Learn to reflect

- When we talk about self-awareness, this is an ongoing thing. I've been trying to become more self-aware for decades, literally. And it's something you have to do everyday. I can fall off the wagon, so to speak, and start thinking I'm better than I am or start trying to impress people and lose that self-awareness. I can also get too caught up in all the things I'm doing, like I'm going 120 miles an hour and I'm losing sight of the people around me, and I act like I've got a task list, and, gosh, I didn't get item number 12 done today so it's been a really bad day. Everyday, I think it's important that you take time to pull back and reflect on how you're doing. Get away from this 24/7 world, shut off the iPhone, don't take any phone calls, and just go away 20 minutes to some place, a quiet place. A lot of people have told me, "I don't have 20 minutes a day to set aside, "I am so busy." You know what? You don't have time not to take 20 minutes everyday, and you can do something mindful, I've been meditating now for over 40 years. So I take 20 minutes, I used to do it twice a day, now probably more like once a day, go to a quiet place, a beautiful place, and just reflect and think. And have a chance to do some deep breathing and kind of settle into myself and say, "Bill, was I doing what was really important today, "or did it fall into a place "where I just so caught up?" And let all those trivial things in life go away and stop worrying about them. It's amazing, out of my meditations come my most creative thoughts and some clarity about important decisions, or emphasis on what is important. Now, maybe meditation's not your thing, maybe you want to pray, maybe you want to do some mindful activity. Maybe you ought to just keep a journal, maybe you ought to sit in a beautiful place and just reflect. Or maybe you want to go for a long walk, these are all ways to do it. But they all involve the same thing, it's a way to get away from your hustle, bustle world and put emphasis on what's important in life so that you don't let the immediate take presence over the important. One question you may have is how do I get started? I'll tell you, just get up in the morning and shower, whatever you do, get dressed, and then go find a quiet place in your home, where you live. And just close the door and take that 20 minutes by yourself. That's the best thing, you have to have a place. The Japanese do this, they'll have a little flower and a little beautiful place in the smallest apartment in Tokyo with the world running around them, lots of noise, they just tune it all out and they focus just for that period of time. They typically do that when they come home at night, so there are other ways to do it, but you need that special place that's your unique place.