When reading some of David Rock's work I gravitated to the story he told about how mindfulness was important and how every night at the dinner table his family asked each other what was the best part of their day and what was the worst part of their day. I was lucky enough to get the chance to meet David and his beautiful wife Lisa at the NeuroLeadership conference in 2015 and I shared with him that I had also started this exercise with my family.
While we do this regularly as family I find that I don’t often remember what was said and don’t remember those “best parts of my day”. This week I went out and bought a journal with the intention to start writing them down.
For what reason? To better integrate those memories with the hope to hold onto some of our precious moments in life. Taking the time to integrate what you have learnt is important. In today’s world it is so easy to fill every waking moment of your day with thoughts, planning, reading sms’s or emails, facebook and other tasks leaving zero time for any neural integration.
How often do you stop and reflect on your day? Reflect on that special moment with your kids in the morning, reflect on why your partner is important to you, reflect on what you did well in your presentation and what you would do differently, reflect on how the team worked together to achieve an outcome? Failing to take time out in your day to reflect and integrate your memories means many key pieces of stimulus your brain receives throughout the day may be lost for ever. This not only relates to time with loved ones but is key in the business world and to your ability effectively perform your role.
So give yourself the gift, of taking a few deep breaths, look back on your day and mindfully integrate something that’s worth remembering.