The Power of Presence - Getting Started with Meditation

The Listener by James Christensen Art

I have been meditating each day for 467 days consecutively as of this morning. It's not something I normally talk a lot about and I'm not looking for a medal. It has however, made a significant impact on my life and I'd like to think the lives of those around me. I'm not really sure why I started, though I'm sure it had to do with understanding myself better and not being satisfied that external things could not fill the hole within me.

I'm sure this is the spot where someone might say I should seek insert religious figure here. To this I say I already have done that am very secure with how I view my faith and my spiritual self. I am talking about below the level of feel good sugary frosting that can sometimes surround religion. I am talking about a deeper place.

Blaise Pascal asserts that, “All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

We fill our down time with devices, mindless browsing, with clickbait, with social media. We look to avoid this silence by filling the the quiet time with noise.

It would be a fallacy to suggest that the inverse of this quote would be the solution to all of our problems. However, I believe the silence is a place where I as an individual can see myself and my thoughts, and be mindful of the actions that are inspired by these thoughts. I can observe without judgement my thoughts and be present with them - not dull them.

The change for me was not instant - I had to put in the work - and I'm guessing you will too. Here are some tips to get started.

Start small
See my previous post on building Atomic Habits.

Establish your place
I recently completed reading The Power of Myth and in the chapter where Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers discuss 'Finding Your Bliss' there is is this advices

[Sacred space] is an absolute necessity for anybody today. You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.
[…]
Our life has become so economic and practical in its orientation that, as you get older, the claims of the moment upon you are so great, you hardly know where the hell you are, or what it is you intended. You are always doing something that is required of you. Where is your bliss station? You have to try to find it.

Use an app - or don't
I have used meditation apps like Headspace or Calm to keep me on track. I also utilize the Breathe app on my Apple Watch as a reminder throughout the day to return to the present.

What should you expect?

I have no idea what you will experience. For me it has allowed me to separate thoughts from reality. It's allowed me to sit with things that were difficult and not hide from them. Every time I meditate I am refreshed and find the lessons seeping into the flow of the day. This is where the real power for me has been. I am fully aware - present in the moment - and mindful of my responses and actions. I still make a lot of mistakes and that's OK - I have a way to observe them, learn from them, and be better because of them.

Let me know your expertise with meditation either on Twitter or in the comments below. 

Book Thoughts - Atomic Habits

Referenced in my previous post was the book, Atomic Habits by James Clear. The book walks the reader through the Four Laws of building better habits.

• The 1st Law - Make it Easy
• The 2nd Law - Make it Attractive
• The 3rd Law - Make it Easy
• The 4th Law - Make it Satisfying

The book is extremely approachable and practical. The suggestions can be put into place right away. One of my favorites is "habit stacking". Say you want to create a new habit, then add it on to the habits you are already doing on a daily basis. For example, if I want to start meditating add it to your morning routine - get up, brush teeth, make coffee, meditate.  

Other tips include strategies for building habits by starting small and building a routine. If you want to start a workout habit - begin by working out for only two minutes - then do that again the next day, gradually creating a new habit.

Additionally, each law has an inverse to help you break habits that are holding you back. So instead of making watching tv easy to do after work - you will want to make watching tv difficult. Tips include hiding the remote / removing remote batteries or unplugging the tv from the wall. You will find that the effort to plug in the tv is not worth it and go on to something easier like putting on the running shoes you've left out prompting a healthy replacement.

In addition to the book, James Clear also has an excellent weekly newsletter (3-2-1) filled with excellent tips and motivation for keeping you moving. You can sign up for the newsletter on his website. It's one of the things I look forward to in my inbox every Thursday morning.

Also, as someone who journals, I plan on checking out his Clear Habit Journal - and will keep you posted as to my success with it.

If you are looking to add some new habits or break some old ones, I'd recommend you check out Atomic Habits.

Let's Begin Again...

"Let's begin again, begin the begin" - R.E.M

1986 was a great year for music. One of my favorites was R.E.M's  Life's Rich Pageant . It seems fitting that today almost 6 1/2 years from my previous blog post that I would start again. 

This post is purposely short. Make it easy, start small -  2 minutes a day is what author James Clear Atomic Habits would suggest to build a habit of writing. So here it is. My first post in nearly 7 years - let's begin again. 

The Crazy Ones...

The People Who Are Crazy Enough... 

During the last retreat I showed a picture and quote by Heraclitus - an Ancient Greek Philosopher. "A man (or woman) can never step in the same river twice" - which often gets simplified to make the point that "There is nothing permanent but change". The focus is on the changing times around the person in the river.

Just like that person, SiteCrafting exists in a turbulent world of change. If we think about the technology in 2003 compared to the possibilities of today, it's comical. Our worries, concerns and challenges were different than they are today and they will be different tomorrow. What endures however, are values. What do we stand for? Who do we say we are?

 As a reminder, here's our values as articulated in our Brand Book:  Communication, Learning, Dependability, Transparency 

At SiteCrafting, we are: Reliable, Creative, Confident and Authentic

We are not: Boring, Unresponsive or Satisfied with "good enough" 

The river may change, but the person/company must remain true.

In 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple Computer. Apple was in a state of disarray. The clip below is Steve Jobs introducing the Think Different campaign to a group. His explanation and ultimately the rolling of the clip is the beginning of the Apple we know today. I would encourage you to watch it and learn from the Crazy Ones.

Answer the Question They Are Asking

At SiteCrafting, we get hundreds of questions every day from clients. People's worries range from "how do I set up email?", to "how do I understand Google Analytics?" to "how can our website be used to grow our business?". One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to dismiss these questions and not look to the deeper meaning.  I'd like you to watch the short video below (maybe more than once) and then figure out how WE can collectively answer the real questions people are asking more effectively. It has poor video/audio quality, but the message is not.

The key point here is not "What time does the 3:00 parade start?" The question(s) they are really asking are - "How does this affect me?" "What do you recommend that I do?" If we look at the questions above in this light, our answers will undoubtedly be more thorough, more personal, more in-line with the "Trusted Guide" we are striving to be.

The Ps Have It

When asked what kind of company we wanted to have, I would often say, "I want to run into my clients at Safeway and not have to hide behind the oranges" I wanted a partnership between SiteCrafting and the client built on mutual respect. A relationship where both sides were genuinely appreciative of the partnership. 

We have a lot of words around partnership - included are words like communication, collaboration, and respect, but I think the three P's below add up to the "Capital P" in Partnership

People

Do we have the right team on the bus? Are we a group of doers or just empty words? I also have told potential clients and existing clients that "SiteCrafting is the team you want with you during a knife fight". What does that even mean?

It means we stand by our word, our friends, and our partners. We don't run and we don't make excuses. When we are wrong, we admit it and we don't gloat in being right. 

A company is only as good as its people. 

Performance

"SiteCrafting does what it says it will do, every time." - Les Johnson North Coast Electric

The right people means that we don't take the easy way. Each of us work together to keep each other accountable and firmly pointed toward the goal. Our new brand book reminds us that we don't settle - "good enough" is never, ever good enough. 

Products

Do we have a set of solutions that will make the world, or at least the web world a better place for our clients. Absolutely. We have some of the most powerful tools, best designs, and forward thinking solutions around. Customers love the ease of use, thoughtful process, and one stop shop for hosting, development and design. 

Each of these Ps make up the legs of a stool, without one, it all falls apart. I am convinced that if we take the extra time to treat our partners in the way we'd expect to be treated by our service providers the final P - Profitability will take care of itself.  

A Tale of Two Support Tickets - Neato vs. Jawbone

I'm a gadget guy. I don't need my wife to remind me, I just need to look around the house, in my pocket, in my car, on my person. This past year I purchased my share of gadgets but this is a tale of two defective ones. In both cases I was enthusiastic about both at the time of purchase and during the honeymoon period recommended both to several friends. I am currently only recommending one of them. Why? Their policies related to customer support.

Company 1: Neato Robotics 

If you are unfamiliar with Neato, you can learn more from the website (http://www.neatorobotics.com)
Essentially they are robot vacuums. I was an early adopter of the Roomba and while it did a good job of inbetween cleanings, it seemed to lack power and seemed a bit frenetic when hitting all the spots in the room. I was skeptical when I ordered my first Neato this past year. Yes, I said first, since I now own four of them. Yes, they are that good. We rarely pull out our upright vacuum any more and anyone who knows me knows my wife is pretty particular when it comes to clean. This is not about the product as much as it is about the experience.

I ordered our first Neato on Woot. (http://www.woot.com) and then a few months later ordered a second (also from Woot) once I saw how well it cleaned our basement. I proceeded to put the second in our upstairs to clean our bedrooms. I finally decided to order a third from Costco (different model - upgrade in fact) When it arrived it worked OK, but not as well as the others. I chalked it up to different layout (more complicated layout)

I called support who had no idea I had two others and they helped me attempt to reset the vacuum. It didn't quite work. So they said, we're shipping you a replacement tomorrow with a pre-paid shipping label. Please provide us with a credit card so that if you'd don't return the defective vacuum we can charge you. I was happy to provide this as they were sending me a $300 vacuum on good faith.

The vacuum arrived in two days. I packaged up the defective one and shipped it back the same day. I was excited to get the vacuum home and fire it up. I let it charge and then anxiously pushed the start button. It purred to life and then started spinning around the room like a kid who had just finished making himself dizzy. I knew this was not right. I tried to reset it again and called support. We shared a good laugh about how it was acting and they apologized and shipped another unit the same day. They still had not received the first defective unit.

The second replacement came the two days later and has been cleaning the floors for us ever since.

We added a fourth Neato for a rental house we have and it has worked flawlessly since day one.

I've recommended the product to several family members and friends who have made purchases. My only contact with their support teams have been pleasant.

Company 2: Jawbone - UP Band

This product tracks your fitness - calorie burn, steps per day, sleep patterns all through a beautifully designed iPhone application. I purchased the band in November and its presence on my wrist has reminded me to walk more, run more, and sleep more. I have consistently taken the long way trying to exceed my daily goals for steps, movement and sleep. Several friends have inquired about the band around my wrist. I've shown the app, played up its role in reinvigorating my workout schedules and suggested it to friends trying to get back in shape or trying to take their "in-shapeness" to a new level.

After two months, the band died. No response.

I contacted support and they responded (after their promised 24 hour maximum response time stated on their website). They suggested clear steps for resetting the band (sound familiar?) Here's where the similarity ends.

The reset did not work. (Neither did the resets on the Neato)

I provided detailed steps on what I tried and the result in my "open" ticket. No response.

I finally called support and the support specialist agreed that the bands battery was defective and should be returned. I was promised a form to complete so they could issue the exchange. Nothing came until I sent another email reminding them.

I provided proof of purchase (receipt from Apple), serial number info, everything within 10 minutes of receiving the form.

Crickets for four days...

This morning I receive an email with the great news that someone has approved the exchange and that someone will be sending me an email (when God only knows) with details of how to return the band - which has to include all original packaging. Once it has been received they will send out the replacement band.

Seriously?

I explained I did not have the packaging (who would?) and haven't heard back.

Conclusions:

I will be updating this post as we continue to crawl our way through this process.

So far the greatest difference I see between Neato and Jawbone is that I've been treated like a valued partner in one case, and in the other, like someone trying to game the system.

Keeping an enthusiastic customer positively enthusiastic should be the aim of every company. Lest that enthusiasm be lost or wasted. Doesn't it all just boil down to doing the right thing?

UPDATE

My new UP band arrived FedEx yesterday from Jawbone. Seems the issue was escalated and I was promptly taken care of. I appreciate the responsiveness and for Jawbone doing the right thing.  A blog post like this however, should not be required for escalation. Good service to paying customers should be all the motivation necessary. There is a lesson here for all of us.

I've printed by pre-paid label and am taking the defective band to FedEx today for return to Jawbone. Hopefully the end of the saga. Now back to exceeding my activity and sleep goals.