Yesterday I spent the day stepping up potty training with my nearly 17 month old son and it got me thinking about the importance of mindfulness, focusing on one task and living in the present moment.

I spent years working in the corporate world juggling a large number of balls or spinning multiple plates at the same time because that was what was expected of me. In fact, so many years of conditioning led me to do the exactly the same when I started to work for myself. I would work on multiple projects, for multiple clients at multiple times. That is what I had learned and what I thought was in fact the best way to work.

That was until I read a blog post about multitasking actually being counter productive. I thought about it, tried to focus on fewer tasks but didn’t see much of a change in my productivity or performance. It wasn’t until early last year when I read “The Power of Now” by Eckhardt Tolle, that the meaning of mindfulness, living in the present moment and appreciating the here and now that things really started to fall into place.

Ever since that moment, I made the decision to be 100% present with my little boy. I protect my time with him, it is so precious and I cherish every moment we spend together because before I know it, he will be leaving home to go off to uni or on an adventure all by himself. Yesterday was no different. For any parents out there who have potty trained or who are potty training, you’ll know what I mean when I say I had to watch him like a hawk. Otherwise it would have been a catastrophe! I had to give him 100% of me.

I am privileged to have grown and now be raising a little human being, who I am in awe of. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I don’t just teach him, he teaches me. In the past 17 months I have watched him and learnt about resilience and persistence. That we are not born with limitations.

The Impact of Being Mindful and Living in the Now

Since applying this mindfulness and being present mantra to my time as a mummy, I have applied and implemented this approach to my work and it helps me to keep focused, gain clarity and get more shit done. Don’t get me wrong, I am not perfect. I have days where I struggle to focus, just like the next person. Where I don’t achieve what I set out to do, in fact some days I don’t achieve anything. And that’s ok. Before I would have beaten myself up about not getting anything done. Now I forgive myself, because I might not necessarily have achieved what I wanted to, but I have achieved something. By applying this same principle to my work and my clients, they get 100% of me, bringing my A Game to the table. Adding value where I can and challenging them when they need it.

I can honestly say that taking a break out of my business has allowed me to come back, with a new found love and new found passion for helping go getters, who have big dreams and big goals to achieve them. Becoming a mother has given me a new found perspective and appreciation for everything, life and business. And that is priceless.

I challenge you, to spend less time being busy for the sake of being busy and practice mindfulness and living in the present moment, focusing on the task in hand, appreciating and giving it everything you’ve got. Watch what happens, to your mindset, your productivity and your business.