Obstacles to the Practice of Mindful Listening

Update: I recently attended a summit with some financially successful people. There were two major concepts they shared. One – you are only one thought away from being a billionaire or anything else you choose to achieve. That was music to my ears! I intuited the next thought process coming was the life decision. The life decision, a thought process that causes me stress, anxiety, worry and many other distractions, is what consistently delays my actions to move with velocity and confidence to my next level. In this case, towards becoming a highly financially successful individual. Two – the distinction between potential and capacity. Have you heard of the phrase,”live up to your potential”? Potential, as explained at the summit, is an objective to achieve in the future. Capacity was explained as the ability to achieve anything fully now.

Wow! What a change that has made for me. I will no longer refer to my “potential”. I have begun the practice of asking three questions, when the distractions of worry, anxiety, stress occur. a) do I now have the “capacity” to handle this situation? b) do I now have the “capacity” to take the action that will handle this situation?  c) do I now have the”capacity” to handle the outcome of handling this situation? Much to my relief, the answers are a consistent yes! By repeatedly asking myself outloud, the”now…capacity”questions, I have accomplished a significant list of incompletions that had piled up on my desk. These questions have also provided me immediate access to mindful listening instead of wasting time with the distractions of stress, anxiety, worry and the rest of the thieves that rob me of the richness of now. I invite you to join me in practicing mindful listening through living with your NEW capacity!”

Carol McCall, Ph. D.