3 Keys To Understand Mindset, Mindful & Self-Compassion

Whoops, I almost did it again.

After a busy weekend, it’s 9:30 on a Monday morning and my brain is tired.

If you have read my work or have listened to me speak, you will recall that I often say that you are not your brain and you are not your body. You are far more infinite, what some refer to as a being, or a soul, depending upon your creed.

We reside in a mortal brain and body, and just like any muscle that gets overused, the muscle can get sore and feel burned or worn out.

So I stopped at 9:30 this snowy Monday morning to take a break from doing and doing and doing.

Upon reflection, I realized that I had been flat-out since 7:00 in the morning, shoveling snow, working, and preparing for meetings, so I could get out the door for an appointment with an Endodontist to repair an old root canal.

Laura and I often joke that we get a heavy snowfall on Vancouver Island about every five years. Five years is up and the Endodontist just called to say my appointment has been cancelled because they don’t have any staff.

Even though I stopped to take a break, I noticed my brain not wanting to stop the doing, the thinking, the doing, the thinking.

So rather than continuing on with a Mindset that would surely lead to burnout, I chose to be more Mindful and engaged some Self-Compassion, to return myself to my original state of being, versus thinking and doing. Click here for the Breathing Exercise I use to return myself to my original state of being versus doing.

This kind of work requires courage. The courage to be real, open and vulnerable, to connect with how one is feeling, to save oneself from drowning in a sea of thinking and doing, and perhaps trying to keep afloat with alcohol, caffeine, drugs, gossip, shopping, social media, TV and/or a poor diet.

This kind of work requires a deeper understanding of the difference between; Mindset, Mindful and Self-Compassion.

• Mindset – is based upon a set of attitudes and beliefs
• Mindful – is accepting current emotions and feelings
• Self-Compassion – is self-kindness, common humanity combined with being Mindful

In the olden days of personal development, I was surrounded by teachings that hammered on beliefs and misguided motivation, based upon not knowing the difference between an unmet need and a value, denying my emotions and feelings, leading to adrenaline-based, unsustainable success and burnout.

Those old teachings left me to think there was something wrong with me, when, in fact, there was nothing wrong. I was trying to force my brain and body into a Mindset, with an absence of heart-based, Mindfulness and Self-Compassion.

[blog-footer]

[testimonialslider id=’20’ set=’1′]