Mindfulness without the Bells and Beads

Winner of the American Book Fest 2021 Best Book Award, Management and Leadership; Silver Medalist, 2021 Living Now Awards; Bronze Medalist, 2022 Axiom Business Book Awards for Success/Motivation/Coaching.

Use mindfulness to unleash your potential - without adopting spiritual beliefs

Mindfulness Without the Bells and Beads: Unlocking Exceptional Performance, Leadership, and Wellbeing for Working Professionals strips away the bells, beads, and hyperbole associated with mindfulness, and explains how you can take your performance and leadership to the next level in just eight weeks, without adopting any spiritual or new age beliefs.

Author Clif Smith, a US Army veteran, former diplomat, and CIA-trained former intelligence officer, serves as EY's Americas Mindfulness Leader and Global Mindfulness Network Leader and is internationally recognized for bringing mindfulness to tens of thousands of corporate and government leaders across the globe. In this book, Clif shares teachings and insights to help achieve the tangible benefits of practicing mindfulness as a fundamental part of our professional and personal lives. You'll discover how to:

• Enhance mental focus, resilience, and decision-making under pressure
• Increase the impact of your communication and leadership
• Transcend limiting beliefs, fear, and other psychological barriers to success
• Connect, understand, and interact with others more effectively
• Effectively incorporate self-care into a high-performance life
• Demystify the practice of mindfulness to make it ideal for a corporate setting

Perfect for corporate leaders, managers, and executives, and any working professional in a high-pressure or high-performance environment, Mindfulness Without the Bells and Beads also belongs on the bookshelves of anyone who works in a stressful environment and wants to achieve a higher level of success and a better quality of life.

Foreword by Tal Goldhamer ix

Introduction: A Staggered Start xi

Part I My Journey With Mindfulness And An Introduction To The Fundamentals 1

Chapter 1 The Power of the Trained Mind 3

Three Skills That Changed My Life 5

The Three Skills Applied 9

Chapter 2 Why Mindfulness Now? 19

Chapter 3 (Some of) The Science of Mindfulness 31

Mindfulness Changes the Brain 32

Mindfulness Reduces the Size and Activity in the Amygdala 33

Mindfulness Increases Activity in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) 33

Mindfulness Increases the Size of Your Hippocampus 34

Mindfulness Increases the Size of Your Insula 35

Chapter 4 How Do Our Brains Work outside a Brain Scanner? 38

Chapter 5 Finding the Signal in the Mindfulness Noise 46

Chapter 6 The Fundamentals of Cultivating Mindfulness 54

Focused Attention Meditation 56

Open Awareness Meditation 65

Chapter 7 Your Journey 67

Part II Diving Deeper: An 8-Week Journey To Exceptional Performance, Leadership, and Well-Being 71

Chapter 8 Introducing the Course 73

Motivation 75

What Do You Need to Give Up? 75

Establishing the Practice 76

Dealing with the Excuse-Making, Judging, and Controlling Mind 78

Chapter 9 Week 1: No Trivial Moments: Moving from Autopilot to Aware 80

Waking Up to Your Life 84

Mindfulness and the Body 87

Chapter 10 Week 2: The Mindset You Bring to Your Experience Matters 95

Nonjudging 97

Patience 98

Beginner’s Mind 99

Trust 99

Non-striving 100

Acceptance 101

Letting Go and Letting Be 101

Gratitude and Generosity 102

Shifting from Doing to Non-Doing, aka Being 103

Common Themes, Challenges, and Questions 104

Chapter 11 Week 3: Do You Have the Story or Does the Story Have You? 108

Mindfulness of Sounds, Thoughts, and Emotions 113

Common Themes, Challenges, and Questions 117

Chapter 12 Week 4: The Saber-Toothed Tiger of the Modern World: Everything 121

Stress and Our Stress Response 123

Common Themes, Challenges, and Questions 127

Chapter 13 Week 5: Delving into the Difficult 130

Responding versus Reacting 132

Common Themes, Challenges, and Questions 138

Chapter 14 Week 6: In the Same Boat 143

S.P.A.R.R.ing during Difficult Interactions 148

Common Themes, Challenges, and Questions 154

Chapter 15 Week 7: Who Watches (Out for) You? 158

Empathy 160

Compassion 162

Kindness 162

Cultivating Empathy, Compassion, and Kindness 163

Common Themes, Challenges, and Questions 167

Chapter 16 Week 8: Maintaining Momentum 170

A Mindful Day 173

Common Themes, Challenges, and Questions 177

Chapter 17 A Final Word 181

Acknowledgments 183

About the Author 187

Appendix 189

Notes 195

Index 201

CLIF SMITH, EY's (Ernst & Young LLP)Americas Mindfulness Leader and Global Mindfulness Network Leader, built EY's Mindful Leadership program, delivering practical training to tens of thousands of EY and client personnel with measurable impact on leadership, performance, and well-being. Raised by a single mother of three, Clif grew up on welfare and lived in government subsidized housing for much of his childhood. He went from having no prospects, being flat broke, and barely graduating high school to learning Chinese, becoming a diplomat, and putting himself through Harvard using the techniques he teaches in this book. Clif's personal journey from poverty to prosperity inspires his work as an author, executive coach, mindfulness teacher, and keynote speaker. Readers can follow his work at clifsmith.com.

Mindfulness is everywhere, and for good reason—but so are stereotypes about who practices it and what is needed to do so effectively. Research shows that cultivating this skill can lead to better quality of life and better performance in everything we do, including in the workplace. And—surprise!—you can do it without buying into the whole mystical yoga-and-chanting thing. Mindfulness without the Bells and Beads strips away the bells, beads, and hyperbole associated with mindfulness, and explains how you can take your performance and leadership to the next level without adopting any spiritual or new age beliefs.

Author Clif Smith, a U.S. Army veteran, former diplomat, and CIA-trained intelligence officer, serves as EY's Americas Mindfulness Leader and Global Mindfulness Network Leader and is internationally recognized for bringing mindfulness to tens of thousands of corporate and government leaders and personnel across the globe. For readers who wish to take a deep dive into mindfulness and reap its full benefits on performance and well-being, Clif presents a powerful program for improving focus, reducing stress, leveling up leadership, and transcending the psychological barriers that hold us back from our full potential and ultimate success.

Perfect for corporate leaders, managers, and executives, and any professional in a high-pressure or high-performance environment, Mindfulness without the Bells and Beads also belongs on the bookshelves of anyone who works in a stressful environment and wants to achieve a higher level of success.

Praise for MINDFULNESS WITHOUT THE BELLS AND BEADS

"Clif's superb approach to training the mind for peak performance without sacrificing well-being is a breath of fresh air. That he has been able to help tens of thousands of leaders make time for self-care and realize it's a requirement for high performance is a testament to the power of his work. It's an inspirational story that comes with a guide to training the mind for resilience and personal excellence, helping us tap into our deeper resources, and not just excel and overcome obstacles but be transformed by them."
—Arianna Huffington, Founder & CEO of Thrive Global and bestselling Author of Thrive and The Sleep Revolution

"In this book, the author artfully dissects the battle we all wage against our inner critic and provides the tactics and strategies to win the war of self-mastery."
—Robert Greene, New York Times bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, and Mastery

"Superbly written and profound. Simply the most accessible and compelling guide to reaping the benefits of mindfulness in the modern world. Clif's authenticity shines through as we learn the true power of a trained mind and that high-performance does not need to come at the expense of personal well-being."
—Doro Bush Koch, Founding Partner of BB&R Wellness Consulting and New York Times best-selling Author of My Father, My President: A Personal Account of the Life of George H.W. Bush

"Whilst I have been personally passionate about mindfulness and its benefits, it has often been a challenge to share the benefits to others. In this book, Clif has created an accessible guide for professionals seeking to connect their approach to life and work, with balance, high-performance and ongoing growth."
—Brooke Finlayson, Chief Learning Officer, Mondelez International

"As someone who works with some of the most elite performers on the planet, I can say that the mental aspect of performance is the difference maker. Whether you are experienced in mindfulness, or just starting out, this book will help you achieve excellence. Clif is a life-long mindfulness practitioner, an exceptional speaker, and now an accomplished author. This is a must read for anyone who wants an easy-to-digest, yet powerful way to take their game to the next level through the practice of mindfulness."
—Mark A. Campbell, Founder, Campbell Performance Systems & Director of Mental Conditioning, Washington Nationals Baseball Club

"When you look closely, mindfulness is simply the remarkable human capacity to bring all our available resources to bear on each moment of our lives. In this book, Clif Smith has done a remarkable job of looking past the hype and spirituality to the heart of mindfulness. Smith's honesty, humility and wisdom opens our eyes to the potential of cultivating this capacity to achieve exceptional performance, inspiring leadership, innovative thinking and extraordinary collaboration. No equipment to buy, no assembly required, no place else to go and nothing else to do. Being present is proven to be a game-changer for humans, so if you are one, this is for you."
—Steven D. Hickman, Psy.D. Executive Director, Center for Mindful Self-Compassion and Founding Director, University of California San Diego Center for Mindfulness

"Clif's story is the quintessential American rags to riches story and proof that with self-discipline and consistent effort, one can change the trajectory of their life. The greatest thing about this book is not only does Clif share his inspirational journey, he also provides a map and compass so anyone can do the same using the principles of mindfulness, without any of the fluff."
—Michael Waltz, Author of Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret's Battles from Washington to Afghanistan

"Clif's book teaches mindfulness in a compelling way by taking you along on his one-in-a billion journey of triumph. He clearly explains the need for and impact of training the mind. I've never read a book that so clearly maps out that path to the power and positive impact of mindfulness."
—Eric Maddox, former U.S. Army interrogator and Author of Mission Blacklist #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein as Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture

"As a (former) skeptic of mindfulness, I could not have imagined how much this book would transform my view of it. If you're in a high-risk profession like law enforcement, military, or intelligence and thought mindfulness would dull your edge, think again. Clif reveals the full potential of mindfulness to transform our approach to life and work in a way that allows for living with balance, high-performance, and situational awareness. I wish I had been practicing this earlier in my career."
—Ed Herbst, retired FBI Agent and member of the Senior Executive Service