Three key takeaways from Marjolaine’s session on “Mindfulness for career growth”

Marjolaine Savoie is a creative coach who runs Morning Marjolaine. A multipotentialite who also dons the role of a yogi, podcast host, singer and more, she has used the powerful concept of mindfulness to empower creative women entrepreneurs and influencers to run successful businesses.

Marjolaine hosted a virtual session for the NewCampus Dubai colearning space on “How practicing mindfulness can help in pursuing our career goals” and here are three key takeaways from the session:

Disconnect, disappear from the online world and allow ourselves time to breathe

Let’s accept this fact — we live in a digital age where our mind wanders easily. We are constantly bombarded with alerts, updates and notifications. A million apps rule our everyday life: Ubers for commute, WhatsApp/WeChat for conversations, Deliveroo to order food and so on.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

How can we even attempt to stay mindful?

Marjolaine gives us a simple trick: to be conscious of what we use and try to get breaks as often as possible from our phones and laptops.

Yes, it sounds easier said than done, but Marjolaine insists that if we are aware of what we are doing, we automatically reduce mindless scrolling and going down the many rabbit holes that the Internet offers.

She also urges us to take some time off our screens and breathe. Take a walk, read a book or simply focus on sitting still and doing nothing. Even a little disconnect goes a long way! What more, when we get back to work after a break, our mind is raring to go with refreshed perspectives.

This definitely sounds like a good thing to follow in 2019.

Create more space in the mind by de-cluttering your space

Marjolaine shares that we all follow a disturbing pattern of “trying to be as expected” and cling to material goods as a sign of status instead of actually filling a need.

“Mindfulness teaches us to raise our awareness and be conscious of our choices and actions. Make sure that you care for everything you have, as you grow more comfortable letting go of things you no longer need.”

This is her simple mantra, something that has brought a lot of impact in her own life. “I have no bed, no kitchen table, no unnecessary frames and barely 3 plates. I use only coconut oil for my face, barely any makeup and I live in a 33 square meter flat with the love of my life and we are closer to living from water and fresh roses than we ever were,” she declares.

Photo by Ferenc Horvath on Unsplash

So what is it about minimalism of our space that helps decluttring our minds? In her blog post, Marjolaine shares more about how this is possible in her blog: letting go of clothes helps letting go of clients who don’t align with our vision; an orderly space leads to tidying up our business processes, conscious buying and owning will result in conscious branding; and when we know less is more, we learn to streamline processes and seek internal validation.

A believer of Marie Kondo’s Kon-Mari method, Marjolaine explains, “The funny thing is that the skills you will earn from living a minimal lifestyle are everything you need to succeed in business.”

Simplify to maximize how you spend your time

Marjolaine explains that we often tend to put way too much on our plate. It’s always a good idea to pause and reflect on what is essential for the business and what aligns with our goals.

“ I recently came to the conclusion that I didn’t enjoy having a Facebook Group and realized that I wasn’t impacting people the way I wanted on that platform. Instead of having it because I should, I questioned how I felt about it and realized that I would feel lighter without it,” she elaborates.

Photo by David Travis on Unsplash

She encourages us to ask some pertinent questions about our business:

• Do we love what we are doing?
• Does what we do impact our business and bring in rewards equal to the amount of time we spend on it?
• What can we stop doing to be more peaceful and find more time to invest in other areas?

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To sum up, the three lessons take root in the simple but brilliant concept of mindfulness. To be aware of everything we do, say, act upon empowers us to make choices that align with our aspirations. Whether it is something as simple as not picking up the phone right out of bed or refocusing our energies to promote one aspect of our business, as long as mindfulness drives us, we are on the right path!

If you’re interested in attending one of our classes, check out NewCampus’s learning membership that we’re launching February 2019.