Mindfulness for Career Success: Balancing Being and Doing | Ep #121

In this insightful episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell explores the vital role of mindfulness in achieving career success amidst life's hustle and bustle. By prioritizing self-care, gratitude, and reconnecting with hobbies, Shannon reveals how listeners can find balance between productivity and being present in their lives. Key takeaways include practical tips for incorporating mindfulness into daily routines, the importance of self-reflection, and the transformative power of embracing authenticity on the journey to Second Act Success. Tune in to Episode #121 of the Podcast now to discover how mindfulness can unlock your full potential and lead to a more fulfilling career path.

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Transcript

Second Act Success Career Podcast
Season 1 - Mindfulness for Career Success: Balancing Being and Doing | Ep #121
Episode - #121
Host: Shannon Russell
Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

[00:00:00] Shannon Russell: Do you ever feel like you are caught in the perpetual loop of doing, doing and more doing? I know I do. We live in a world that glorifies the hustle and we're always feeling like we have to catch up, like we are chasing that goal. 

And if we don't move faster, we will fall behind. On this episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, I want to talk about ways we can work on being a human being rather than a human doing. 



[00:00:26] Shannon Russell: Have you been waiting for a career breakthrough? Join me for my free Breakthrough bootcamp. It starts on February 19th. You can head over to secondactsuccess.co/bootcamp to save your seat. It's a week long free bootcamp to help you get clarity around your career and envision what you want for your future.

Do you want to change careers? Are you thinking of launching a business? Or do you just need some direction about what you want out of your work? My Breakthrough Bootcamp is for you. We will have [00:01:00] live coaching sessions, Q& A calls, workbooks, resources, plus a free giveaway. Reserve your seat at secondactsuccess.co/bootcamp now and I'll see you on the inside.

Hey, you are you feeling stuck, desperate for a career change or thinking of starting a business, but you're just not sure how to make your first move. I'm television producer turned career coach Shannon Russell, and this is the Second Act Success Career Podcast. This is where you will not only get the career advice you've been craving, but you'll get tips from career and business along with inspiration from others who have made a career transition to find Second Act Success.

Let's get started.

Are you a human being or a human doing? Oftentimes, if we don't sit in the being. We don't ask ourselves. What are we even doing? I admit loud and clear right now that I [00:02:00] am list obsessed. I write things down just so I can check them off. My dad leaves post-it notes everywhere, reminding him of what he has to do. And I definitely inherited that gene. 

It seems like the more we complete tasks, the more accomplished we feel, but here's the catch. It can lead to burnout, stress and feeling totally out of touch with ourselves, especially when we're doing, doing, doing. Sometimes, I think I suffer from time anxiety. I often think I'm running late or I'm running out of time to accomplish something or I'm behind. Have you ever felt like you're just always behind or never catching up? Okay. Now enter the world of mindfulness. It's the practice of being present and really living in the now and even while we are working towards a goal or change in our work and our life being present in what it is that we're doing. It may sound cliche, but it's a game changer for many as it's proven to actually help people [00:03:00] accomplish more over time, simply by being present with yourself. You are being present, you are being mindfulness is like hitting the pause button on all of life's chaos and just appreciating the moment or the stage that you're in. Are you being mindful? I am not being mindful. I am going to admit. That I have not accomplished living a mindful life. 

I am trying hard. I have a coaching client who is a mindfulness coach. And I'm trying to learn some tips from her about really being present in the moment and. It's hard. It really is hard when you have a million things going on. But the more I study it, the more I read about it and really try it. I see the difference. 

I see the benefits in pressing pause . I see the value of just being present of being mindful to [00:04:00] just be. 

So let's talk about the art of being, it's not about ditching goals. It's about finding that sweet spot between your ambition and your contentment, your true happiness. It really is about the little joys in life, right? 

Finding time for self-reflection for forming connections with others. For celebrating the little moments that happen every day. , maybe it's putting a puzzle together with your kids. Maybe it's finishing the end of that book that you've been working so hard to get to the end of maybe it's finding a new movie. 

That's really exciting for you guys to watch together. 

Maybe it's having lunch with a friend you haven't seen in a really long time. It's all those little moments of being that are not about the greater goals in life. It's about the little things every day. That truly matter. 

And guess what, in the long run, these are the moments. 

These are the relationships that may [00:05:00] actually bring you a step closer to what it is you're working towards to your ultimate goal. But in yet, Kind of an organic way. You never know what's going to happen by having lunch with a friend you haven't seen in a while and letting her know that you're working towards this new business goal or that you're thinking about changing careers organically. 

This person may have someone to introduce you to. This person's company might be hiring. What I'm trying to get to the idea of this podcast is to talk about more being a human being. And enjoying the moments because organically. These moments can lead to more efficient doing, if you will. 

Okay. So it's easy to say yes, we should do more being and we should do less doing, but how do we really break free from the productivity trap of doing and focus more on being. I'm going to give you some tips that might be able to help. If you find yourself being that human, [00:06:00] doing. Rather than a human being. 

Number one, and this is not going to be a surprise to anyone is self care. 

And sometimes if I'm honest, I cringe at that term because it's so overused these days. But in this case, it really can help. 

I like to say that it's similar to putting your oxygen mask on before you assist others, right? 

It's necessary to take care of yourself so that you can be productive.

You have to take care of yourself before you can help others. Before you can perform surgery before you can make that presentation at work. Before you go on that new job interview, before you accomplish that thing that you've been working towards, you have to take care of yourself first, and that might be ingest being getting the sleep, taking care, resting, relaxing, bringing yourself little bits of joy in your everyday life that can lead to you being more productive in what it is you're working towards. 

It's kind [00:07:00] of a circle. If you will. If you have the self care, if you're taking care of yourself, you can be more productive. You can be more productive and then achieve your goal. But you are going to have a harder time achieving your goal. And doing the things you need to do, if you are not being and taking care of yourself, the idea is that it all works together in a healthy way. 

So bottom line is to spend more time working on you, who was the human being? Rather than the you, who is the human doing? You want to set goals that make sense for you? And don't be afraid to say no. When you know that you need a break. You can press pause and your goal will still be there. Remember that because your worth isn't tied into your productivity levels. 

Let that sink in. You are being not a doing so you don't have to go, go, go. Do, do, do. 

You are a being, not a doing. Alright, so practical [00:08:00] tips. Here we go. Try some mindfulness tricks. It's meditation, deep breathing. Writing in your gratitude journal. Or just walking around the block, just not having your phone glued to your hand, make it a nature, walk, listen to the birds, chirping, to look around at your surroundings, maybe pop in your earbuds and listen to some soothing music. But make it a walk that feels good to you and lets you be present in what it is that you're doing. 

Next is take a break from all of the digital chaos. And trust me, Instagram will be there when you're back, but take a break, close the laptop, walk away, put the phone down. It's sad that it's so hard for us to do this in this day and age, but it truly, truly is. Our phones are always attached to us. 

And I find myself, every night when we sit down and watch TV or movie or read with the kids that my phone is next to me. And then someone will say, oh, who was that [00:09:00] character from the show? And I'll be like, oh, let me Google it. But you know what? I don't need to Google it. When I was younger, we didn't have the ability to Google and we still watched shows and had family time. 

So I try to keep my phone in the other room. Away from me when I'm playing a game or watching, or reading, or just spending time with the kids, because I don't need that as a crutch of something for us to talk about. We can talk without the use of the phone. So it's just really trying to take a break from the digital chaos. 

However you can. And I know it's not easy, but you can do it. Next is keeping a gratitude journal. It's really like that daily reminder of all of the good stuff in your life. 

I have some clients who write first thing in the morning before they even have their feet touch the floor, Because that is when they're feeling the most inspired. For me, I like to get settled, drop the kids off at school, have my tea sit down at my desk. 

And before I opened my laptop, I write [00:10:00] down what I'm grateful for. I write down my reminders of the day and my thoughts for the day ahead. 

. So it's the first thing I do when I come to my office in the morning. I have other friends and some clients of mine that do it last thing at night before they go to sleep, they just write about everything that they were grateful for for that day. So really whenever it works into your schedule, even if it's, while you're cooking dinner, just to take those moments to write down. Reminders about the day. 

, it could be a quote that you heard. It could be something cute that your kid said, whatever it is, just write it down. And it's just a way of, again, Being mindful and being more present with yourself and really focusing on you and the things that are important to you. 

Another tip is really just trying to rediscover your hobbies. 

What hobbies really light you up? Is it working out? Is it reading? Is it drawing? Is it art? Is it. Playing pickleball. What [00:11:00] is it that really. Gives you that release. 

And that excitement to get up and get moving. , hobbies are really something that I feel like we lose a lot as adults because it gets pushed to the side, you know, because it comes back to that self care and that things that are important to us when it comes to our personal self or less important in the ways of the world and society paints it, that if we are. Doing something that is important to us, it is almost an act of selfishness because we should be serving others and being there for everyone else, except for ourselves. And. You know what we have to take that back. We have to find those little things that make us happy. 

It could be something so simple as listening to a podcast and drinking a cup of coffee it can be driving the long way home. So that you can talk to a friend in the car, whatever it is, it's something that is your hobby, something that is your escape. [00:12:00] And if you don't have a hobby, I urge you to try to find something little. What is it that brings you the joy and that you can look forward to doing. A few times a week or whenever you can, but it's something that makes you happy and something that you can just say, all right, productivity, be damned. I am doing this and it's bringing me joy and I don't care what anyone says. It's all about me. I am being. In this place. It brings me joy. 

All right. My friend in a nutshell. Checking the boxes is great, but that is not what life is solely about. It's about who you become along the way. So let's hit pause, let's take a breather and enjoy this beautiful ride that we call life because we are human beings and we are on our own journey. And it's really important to focus back on who we are as human beings to make this the most successful journey that we can have. Are you in. 

Okay [00:13:00] enough rambling about human beings versus human doings. I just find it to be a really insightful concept that I wanted to share with you on this episode of the podcast. Just to remind you that in a world that often pushes us to be so, so busy. I want us to reclaim our identity as human beings rather than human doings. . It's a powerful act of us showing self care and showing self-love by doing that. So I urge you all to embrace a little bit of mindfulness in your day to get back to balancing your harmony of work-life balance. And really just prioritizing your overall wellbeing and knowing that the more we can experience this authentic and meaningful life. The quicker we are going to get to our productive end results or productive goals because we're taking care of ourselves. 

We're appreciating the state that we're in. The being of it all and therefore we're in a better existence to be able to be [00:14:00] productive and therefore be. Doing the things that we need to do to achieve our goals, to make the changes that we need in our lives to transition to a better fuller life that, that we all want. 

So it really is a process. It's not just about what we achieve. It's about who we become so let's pause, let's breathe and let's embrace the beauty of being. 

All right. Thank you for listening. I hope you gathered a few gems of wisdom to help you along your journey towards Second Act Success. Again, I am career transition coach Shannon Russell here with another episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe so that you don't miss any future ones and share it with a friend or even better yet head over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review. It really means so much. I will be back for another episode next week. Thank you for listening and make it a great day. My friend.

[00:14:59] Shannon Russell: [00:15:00] Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to Second Act success. To view show notes from this episode, visit secondactsuccess.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.

Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell and this is Second Act Success.