“Consciousness is your operating system. Mindfulness is the upgrade.”
Imagine for a moment that you were a computer. What sort of error messages would you have seen already today?
SYSTEM ERROR:
Information overload. Status: critical.
SYSTEM ERROR:
You are attempting to relax. This function is not permitted.
SYSTEM ERROR:
Anxiety detected. Processing may be haphazard.
SYSTEM ERROR:
Internet distraction detected. Program: CONCENTRATION quit unexpectedly.
SYSTEM ERROR:
Emotions detected. Attempting to override.
SYSTEM ERROR:
Exhaustion detected. Seek caffeine/sugar.
SYSTEM ERROR:
Depression detected. Run program: SMILE.
SYSTEM ERROR:
Unable to shut down. SLEEP program unavailable.
SYSTEM ERROR:
Human software SAME-OLD is corrupted.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Please install MINDFULNESS.
How many of these system errors ring true for you? Quite a few...? Don’t worry. You are not alone.
Let’s take stock for a moment and acknowledge that working professionals are facing more demands on their consciousness than at any time in human history. Today, we have never been so connected to one another, so overwhelmed by information, or so unprepared to successfully navigate this data-laden world. Whilst advances in the technologies of data-sharing and connectivity have been exponential, advances in our human ability to process information have not. Consequently we are measurably losing crucial human capacities, including reading, solitude, memory, sleep, day-dreaming, journeying, creativity, listening, learning, and relationship.
Although it seems like forever, Google has only been a word since 1998. The demands of professional life have changed unrecognisably in just two decades, yet most of us are still trying to cope with the SAMEOLD software. That’s to say, we were never taught how to remain stable, calm and well in the “Age of Information.” Instead, we have become ‘Generation Distraction’.
It is hardly surprising that anxiety, stress, burnout, addiction and depression flourish in our homes and workplaces under these conditions. Yet these increasingly prevalent modern ills are hardly natural states for the human being. We might reflect that we actually feel most natural when we are relaxed, when we are welcome to be our true selves, when we have time to connect meaningfully with others and when we are fully present with our experience.
Now think of your own work-day and assess whether those natural ways of being are supported by your work practices or encouraged by your leadership and culture?
Fortunately, companies are now beginning to take wellbeing seriously and recognising that professional resilience is a foundational employee attribute which must be invested in and nurtured. Corporate mindfulness training programs are becoming less of an oddity and more the norm as we begin to grapple with the task of upgrading professional consciousness, in the shadow of the rise of AI.
Mindfulness offers a more compassionate and sustainable way of expressing excellence. It introduces you once again to the breath, to stillness, to authenticity, and to focus. From there it may take you back into your creativity, your enthusiasm, and even your purpose.
How does Mindfulness do this? Well, it is a tool and a technique. It is also an approach to life. By increasing awareness and focus through simple practices it gradually teaches us how to be busy without being anxious, how to be assertive without being cold, how to listen and remain present, how to be the very best whilst championing (not sacrificing) personal wellbeing.
More than those things, the rise of mindfulness heralds a revolution in consciousness. We have no way of knowing how our world will change as a result, but we have every reason to be optimistic. For mindfulness is founded on principles of presence, truth, and compassion. We may therefore find corporations, and the professionals within them, becoming increasingly self-aware, emotionally intelligent, and responsible for their impact within the corporate environment and the world at large.
I for one am looking forward to a very bright, and conscious, future.
By Neil Seligman
International Mindfulness Advocate and Conscious Visionary, Neil Seligman @mindfulneil is dedicated to sharing the power of mindfulness globally, transforming lives, and inspiring excellence in all aspects of human endeavour. He is the Founder of *The Conscious Professional, the Author of 100 Mindfulness Meditations, and the Originator of Soul Portrait Photography.
*Neil offers training on Mindful Communication and Challenging Conversations through The Conscious Professional: email [email protected]
