CORPORATE SUFI: Sharpening your awareness

Being alert and aware of the present moment, besides enhancing your productivity, also functions as an excellent tool for gleaning critical insights from your environment, and this helps you to make well thought out decisions at work.

For example, when you meet with your team, you can have two different types of meetings. One is where you are alert and open to both the verbal and non-verbal cues of your team, which helps you gather critical information to decide the next course of action. The second is where you have already made up your mind, and the meeting is held merely to manipulate the others to accept your point of view; hence, you receive no valuable feedback from team members, which leads to sub-par performance.

During the course of your work it’s easy to miss the present moment and get overwhelmed with the demands of the day. However, you can regain your present- moment awareness with these simple exercises.

1) Every hour, stop and ask: Am I really present in this moment? If not, what are my thoughts focused on? Doing this often will help you return to the present moment. You may wonder how to practice this if you are already doing an activity that is very engaging. Taking a moment to reflect on these questions will help you assess if you are really present and focused on the priority task– which is good – or if you are focused on a less important task.

2) Spend a few minutes each day with Nature; it will calm you. Watch a tree’s leaves move when the wind blows, reflecting non-resistance. While looking at the ocean, see the abundance, neutrality and oneness of the Universe. Nature has many messages for us and this practice will help separate your good thoughts from the cluttered ones.

3) When in the moment, look at difficulties you have and ask: “What can I learn from this problem?” How is this problem affecting you in the larger scheme of things? Think about one thing you can do to minimize the problem and act upon it right away. Why this approach? Because it takes you away from worrying about the problem, which is pointless. Instead, you can view the problem from a distance objectively and act on the problem. 4) ASK yourself: “What can I do in the present moment to create a positive impact?

5) Say thank you a few times in a day for all the good things in your life. As you count your blessings, they multiply.

6) When driving, observe your surroundings, listen to music or an educational audioto stay in the present moment and avoid worrying about the serpentine traffic.

7) Forgive someone in the present moment by giving him the benefit of the doubt. This is liberating! Start with small things, such as when someone does not thank you for a favor you did, or when someone fails to apologize when they accidentally push you. As you get good at this, you will realize how much negative energy you stave off. This will help you forgive bigger transgressions, such as pardoning someone for taking away some of your business or cheating you on an investment deal.

8) Think of someone you care about and send loving thoughts in the present moment.