pay attention to each the lines and the sidewalk, or if you’re taking a bus, uh, notice the colors of the trees and as you pass by them, and if there aren’t any trees, then notice, find something else to notice because the more we build that awareness muscle.
So you can improve your skills, your awareness skills, the easier it will be when you need to innovate. When you need to create, when you need to access that ingenuity, it will be easier on you. To do it if you’ve already built that awareness muscle. So this is a very short episode today, but I want to encourage you on your morning commute or evening commute.
And if you’re working from home, by the way, as many of us still are that’s perfectly. Okay. You can do the same exact thing by looking at what’s outside your window and look at it for 10 seconds. And then close your eyes and see if you can remember what you saw. That’s another way of building that awareness muscle.
It’s a great exercise. And in fact, I’m going to put something in the show notes about that. All right. I hope that you enjoy today’s episode. This is his older Trachtenberg reminding you that if you’re liking the show, if you’re liking this new five day a week format, I’d love to hear from you comment, rate and review.
Tell a friend, uh, we’ll see how long this goes. I’ll be honest with you. Uh, I love talking to you about this stuff because it is my passion. I think this creativity and ingenuity and innovation is how we’re going to change the world and save the world. I really believe that with all of my being, so I hope that I will be able to.
Growing this podcast and this conversation really, uh, on how we might change the world for the better for all of us. If we are all creative, curious, compassionate, collaborative, and mindful until next time, this is Izolda. Trakhtenberg reminding you to listen, learn, laugh, and love a whole lot.
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