Nosce te ipsum

Why “nosce te ipsum”? 

Without the unrealistic presumption of being able to “know oneself” in a single meeting, the aim is to emphasize how this is a fundamental basic skill for a professional.

Now, knowing oneself is a journey without a real end point, on the one hand because of the difficulty of the task itself, on the other because we are all in constant change and, when we think we have “grasped ourselves,” we may have already changed some aspect of ourselves.

However, the effort is not in vain: what matters is not the destination, but the process, not so much the answer as the question.

In this journey/process, mindfulness comes to our aid, as a tool for constant, deep, and effective self-exploration.

 

But what is mindfulness?

The term “mindfulness” is the English translation of “sati” which, in the Pali language—the language spoken by the Buddha—basically means awareness, attention, full mental awareness.

We can therefore define it as

“a form of conscious and non-judgmental attention to the present moment.”

In other words, the ability to stay in the here and now, fully present in what we are doing, without the “background noise” of thoughts that, while we are performing an action, a task, a job, wander elsewhere, in other spaces and places. It follows that, in reality, we all have moments when we are mindful: when we are performing a particularly demanding task that requires our attention, to the point that we are 100% focused on that task, we can say that, at that moment, we are mindful.

 

What, instead, is NOT mindfulness?

“It is not something purely theoretical, abstract, something that presupposes a faith, something to be practiced in a dark room within the framework of a religious or philosophical tradition, or something that requires a license.” (McKenzie, 2018, p. 12)

It is not, or at least should not be, a practice detached from our daily life or, worse still, one that makes us withdraw and escape from it. On the contrary, its purpose is to help us live any activity, including work, better and more fully.

 

Mindfulness and MBSR: let’s clarify

Nowadays, if you hear about mindfulness, it is very likely that the reference is to MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction).

This is a protocol devised by Jon Kabat-Zinn, an American biologist of Indian origin, who thought of bringing this Eastern practice to the Western world, creating an 8-week protocol in which a series of activities are experienced to raise our level of non-judgmental awareness of the present moment. These activities are: Mindful breathing, body-scan, sitting meditation, walking meditation, hatha yoga.

Originally, the MBSR protocol was born in a clinical context, for the control of stress resulting from particularly unfortunate diagnoses and for support in managing chronic pain. Over the years, however, it has spread outside the clinical context, spreading to various fields, including the workplace.

 

Formal practice and informal practice

These are two fundamental aspects of mindfulness, complementary to each other and that feed each other. Let’s see them.

1.   Formal practice: consists of dedicating a specific time and space, through meditation or other similar activities, to the practice of mindfulness. Formal practice allows us to deepen our ability to listen to ourselves (and consequently to others), our concentration, and the ability to be present and aware as much as possible and in the most varied circumstances.

2.   Informal practice: consists of carrying out daily activities while striving to keep our full attention on them. So, I can practice informally when I eat (mindful eating), when I walk (walking meditation), when I drive, when I wash the dishes, etc... and, of course, when I work!

 

Benefits of mindfulness in the workplace

Our brain, as extraordinarily high-performing as it is, does not have an infinite “RAM,” to use a metaphor. Consequently, the more activities (intentional or unintentional, conscious or unconscious) it is performing at a given moment, the more it will lose performance capacity, with an impact on execution times and/or the accuracy of the activity we are performing.

It is clear, therefore, how a practice such as mindfulness, which, as we have seen before, reduces “background noise,” can give us great benefits in our profession.

Moreover, it has positive effects on:

·     Stress reduction – as we have seen, the MBSR protocol was created for this very purpose and there are various scientific studies proving its effectiveness

·     Decision making – a study was conducted in which various managers were interviewed about their decision-making process. It turned out that the decisions that proved to be most valid were made based on intuition. This is because intuition is nothing more than a fast mental process that takes into account a series of elements that our brain has picked up and analyzed, even if not consciously. The practice of mindfulness, by increasing our level of self-awareness, makes us more able to feel and listen to our intuitions.

·     Leadership – being recognized as a leader, beyond the formal role, is the result of a complex series of behaviors and relational dynamics. Among these, one of the main ones is the ability to show consistency between what we say and what we do (the opposite, in short, of what the famous saying “do what the priest says but not what the priest does” states). Practicing mindfulness, through the process of self-exploration and self-knowledge, lays the foundation for having, and then showing, this internal consistency.

·     Relationship management – in addition to what has already been stated above regarding leadership, let’s add the dimension of listening: a fundamental element for creating solid and functional relationships (with colleagues as well as with clients), the ability to listen (to oneself and, as a consequence, to others) is significantly enhanced by regular mindfulness practice.

·     Creativity – access to our creative abilities is given by the ability to activate not only our cognitive resources, but all our senses: once again, practicing mindfulness leads precisely in this direction.

 

Mindfulness and personal effectiveness curve

Regular practice gives us the tools we need to climb the curve more and more quickly, thus helping us to rebalance, “get back on track,” and raise our performance.

Moreover, thanks to a better ability to listen to oneself that is acquired with regular practice, it becomes easier to understand, when we are “off balance,” whether we are moving to the left (apathy) or to the right (panic). This, even in situations where the symptoms are very similar to each other and it is therefore difficult to make this distinction. Once we understand which side of the curve we are on, it will be easier to intervene appropriately, also using a breathing mode suitable for the situation – see article by Chiara Cosentino.

 

The practice

·     Formal practice: there are various steps, the first of which is mindful breathing. This consists of bringing your attention to your belly or the area between the upper lip and the entrance to the nostrils (the mustache area, so to speak) and, at the same time, paying conscious attention to our breath as it is. Pay attention to the rhythm of inhalation and exhalation, without doing anything to change it but simply observing it as witnesses. During this practice, it will happen very often that thoughts will come to distract our attention from the breath. This is normal. We must not get irritated, nor think that we are doing something wrong. Simply, when we realize that we have become distracted, we acknowledge it (awareness of the present moment: at this moment I am distracted) and then, gently, bring our attention back to the breath.

I recommend this activity for 10/15 minutes a day. The benefits, over time, will be a greater ability to concentrate and to “be” in the here and now.

·     Informal practice: seize any opportunity that arises during the day to carry out any activity by dedicating our full attention to it. It can help to choose an activity that is done every day (e.g.: brushing your teeth, taking a shower, washing the dishes, filling/emptying the dishwasher...).

Also, during the day, dedicate a few seconds to pay attention to the breath (two, three breaths), just as in the formal practice exercise, but without interrupting the activity you are doing

 

Bibliography

Kabat-Zinn, Jon. Wherever You Go, There You Are. Il Corbaccio, 1990

Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Mondadori, 2012

McKenzie, Stephen. Mindfulness at Work. Erickson, 2018