This is another special (and short) episode of The Tim Ferriss Show. In this episode, I share my personal experiences, apps, tools, and best practices for cultivating “mindfulness,” which I’ll define.
When I talk about strategies for better living, I usually focus on effectiveness and efficiency. For a good life, these are necessary but not sufficient.
“Mindfulness,” the third leg of the stool, is far more difficult for me and most type-A personalities. There are many definitions of mindfulness, but for the sake of our discussion, think of it as a present-state awareness that helps you to be non-reactive.
Why is mindfulness essential? First, achievement without appreciation is a Pyrrhic victory, and mindfulness helps cultivate appreciation. Put another way, if you can’t be happy with what you have, you’ll never be made happy by what you get. Second and related, after just a week of mindfulness practice, you will complain less, react less, and more effectively fill your life with what’s important and valuable to you.
Here are the tools and techniques I use to put this into practice…
You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
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Want to hear another podcast regarding morning rituals? — Listen to my conversations with Tony Robbins. In this episode, we discuss his morning routines, peak performance, and mastering money (stream below right click here for part 1 and here for part 2 to download):
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What mindfulness practices have you implemented that made a significant impact on your happiness? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Enjoy!
Selected Links from the Episode
- A Complaint Free World by Will Bowen
- Download mediation apps:
- Check out the Five Minute Journal
- 21 Day No-Complaint Experiment
- Practice Poverty
- Morning Journaling
Gratefulness Prompts
- An old relationship that helped a lot
- An opportunity you have today
- Something good/great that happened yesterday
- Something simple near you
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Calm and Headspace. Also breath counting and I dabblenjoy with TM… Finally I like to close my eyes and link my breath to mini movements like should shrugs.
Waking up in the morning and telling myself that for that one whole day i would focus on every word that came out of my mouth and every thought that entered my head and ebery word that entered my ears. We may think we are exuding a positive vibe but all it takes is to lose our focus on the topic, join in the negative or gossipy conversation and bam! If you focus on what you are emitting and inhaling you can crush it positively 😉
Mate,
Awesome blogs. Keep up the fantastic work!!
Cheers,
Dion.
Check out MindfulnessExercises.com
My kids just started 3rd grade at a school in Chiang Mai, Thailand called Panyaden. Each day, their last class is “Mindfulness”. How amazing is that?? I hope it pays off for them.
My kids just started 3rd grade at an amazing school in Chiang Mai, Thailand called Panyaden. Each day, or a few days a week at least, their last class is actually “Mindfulness” class. This is the first place I’ve ever heard of that does this. I really hope it pays off for them.
Hi,
I am the only one who does not see this episode in the iTunes? Is it already available?
Thanks
Hi Tim,
I just wanted to say thank you for all your podcasts!
They give such a great view over subjects that I am interested in (managing myself, my time etc).
I am romanian and I live in Ireland. I am due to start my traineeship as a solicitor/lawyer next year and it is going to be a very challenging period for me. Do you believe a life couch/a few sessions with a life couch could help me get through this process in a better way? (I refer here to strategy, productivity, results).
Many thanks again. I am not sure if I should say this but I am going to take your advice (as mentioned by you in the podcast with Esther Perel)… you don’t need to reply to me as I understand that you are very busy and my question is probably not as important as others might be! I will continue to listen to your podcasts either way ha!
Have a great week!
T
Minfulness Mind blowing!!!! thanks Tim !!
“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting”. – Buddha
Living in the present… I know the benefits, but it seems to take some discipline for me not to wander in the past or venture towards the future.
Tim, I love what you bring into this world and I would like to share your podcasts as is in my workplace (because i think we would be better for it) however I am restricted as the F-bomb for example is simply not a part of our culture. So a question for you – as long as I credit you for it – can I use your material editing some of the more colourful language?
Thank you. This may be OK if just shared in your workplace, but please email legal@tim.blog to be sure. Please give more details in your email—number of employees, if you plan to use the whole audio or transcript (transcript may be found here https://fhww.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/122-tim-ferriss-the-magic-of-mindfulness.pdf), and anything else that you think might help give a sense of the intended usage.
—Moderator
John Yates (Culadasa). Anyone who wants to learn meditation / mindfulness should be aware of “The Mind Illuminated”. A science-based approach to meditation. After having read and applied it for a few weeks, its useful to then follow Culadasa´s many recorded retreats, lessons, lectures etc on Soundcloud.
Vipassana & mindfulness meditation has changed my life over the course of the last 3 years! I did a 10-day Vipassana retreat and can’t wait to delve deeper into meditation 🙂 (P.S., there are 2 reasons for doing a silent retreat: 1. to inch closer to becoming a monk; 2. to be able to tell people that you did a silent retreat)
Best related quote I refer back to from Seneca is ” To bear trial with a calm mind is to rob misfortune of its strength and burden”. I think its Seneca’s greatest observation and quote!
To seek inner peace and to be able to control those inner demons and anxieties is a life time learning. Thank you Tim for keeping to the path and reminding us of these ageless teachings – my mantra, take a deep breath, rise above it and keep your eye on the long game !
Couldn’t agree enough! Efficiency and productivity and even a 4-days per work schedule are of no value if you are a griper and cannot recognize or appreciate the good things in life.
Indeed, mindfulness and gratitude are the best psychological makeovers we can give to our lives. However, gratitude doesn’t come naturally or easily to everyone. It has to be manifested mindfully. I hope we can learn to do that!