This afternoon I was asked to facilitate a meditation to a group of about 10-15 employees and I wondered for some time about what I thought would be most relevant and useful to them. I found myself thinking about how easy it is to get so caught up on our routines that it seems like all of a sudden you look up and it’s no longer January…it’s March. And despite all of that time passing, it can be really difficult for us to put our finger on something impactful that happened, or something we did that brought us joy. It’s so easy to just put our heads down and work. But although that strategy may yield good results at work (for a period of time) it rarely yields good results for our mental health.
So, with this in mind, I chose to focus on two things: celebrating the victories and looking forward to the (near) future. Both of these things make up a large portion of what I like to call a ‘weekly self check-in’. The point of doing this is to make sure that you’re spending time focusing specifically on something good that happened during the week; solidifying a victory. Our brain’s natural habit is to focus solely on the negative things going on around us. It has a negativity bias! Which means that if we do not focus energy into finding the positive things going on, our days and weeks can look pretty bleak.
The next piece of focus for this meditation was having everyone find something that they were looking forward to doing later in the week or on the weekend. This is a simple exercise that not only gives us some perspective for when the days get long and mundane but it also gives us the opportunity to focus on something that we truly want to be present for. We spend so much of our time working that it can be hard to shut this part of our brain off. We’ve all been there–when a work email pops up on the weekend or at night while you’re out at dinner and it completely pulls your attention away from wherever you are or whoever you’re with. Suddenly, something that could have been a great re-energizer or much needed break is no longer.
Weekly check-ins are a great, proactive way to maintain a positive mental state and keep you in that ‘high-performer’ zone. If you’re not already doing a weekly check-in, what could yours look like?
– Coach Lauren
