Hearing the term “mindfulness” might conjure up a smiling guru sitting peacefully in a quiet, meditative posture. But mindfulness is no longer just for gurus. Mindfulness is a skill you can cultivate to help you be successful in your career, according to Forbes.
A wide range of companies, including Intel, Google, Target, General Mills and Aetna, have embraced mindfulness programs, believing the courses will have a positive impact on their employees and on their bottom line.
Universities are also encouraging the practice of mindfulness. David Mick is a marketing professor at the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce who teaches a “Wisdom and Well-Being” course that equips business students with philosophical concepts and mindfulness practices that can improve their professional and personal lives. Each week, students apply readings on philosophy and mindfulness to business cases and to their lives.
Professor Mick defines mindfulness as a present-oriented, non-judgmental state of being. “Your mind is not running to the future or ruminating on the past. You are in the moment, present in whatever conversation you are having or activity you are doing,” he says. “Secondly, you are nonjudgmental, which is very hard because being judgmental is almost built evolutionarily into who we are.”
No matter where you work or your type of job, you can practice the concept of mindfulness. Here are three of Professor Mick’s techniques to help you cultivate mindfulness at work.
