Want to improve everything in your life?
Add mindfulness to it.
This came to me while lifting weights.
When I’m mindless, I’m focused on vanity metrics (e.g. how heavy can I go).
When I’m mindful, I’m focused on real metrics (e.g. how clean can I perform the move).
And being focused on clean form will result in far more benefit than being focused on sheer weight. Because the problem with “heavy as possible” is that, in most cases, the result is “cheating the reps.”
Either range of motion is shortened, momentum is counterproductively used, or bodily adjustments are made to make the movement “easier” by incorporating more muscle groups (that aren’t designed to be involved in the lifts).
Mindfulness makes us aware of these cheating tactics and reminds us to use lighter weights so that we can use full range of motion that’s free of momentum and is focused exclusively on the muscle groups that are being specifically targeted.
So, too, are the benefits of mindfulness evident in every other area of life:
- Mindless mouth-stuffing becomes savory eating.
- Mindless busywork becomes focused task completion.
- Mindless word-gabbing becomes curious conversation.
- Mindless weight lifting becomes deliberate strengthening.
- Mindless media-scrolling becomes intentional consuming.
Mindfulness brings full presence to each task. And if the task is worth doing, you might as well do it right. Otherwise, why do it at all?