Looking for hearts
An exercise to re-train your brain to find the opportunities
October was always a notable month when I worked in Organisational Development within the corporate environment.
It was the month a sense of fatigue would be felt across offices. Christmas seemed too far away to generate any festive cheer, yet was close enough to create pressure over incomplete goals and projects. Energy would be low, stress would rise, and our accomplishments often felt overshadowed by unfinished tasks.
This was the month my manager and I would implement a Friday ritual for ourselves. One which did not involve a glass of wine at the end of the day – well not always!
The work we did wouldn’t typically produce results straight away, so we knew that to keep our motivation, energy and focus where it needed to be at the end of the year, we absolutely had to implement this activity.
Our Practice: Every Friday, we would dedicate 15 minutes to documenting our weekly 'wins.' This intentional reflection forced us to focus on what was working well, the small wins, the gradual improvements, and the subtle shifts toward enhanced workplace dynamics.
Yesterday my morning walk brought this practice to mind, as I listened to a podcast about rewiring our brains. The discussion centred around redirecting our energy from negative thought patterns towards spotting the opportunities around us. The exercise they referenced is even easier and can be applied at any time or place.
Looking for Hearts Exercise: As you go about your day to day, look for hearts. When you find one, photograph it or note it down. They may be in your house, your garden, out on the street, in the places you visit or even above you, in the sky!
This mindfulness practice serves two purposes: it grounds us in the present moment and helps retrain our minds to seek out the object of focus, rather than defaulting to our brain's natural tendency towards scanning for threats or ruminating over negative thoughts.
Since yesterday morning I’ve spotted thirteen hearts, and I’ll continue for 7 days to see how many more I come across.
If you are feeling the need to re-focus your brain, why not practice this for the next 7 days and see how many hearts you can uncover!