A Year of Mindful Thinking

Beware, too, of perfectionism’s close friends: an all-or-nothing approach; workaholism; fear of failure; and being overly sensitive to the judgement of others.

hope that taking a step back when caught in the throes of negative emotions can give you, too, the moment’s reflection you need to take a productive step forward. ‘Reculer pour mieux sauter’ is the French phrase for it – step back in order to leap higher.

She taught us that in general, you should feel calmer if you stand or walk as much as you can throughout your working day, for example when on the phone. I personally love the idea of ‘walking meetings’, when executives swap the boardroom for the park.
How you sit also makes a difference. Try reading this sitting upright, with your shoulders back. You should feel more in control than if you were slumped forward. Finally, just the simple act of smiling can make you feel happier. Try it and see.

The problem with believing the ‘I’m so special’ phase that follows a success is that, when your luck changes, you are likely to believe just the opposite: ‘I’m so worthless’.

One of the differences between positive and negative thinkers is how they view what we unhelpfully describe as ‘failure’. Some people see it as an opportunity to try again and ‘fail better’ next time, while others treat it as an excuse to give up.

Such advice – to slow down and take life in small chunks, even minute by minute – has never felt timelier to me. Minutes come one at a time. Never in my whole life will I have to deal with more than the next 60 seconds at one time. And nor will you.

Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’

But the truly confident, I notice, tend not to measure their lives by how many events they attend. Rather, they seem to enjoy a quiet inner contentment.

you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too…
These lines reminded me of the importance of staying steady and not joining in with the general sense of alarm

that there are two kinds of intelligence: one based on learning facts and figures, and another we’re born with – ‘A freshness in the centre of the chest