Your success will come much easier if you can make your mind clearer and more disciplined. Today I am sharing a quick practical mindfulness exercise that will help you get started towards a more aware, mindful, abundant life. 

This is a practice you can do anywhere.  It is the gateway to awareness.  Wherever you are just pause for a moment and take five long slow deep breaths in and out through your nose if possible.  As you take these breaths, focus completely on the breath.  Notice your body starting to relax.  Long slow, deep breaths trigger your parasympathetic nervous system to calm your mind and body. 

The long term practice is to spend the vast majority of your day focused on your breath in and out. In the short term you may want to set alarms to remind you, until it becomes second nature. Focusing on your breath will still allow you to think when you need to think, but will cause all of the involuntary, distracting thoughts you normally have in your day to subside.  The fact is that we think 90% of the same thoughts everyday, but they escape our awareness.  It is these thoughts that most often hold us back.  These thoughts are by far the number one cause of failure.  Imagine you have been on a calorie restricted diet, and you come home to find your favorite cake sitting on your kitchen counter.  An involuntary thoughts arises, and you mind starts negotiating to get a piece of that cake. 

This short post and exercise are again the gateway to a more aware, mindful, and abundant life.  If you practice this daily, let me know how it goes.