A Mindful Designer.
A mindful Designer is any artist who takes care, and keeps close guard over what ideas they let take root; making their thoughts captive of good decision making while progressing towards the future they want to be a part of.
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TO BE MINDFUL
To be mindful is learning how to primarily rely on yourself not just the people in your environment say to be correct, when each of us show up as our full self bringing our talents to bear then we can all move forward together as one creative force and have wide ranging impact.
Mindfulness is a seed to be sown as an individual, and like a seed it requires the right care, time and attention to blossom into what others cam see.
Last Spring my wife Ruth and I planted tomatoes in our backyard and in the four (4) weeks it took for it to go from Grosse Lisse to fresh fruits, we had to keep a close eye on proceedings. We had to irrigate, pull out the weeds, prop the stalk of the plants for support etc… until harvest time came.
In an event that we didn’t do due diligence, and turned up weeks after planting, the chances of a good harvest would have been next to nothing - if anything at all.
Similarly, for anyone who’s learning to be mindful, they would have to be to be persistent in applying their systems and habits to get the full benefits of being consistent and diligent.
A cross-section of our little garden.
SOW RIGHTEOUSNESS
Systems and habits is the sum of actualisation and the enemy of moving forward is fear and anxiety, doubting one’s efforts in the midst of carrying out a project or even a task.
It’s not unusual to feel negative emotions, the unacceptable thing is to give in to average and mediocre thougths; thoughts that will tell you that you’ll never be ready or good enough.
Actualisation is a practice and must be treated as such.
“ Man, as a mental being…can by recurring practice, form habits, and we can by renewed effort break them off.” - Out from the Heart by James Allen (1904)
I also like how the prophet Hosea put it in this Scripture:
Hosea 10:12 (NIV)
12⌄¶ Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.
One translation of the bible (NLT) says in vs 12 ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness’ which I believe would translate in today’s world as to plant seeds of hard work and diligence to fully enjoy everyday life and become all you were meant to be.
Sometimes to fully celebrate a long day is to buy yourself a set of pots for the kitchen or go out for a meal out at your favorite local restaurant. It doesn’t have to be work all the time, let to have fun and experience joy everyday
Mindfulness is essentially hacking your way to effectivity, productivity and a better relationship with those in your immediate environment.
To contextualize the idea of effectivity & productivity I created a mental model to framework my writing practice. It’s a simple 4 step process.
Start with a Succinct Draft,
Draft,
Final Draft,
Finished draft, which get’s published.
I generally use this is to get myself off the hook and from 0 -1.
A designer who is mindful understands that, it is not about effort alone, but the output as well, and this involves everything from individual routines and best practices to Big goals and launches.
In the end, a mindful designer is an artist who would follow through with all of the above suggestion and agree but also debate every single word. This is true because in reality being a mindful is not just about mental models and frameworks but decision making in the moment and in everyday life.
Until next time, remember we can all be more mindful✌🏾 ~ Silas
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