Episode Notes
Have you ever felt challenged to direct your focus? We are looking to check the weather APP one second, and all the pop-ups grab our attention. Pretty soon, we turned off our phone and remembered afterward that the one thing we needed and didn’t look up was the temperature. We have similar physical experiences. We enter a room to get something and forget what we needed in that room once there. Only to leave the room, remember, and then schlep back to get the forgotten item. Distraction is time-consuming and toxic. What if we could reverse the trend by learning to catch ourselves before getting distracted?
Today, I talk about directing attention. Focus is a skill set with four aspects: directing, sustaining, noticing, and relaxing attention. Directing attention is focusing on the right things at the right time. An ability to keep your focus, control impulses, and keep your mind from wandering directionless.
Because meditation can reduce lapses in attention and positively impact our work and relationships, I have prepared a 6-minute meditation exercise to help you direct your focus. After completing this meditation exercise, please share it with your leadership team, staff, and family. We can all learn this first aspect of focus: directing our attention. DOWNLOAD
My inspiration for today’s topic and meditation came from a series I am doing through Healthy Minds Innovation and Healthy Minds @Work. I highly recommend the Healthy Minds APP to track your progress as you build a calm, clear, and stable mind. It is not unlike building muscles in other parts of the body. Repetitions, consistency, and intensity strengthen muscle tissue in different muscles groups building skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscles over time.
A meditative state of mindful alertness all day. What would that be like? Try it and experience the energy surge as you direct your mind to what you want and need to focus on. I have found a consistent practice with the four aspects of focus helps me gain control of my mind, even when it is in its most distracted state. I know what has happened and can direct my attention back to the task at hand. My ability to sustain attention longer has increased with it. You can even begin to notice when your attention has been diverted and how it feels when attention is in a relaxed state, like in between daily tasks and projects.
Directing attention doesn’t do much good if we can’t sustain our attention, so next week I will empower you with a meditation practice you can do to sustain focus, a compliment to directing attention. DOWNLOAD
NEXT STEP after meditating: Challenge yourself and do the Conscious Attentive Leadership Mentoring (C.A.L.M.) Activities are below. 
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After listening, do these three C.A.L.M. Activities:
- Take this risk or do this adventurous task: DOWNLOAD this directed attention meditation exercise and use it to meditate for six minutes. Decide to take charge of where you direct your attention and experiment with it throughout the day. You can start each day this week with this meditation as an experimental challenge to focus on the right things at the right time. If you are tired after completing this meditation, allow yourself to rest for a few more minutes. Your body is telling you more rest is needed.
- Apply Self-Compassion: At the end of today, highlight what you learned about directing your attention. Were you able to sustain your focus when you needed to? Did you feel a sense of greater control over your thoughts when you directed your attention back to a task you were working on? Allow your mind to relax into open awareness of what is around you and release the exercise, close your eyes, and go to sleep.
- Welcome Appreciation: “I appreciate being able to prepare a directed attention meditation exercise for you. I appreciate the importance of having mind flexibility and control over where we direct and sustain attention. I appreciate the efforts you are putting in to assert self-leadership through disciplined practices like meditation to improve your mindset. I am grateful to pass on cherished practices that deliver real improvements in our ability to do our lifework and improve our relationships.”
Your Turn. Start with, “I appreciate what I learned from Nancy’s directed attention meditation. I appreciate this week’s adventurous task because….”
“Most of the problems in our lives and world are caused by relational dysfunction, a dysfunction in how we relate: as social groups, as individuals, to animals and the environment, and even to ourselves. Therefore, developing relational literacy—the understanding of and ability to practice healthy ways of relating—is essential for personal, social, and ecological transformation.” —Melanie Joy, psychologist, author, theorist, educator
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Podcast Guest Mentor
Nancy Meyer, M.A.
Nancy A. Meyer, M.A., is a seasoned entrepreneurial leader, business and life mentor/coach/teacher, podcaster, public speaker, author, and certified mindfulness meditator and yoga integrator (she integrates those skill sets into everything she does). Nancy founded WeMentor, inc. in 1992 to build an innovative community where emerging to experienced leaders redefine how they lead while redesigning their businesses. Dual innovation with mentoring works! She has mentored thousands and is eager to work with you! Assert self-leadership and get started today!
Clients say, “Nancy is a compelling, engaging, and ‘decipher the trees from the forest’ kind of mentor, speaker, and leader. A dedicated entrepreneurial leader and mentor who role models what she preaches. Her style and candor enrich the content she delivers and the results clients experience.” Nancy accepts people where they are at while inspiring them to breakthrough to new dimensions:
- As an Entrepreneurial Leader (Innovator)
- As a Small Business Owner (Practitioner)
- As a Mentor (Role Model)
- As a Human Being and (Master Self-Leadership).
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Episode 313: Catch Yourself Before Distracting Yourself: Direct Your Focus
Author: Nancy A. Meyer, M.A.
Nancy A. Meyer, M.A., is a seasoned entrepreneurial leader, business and life mentor/coach/teacher, podcaster, author, and certified mindfulness yoga and meditation integrator (she integrates those skill sets into everything). Nancy’s compassionate and collaborative approach reinforces resilience while maintaining accountable conversations supporting how you redefine your lead while redesigning your business. Nancy calls this “Dual Innovation Leadership.” Nancy founded WeMentor, inc. in 1992 to change the leadership in our country by providing emerging and existing business owners with mentoring in Dual Innovation Leadership. She has mentored thousands and is eager to work with you! Assert self-leadership and get started today! Clients say, “Nancy is a compelling, engaging, and ‘decipher the trees from the forest’ kind of mentor, speaker, and leader. A dedicated entrepreneurial leader and mentor who role models what she preaches. Her style and candor enrich the content she delivers and the results clients experience.” Nancy accepts people where they are while inspiring them to breakthrough into new dimensions: As an Entrepreneurial Leader (Innovator), As a Competent Business Owner (Practitioner) As a Mentor (Role Model) As a Spiritual Being and Self-Leadership Master! Start by subscribing to WeMentor Mondays with Nancy PODCAST. Join your peers and...
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