A couple of months ago the team at Ardent sat down with James Scholfield, a mindfulness/awareness teacher, to hear his story about how being more mindful helped unveil peace during his everyday tasks.
How to manage being “always on”
The group talked openly about the challenges faced in the demanding world of recruitment, especially in the modern “always on” era. What was great was that everyone was already doing things to break up their day to ensure there was some quiet time. This included yoga, breathwork, or spending moments in nature. However, we concluded, the opportunity to be able to unveil that peace more often would come with more regular mindful moments whilst doing the day-to-day tasks. Examples such as being aware of the soles of your feet against the floor whilst making a cup of team. Or noticing your fingers on the keyboard when typing.
Responding not reacting
Another key topic of mindfulness that we discussed was around responding instead of reacting.
Recruitment is very changing, and a great skill to have been to be able to ride the wave. A famous quote f Jon Kabat-Zinn, a scientist, writer, and meditation teacher, is “you can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf”. And this is very relevant for the recruitment sector.
By turning your awareness to the sensations in your body, and the thoughts in your mind when you hear unfortunate news, as opposed to reacting straight away, there is a positive impact on your own wellbeing as well as the situation itself. You create a gap. Space to make the right decision. A time for your body and modern to relax. And ultimately an opportunity to let peace unveil itself again.
Paying attention to what is happening in the now without any judgement can have a huge impact on yourself, your work, and your relationship with others. The team at Ardent, and James, hope to apply these techniques to all aspects of their life, to let peace, that is always within us, unveil itself.
To find out more about James, connect with him on LinkedIn
