Weeks Five Through Forever

Keep going!

 

DAY 1

 

 

DAY 2

 

 

DAY 3

 

 

DAY 4

 

 

DAY 5

 

Goal

DAY 6

 

Stretch

DAY 7

 

Big Reach

From here on out, the schedule is up to you! You know by now that you’ll need to practice for a minimum of twelve minutes, aiming for five times per week, in order to see benefits in your attention system. But the combination of practices is completely customizable. Most people report that they have a practice they particularly like. Remember: They are all mutually reinforcing, and they each incorporate components of the others. They are all part of the core workout. So choose what works for you.

You can select a different practice each day. You can combine the practices to equal twelve minutes. I like to do Find Your Flashlight or River of Thought for the first twelve minutes, then finish with a shorter Connection Practice.

As you practice these skills for twelve minutes, in a chair in your living room (or wherever you do this attentional workout), they’re going to start showing up for you: in your work, in your relationships, in the arc of your life as you meet challenges and try to hold to your goals and dreams. If those twelve minutes feel too hard, remind yourself: You’re not doing this to be an Olympic-level breath follower! You’re doing it to strengthen your mental core, to power up your attentional stability and agility.

With mindfulness training, you can use your attention to disrupt old, ineffective ways of navigating the world. When you have a peak mind, you have the power to flip the script.

The Peak Mind Pivot

There’s the standard way of thinking, and then there’s the Peak Mind Pivot. It’s not that the standard way of thinking isn’t valuable—it’s that the Peak Mind Pivot greatly expands your options.