INSIGHTS (on leadership/self-leadership)
You have so few chances to focus on your learning and growth; when you do get the opportunity you want to make the most of it, right?
But all too often, given everything you’ve got going on, what you just learned exits stage left from your brain right after you’ve learned it. What to do to better remember what you’re about to learn?
Practice mindfulness for 10 minutes before the learning activity.
I’ll explain. Research from Ball State University showed the power of practicing just 10 minutes of mindfulness meditation before engaging in a verbally based learning session. In the study, one group of people listened to audio of a 10-minute mindfulness exercise while the other group listened to a 10-minute tape of someone describing the English countryside. Both groups then took a series of tests designed to orally teach them new words. The group that engaged in the mindfulness exercise remembered significantly more of what they learned.
Why?
The researchers explained that mindfulness meditation, even just ten minutes of it, quiets down thoughts and makes it easier to absorb new information. Here’s a ten-minute (or less), step-by-step routine to practice mindfulness. Do this before any key learning opportunity, and you’ll remember more (and be mentally refreshed, too).
Step 1. Be willing to interrupt your impulsiveness. Pause and connect with your body and senses. Unlike your thoughts, your body moves at the speed of the present moment. Paying attention to your body and sensations can anchor you, which brings us to the next step.
Step 2. For a minute or two, guide your attention, slowly moving it from the top of your head down to the soles of your feet. Do so like a leisurely walk, relaxed, unhurried, and curious. Pay attention to how each part of your body feels as you conduct your top-to-bottom “scan.”
Step 3. Take a series of full breaths (three or more), relaxed and unforced. Let your lungs fill, expand, and then release. In addition to strengthening your attention, deeper breathing increases production of serotonin and dopamine –neurotransmitters in the brain associated with positive emotion and working memory.
Step 4. Let your breathing return to its natural rhythm. As you exhale, practice releasing the attachment to a specific outcome (such as, “I really need to be calm right now!”). Breathe, release, and be curious about what’s happening now in your body. Ask yourself, “What else do I notice?”
Step 5. Don’t try to stop your thoughts; it won’t work. Instead, reframe how you regard your thoughts. For instance, think of thoughts as children on a playground — some are loud and insistent, some are bullies, and others are shy and timid. If we don’t play favorites, there’s no problem. Just let them be and continue to bring relaxed attention to your body and breathing.
IMPERFECTIONS (a mistake many make)
Recent research shows that a whopping 93% of leaders fail to get the balance right on two key things, and their team underperforms as a result. Said differently, the 7% that do get it right will have teams that outperform others. So, what are those two things?
Expect a lot. Care a lot.
That’s it. The researchers defined caring not as being nice or kind, but as thoughtfully engaging with others in the context of what you’re all trying to accomplish together.
Regarding having high expectations, just make sure you’re supremely clear on what those expectations are. Here’s a tip to help on that front. Define for your organization what good vs. great looks like on any performance metric for which you’re trying to establish high expectations. Spell it out. Literally, like on a piece of paper (or verbally), being as specific as you can about what good looks like, and what great looks like. The specificity required to define both “good” and “great” forces clarity about what you really expect.
IMPLEMENTATION (one research-backed strategy, tip, or tool)
Want to make a number of positive changes in your life?
Start by making just one small change, and let what scientists call the spillover effect kick in. Research shows that when you make that one small change, it inspires you to make other positive changes.
Simple, but proven.
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