Steps to lead a mindful life
1. Don’t fill your schedule too tightly
Make time for others (e.g. random acts of kindness), and cater time for your own rest. Take care of your own physical, mental and spiritual health! You need to first take care of yourself before you too can show love to others around you.
2. Learn to say ‘No’ to others
It can be hard to stop being a people-pleaser, but remember that your own health should always take priority. If you feel that a certain activity is not worth investing your time in, it is alright to kindly reject the offer. By saying ‘No’, you’re giving the opportunity to someone else with the physical and mental capacity to do the task just as well, or even better than you!
3. Be okay with not being perfect
It feels great to submit quality work. But to err is human, and we live in a sinful, imperfect world. Do your best, and let God do the rest! Even more so, give yourself more space for each task to do it well, by creating a more spaced-out schedule (as in Point 1) to give yourself breathing space.
Do your best, and let God do the rest!
4. Learn the soft approach for team effectiveness
We’ve all had a team member who wasn’t quite the ideal team player. It can be tempting to merely tell the higher authorities, but what happens when you become the one in charge? As we mature, there might not always be an authority figure appointed to watch over us like in school.
Learn to resolve your own conflicts peacefully. Yes, we can get upset and stressed, but making a huge deal of incomplete work is not going to help anyone out. Approach that member in private, with kindness and gentleness, as the Bible speaks of it. Remember, everyone is fighting their own battle — they could have unresolved personal conflicts that prevent them from completing their work.
Not everyone takes constructive criticism well, but if it has to be done, you have to do it. But above all else, be gentle in your approach, and love them as a person. What good is it for a project to be perfect (as in Point 3), yet to have angered many in the process?
5. Being at peace with others
I grow to believe that in every person, there is some good in them. Even in the worst of criminals, they still have a conscience. Our environment shapes us into the people we are, and this is unique for everyone. It a similar situation in dogs, where the ‘aggressive’ dogs were those that faced years of neglect and torture, to which they turned against humans to protect themselves. Accept that nobody will be perfect, but we are all growing as we go!
6. About being the Tanker
Let’s face it, everyone wants a good grade. Everyone wants a positive outcome. But some are unwilling, or unable to put in the effort.
While the team outcome is great, so is the feeling of contributing to the group’s success. But not everyone will get the chance to, if a tanker is present and overhauls the group direction. It is tempting to do everything yourself to improve productivity, but in fact, working with others is valuable to our own growth. It is a chance to listen to ideas you might not have thought about; or learn other intricacies from working with others different from you.
It is, however, also possible that the human nature of laziness takes over, where the tanker is simply left to complete the work. For the tankers, there is a great importance in splitting the work between you and your teammates. Importantly, do not micromanage. Allow the project to take its course, and your groupmates will understand how their effort is integral to the project success.
With all that said, as the leader, you need to be ready to split (and not simply delegate) any undone work from the slacker between the rest of the group. as you deem fit (e.g. a big deadline is coming up very soon, yet most of the work remains unfinished). Be understanding that everyone has their busy periods, and a team should support one another in tough times. An important note though, do not carry the expectation that the person will return such a favour.
Love unconditionally, as God had done. And in whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men (Colossians 3:23–24).
Hustle on!
