This talk from Briony Gunson, Operations Director of Pole Star Digital, discussed the idea of self-optimisation and how this can benefit everyone in the long run.
Overview
- Speaker: Briony Gunson
- Job role and company: Operations Director at Pole Star Digital
- Website: https://www.polestardigital.com/
- Twitter profile: @brionygunson
- LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brionygunson/
- Link to the slides:
What was the talk about?
The digital marketing industry is always evolving, which requires the professionals that work within it to constantly keep up-to-date with technical advances, new applications, and ways of working. In fact, we are so busy keeping our heads above water looking outwards that we often forget to look and invest inwards.
That’s where we need self-optimisation, the process of improving one’s self. Mind and body are connected, so to say that you are improving one without the other is not correct. When your mindset is that of being stressed, you can feel it in your body. When you’re tired, your body feels tired. Briony’s focus was less on getting in the gym and more on building mental strength that can make the body as a whole more resilient.
Also caught @BrionyGunson’s slot as I really enjoyed her talk last September – was my delight to hear her talk about mindsets and meditation! Beginning to practice meditation is perhaps the single best decision I ever made, was great to get some wisdom from a meditation teacher!
— Lorcan Fearon (@LorcanSEO) April 12, 2019
It’s estimated that loss of production, recruitment issues, and workplace absence cost the UK economy £35 billion annually, with 1 in 8 employees likely to encounter mental health problems in the workplace. It is statistics like this that give Briony’s lecture credence.
It’s about taking ownership of your internal world. By the age of 35, 98% of your thoughts, feelings and actions are set.We need to break these established habits and try to rewire yourself to live in a mentally-healthier way. When talking about productivity, we have this need to focus on output, but what we forget is that mindset has a huge influence on productivity.
Briony suggests the use of modern meditation, which is the simple but effective practice of focusing the attention of your mind on different objects, before applying that increased awareness to everyday life. For those who are new to the world of meditation, do not fear, as there is a number of handy apps (such as Buddhify, Headspace Calm, or Beanddo) that will help you on your journey. It is about rewiring, resetting and rejuvenating your body. In the long term, this will increase performance in your working output and improve creative thinking.
At the end of the day, the wolf that survives is the wolf that you feed. Feed negative thoughts and this wolf will stick around and plague you. Fuel the positive side and see what happens.
Key takeaways
- Actions are the products of our thoughts and feelings (mindset).
- Most of our actions are habitual – pre-programmed based on past experiences.
- If left unchecked, unhelpful thoughts and feelings can scupper our productivity.
- Self-observation gives invaluable insight.
