Are you stressed, feel your heart beat

Hello, this is Thomas Anglero and this is the Soul of Innovation podcast. I want to talk about the noise in our heads that's constantly there and to what level that we actually hear this noise and we let it dictate what we're thinking, what we're feeling, feeling, how we react in a moment, what we're planning for the day. Let me get straight to it and tell you about what happened yesterday so that you could put yourself in a similar situation and understand deeper what I'm talking about. Yesterday I was at the airport and ate at a restaurant at the airport. And when I sat down at the table, I had my headset, I had my mobile phone, and I could have been like most people and what I've done previously, and that is zone out, right? Put on the headset, turn on the mobile phone, turn on a YouTube video or maybe turn on Netflix or turn on something and actually look at that moment as if, "Yeah, this is time for me. I could just relax and sit here, eat my dinner, watch a movie. Yeah." God, that felt wrong. It felt wrong really bad. I was embarrassed by myself to have that thought. And that was the thing. At that moment I realized it was the thought that was tantalizing. It is sort of like when you think about eating a brownie or a cookie or a piece of cake in the evening or coming up sometime in the future you're going to get it. That thought becomes so tantalizing. That thought becomes that "mm, I can't wait" type of thing. But it's just a thought. Is it really good for you? It's actually the content behind the thought, the actual weight of the thought. So I looked, I sat down, I looked at my phone, I looked at my headsets, and I go, hell no. Because that thought, that quest, that urge to put on another layer of distraction on top of an already busy day, on top of already having spoken to several hundred people so far in the day and now traveling to another city to speak to a couple hundred more. All of these noises, all of these voices were none my own. And here I am thinking I'm going to sit down and have a meal and I'm going to introduce more voices that are not my own? No, no. So I just kept on looking at my phone and my headset and said, "I'm not going to give you any attention." The noises I have in my head from the day, and we all hear all these noises. You know, when you start the morning, you get out of bed, you don't have that many noises. The only noises you have in your head of your own is your own noise, is your own guilt, your own thoughts. It's your own preoccupation of what you think you are who you think you are. And a lot of us start the day off with thinking about all of our insecurities. We torture ourselves. But it's we. At least we just have us first thing in the morning. But as the day progresses and we have conversations with people, or we get on the train or the bus and you start hearing other people's discussions and stuff like that, the layers of noises, the layers of voices start to accumulate. And by the end of the day, your head is shaking and rattling and you have all these voices and noises in your head. The last thing you need is to introduce more. Netflix is not an out. And I'm not picking on Netflix the company. They're just fantastic company. And a lot of people use them as, oh, I gotta relax. Let me watch a movie and watch Netflix. That's not at all all what you need. So I sat there in this public restaurant, no headset, no mobile phone, and I relaxed. I let my shoulders drop for the first time all day. I just looked around, and for those first few minutes, in the state of mind I was in, I was a bit bored. Can you relate? Actually, this is kind of boring. But then that boredom turned into a smile. It was so strange. I just started smiling more and more because the voices, the layer of voices from the day were slowly evaporating and lifting from my head, from my thoughts. From my body. It was such a relief. And the longer I sat there waiting for my food, the more relaxed I got, in a way that I haven't felt in quite some time. You see, we think that by doing— by introducing "Let me listen to some music on Spotify," or whatever music thing you like listening to, or "Let me watch a movie," or "Let me, let me, let me, let me, let me," is the exact opposite of what you, what you, what you, you, you need. You need more time just with you to peel off those layers of voices and people. So as I sat in that restaurant, a thought occurred to me saying, but these are the voices of people in the restaurant. Isn't that another layer? And I actually realized, no, because I was actually starting to hear my heart beat. And I realized a good test for all of us to ask yourself, am I in the moment? Can you feel your heartbeat? I'm feeling my heart beating right now. That means that I am not distracted. I am 100% here in this very moment with nothing else in my mind but talking to you. Feeling that way in a public restaurant at an airport was so relieving, so relaxing. Take a moment right now, feel your heartbeat. It's kind of nice, ain't it? Because to feel your heartbeat, you have to block out everything. To feel your heartbeat, you have to focus on you, not your insecurities, not your thoughts. You have to focus on your most important thing, and that is your heartbeat. So next time— and the next time you're gonna be busy, that's probably be very soon. Could have been just a moment ago, could be coming right up. That's okay. The next time you're stressed, that's okay. Life is what life is, but you're in control. Because at any time that you want, you could take control back. You could take your peace of mind back. You could bring tranquility into your entire being by just taking a moment, feeling your heartbeat. Yeah, you're good now. This is Thomas Anglero for the Soul of Innovation podcast. You can check me out more on, uh, my website at anglero.com and, uh I hope you enjoy this, and I'll continue to share my reflections on what I think and what I know is important. Take care. I love you. Bye-bye.