Three Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life by Blake Trevor G

Author:Blake, Trevor G [Blake, Trevor G]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781936661725
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
Published: 2012-08-23T00:00:00+00:00

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My best ideas come when meditating.

DANIEL LOEB.

a teenage surfer turned investor and now worth more than $4 billion

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In 2007, a study conducted at UCLA was reported in ScienceDaily that provided the first neural evidence of why “mindfulness,” which they described as the “ability to live in the present moment, without distraction” seems to produce a variety of health benefits. Although this book is not concerned with that particular benefit of taking quiet time, the study drew interesting conclusions.

The technique they used was very similar to the one described in my “Taking Quiet Time” approach and with a focus on following the breath. Participants followed their breathing without judgment, released their thoughts, and “just let go.” Then Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used to study the subjects’ brain activity when they were shown pictures of common expressions and asked to give them an emotional label.

They found that the more participants let go, the more activation was seen in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and the less activation in the amygdala. They also saw activation in widespread centers of the prefrontal cortex. Their “so what” for this is that it demonstrated an activation pattern similar to the effects of dampening chronic pain and raising mood.

They concluded, “This is such an exciting study because it brings together the Buddha teachings, more than 2,500 years ago with modern neuroscience . . . now for the first time since those teachings, we have shown there is actually a neurological reason for doing mindfulness meditation. Our findings are consistent with what mindfulness meditation teachers have taught for thousands of years.”

A Personal History of Taking Quiet Time

I had read many biographies in which the subject found a way to escape the madding crowd by practicing some form of contemplation or meditation. I knew I had to try it and was motivated to change the pattern of learned behavior that I recognized in my ancestors. In those biographies, people claimed their time of solitude was the source of moments of insight. If it worked for them, I figured who was I to think it esoteric nonsense?

I worked shifts at a busy teaching hospital, so with the aid of two alarm clocks, one on the bedside table and one under my pillow, I literally had to force myself to get up an extra half hour early, bump from wall to wall through the darkened house so as not to disturb my wife or dog, and find my way to a quiet corner in the back bedroom.

In those days, cash was tight, and the heat did not turn on until the evening. Wrapping myself in clothes and blankets, I sat upright in a wooden chair, and stared out through the window at the streetlights, which were usually distorted by rain.

My mind was always full of chatter, which I found frustrating at first, and sometimes I was so dog-tired from the previous shift, I fell asleep again. I was easily interrupted by outside noises—the electric whine of

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