I'm invited to appear on podcasts frequently. Most commonly, I am asked to explain the fundamentals of meditation or other mindfulness practices and how professionals can use them in their life and work. I love doing this. Podcasts are really fun and I always learn so much by answering the questions of thoughtful podcast hosts.
Sometimes, though, when I talk about meditation its impact on my life I feel like the answer is incomplete. In truth, starting a meditation practice is one of the best things I have done for my life as an adult. It is hugely important to me because it helped me get out of thought tangles, care for my anxiety, and move forward in life.
As I have shared several times on the blog, though, meditation did not help me so much because it calmed me down. Instead, it helped me because it gave the skills to follow what made me excited. When I started practicing meditation, I was lost in thought, overly rational, and had no self-compassion. I was nearly exclusively focused on what I "should" do and so didn't spend much of the time I had doing what I wanted.
Meditation helped me change that by giving me mental space to see thoughts swirling around. It helped me not judge and discard every idea that came up. And then it helped me allow myself to not be perfect at every activity the first time I tried it.
This is how meditation led to an explosion of innovation and creativity for me. After I got my bearings, healed from depression, and learned to curb my anxiety, I saw that I was hungry to write and create and let myself do it. Importantly, I let myself invest time and money into writing even though my writing was not squarely related to my law practice.
In his podcast and book, Matt Mueller often talks about a very different type of innovation. Most commonly, he's talking about business innovation, including new products, processes, or service models. Though my story is more personal, it has affected how I practice law too and how I network and market my law practice. The reality is that our personal stories often shape our business strategies.
If you want to learn how mindfulness can do more than help you manage stress, check out the episode on Matt's website or your podcast streaming service. If innovation is an interest to you, Matt's podcast and book are excellent places to start.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children's book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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