![]() “in the direction of what you care about”-This suggests commitments are personal and based on your values. You must identify behaviors leading to a life of purpose and vitality, and then choose to take those actions. ![]() Just talking about doing something is not committing. When it comes to living a life of purpose and vitality, many people say they’re committed to certain things, but they often don’t act that way. ![]() “action”-As you can see in the first word of our definition, committing requires acting. A commitment is action in the direction of what you care about even in the presence of obstacles. Getting where you want to go requires taking overt, measurable steps. Mindful Action Involves Committed Behavior How often have you missed those whispers? How many more subtle cues will go unheard while you remain stuck thinking about the past or the future and missing great opportunities to live your life well? The Mindful Action Plan helps you remove those headphones, listen more carefully to your vibrant environment, and generate motivation to take advantage of every valuable opportunity. Unfortunately, the headphones also prevent us from hearing when the world whispers, “Hey, here’s a real opportunity for you to have the life you want to lead right now!” Instead, we only hear loud, repetitive ditties from the past or advertisements that lure us into the future, and we miss the precious possibility. While wearing these headphones, we’re awash in sounds from the radio about there and then that distract us from focusing on what’s happening here and now. At times, we hear the deejay playing an uninteresting, crummy song recorded in the past, and other times, the deejay is advertising something going on far away and in the future. Metaphorically speaking, sometimes we’re like a person listening to the radio while wearing headphones. Practicing mindful action can positively influence your ability to stay present-focused so you don’t miss vital opportunities. If signals from the world cue you to do a valued action here and now, but you’re too busy thinking about other things there and then, you won’t embrace life’s opportunities as impactfully as you could. If you want to have a life well lived, then becoming more aware of what you’re doing in the present moment plays a role in that endeavor. Practicing the skills that meditation teaches-like the ability to encounter your own experience as it is in the moment, without judgment-aids you to be more reliably in the here and now, meaning you’ll be focused on your actions and the world around you. This is why we strongly encourage meditation practices, even as secular behavioral scientists who have no agenda for changing your spiritual or religious beliefs. You can’t behave in five minutes or five minutes ago. You cannot behave tomorrow, nor can you behave yesterday. Now is the only time you can engage in goal-oriented behaviors and value-directed habits. If you look up the word “why” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, you’ll see that it means “for what…purpose.” In other words, when you’re finding your why, you’re finding the reason to be purposeful. Throughout this book, we’ll highlight how to build skills not only for executing goal-oriented behaviors but also for creating habits that are directed by what you value, and for keeping your awareness sharp while doing so. Mindful action is fully committed to achieving a goal, and done with full awareness of what one is doing. made, given, or done with full awareness of what one is doing ![]() Merriam-Webster defines “purposeful” two ways:Ģ. Mindful Action Is Purposefulīeing purposeful is one of the main aims of the MAP. Before we get to the explanation of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and how it applies to the MAP, let’s carefully unpack the definition of mindful action. After all, the Mindful Action Plan is built on an evidence-based psychological approach known as acceptance and commitment therapy (Hayes, Strosahl, and Wilson 2012). We understand we’re throwing some nerdy applied behavioral science terms at you right off the bat, but bear with us as we aim to communicate the concept of mindful action in an understandable manner while also staying true to the science of human behavior. Mindful action is purposeful, present-focused, committed behavior while maximally attending to what you choose to make important while unhindered by distractions. Moran, PhD, BCBA-D and Siri Ming, PhD, BCBA-D, coauthors of Finding Your Why and Finding Your Way
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