03/20/2025

Use Mindfulness to Reduce Stress as a Leader

Here's how to calm your "monkey mind"

As a kid and young adult, I had no interest in exploring the meaning of terms like mindfulness and meditation. On our Wyoming cattle ranch, we had more important things to do than gaze at our navels and lose ourselves in thought. We fed and watered hundreds of head of cattle year-round in rough winters and sultry summers. In the winter, I helped my parents chop ice and feed hay; in the summer months, I helped grease bailers, haul hay and fix fences.

When animals depend upon you for food and water to keep them alive, it keeps you alert and focused. I learned to pay close attention and not let my mind wander while on horseback as I cut cattle from the herd. My focus needed to be singular as my horse, and I moved as one with the animal we needed to cull from the pack.

Fast forward to the FBI Academy, where my firearms instructor told me that when I pulled the trigger to hit a target, I would experience a Zen moment. Nothing could distract me as I found the front sight and focused on the target in front of me.

Please select this link to read the complete article from SmartBrief.