It's in our nature to carry around with us distracting thoughts and preoccupations - and that limits the time, attention and focus we can dedicate to our priority. Here's a simple but powerful daily practice to reclaim some of that headspace.

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+44 (0) 7976 751 095 dan@danbeverly.com http://danbeverly.com
The Daily Practice Guaranteed
to Reclaim Your Headspace. 21 February 2018
It's in our nature to carry around with us distracting thoughts and preoccupations - and that limits the time, attention and
focus we can dedicate to our priority. Here's a simple but powerful daily practice to reclaim some of that headspace..
What we cannot let go of has control over us.
As any of my clients will tell you, my coaching sessions
begin with an exercise we call “Clearing the Space”. In
summary: an opportunity to simply notice background
thoughts and preoccupations, acknowledge them and put
them down – just for now.
There are 2 crucial elements to this exercise:
1. Labelling the emotion that’s attached to the thought.
We can’t have a feeling without a thought, nor a
thought without a feeling. And so: I want my
acknowledgement to recognise both. And where the
emotion is concerned, I want to give it a name – to
dampen my limbic brain’s response to it and keep my
“thinking brain” online.
2. Giving permission to place the focus and attention
elsewhere. Our “thinking brain” is nothing like as
capacious as our unconscious mind. And so I want to
be intentional about where I place my limited focus.
But I can’t un-think those other thoughts. So I need to
allow myself to let them go.
And you might notice that this exercise is specifically
NOT saying these background thoughts are unimportant.
Rather, it simply says these thoughts are unhelpful
distractions for right now, when I want to focus on
something else.
Letting go of these cognitive burdens sounds obvious – but
it’s not in our nature. Left to our own devices, we carry
these thoughts around with us like weighty bags of bricks
strapped to each arm.
Which is why all my sessions start with that simple
focusing exercise – allowing us to move forward feeling
clear and ready to focus.
Imagine if we could apply that not just to a coaching
session, but to the whole day. Here’s how.
Claiming your headspace
for the day
At the start of each day, we all likely have things on the
list (either our actual physical list, prepared that morning
– or just the ongoing list of stuff that needs doing) we just
know we’re not going to get to.
We keep those items on the list because we don’t want to
forget them. Or it’ll be an item for tomorrow. Or perhaps

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+44 (0) 7976 751 095 dan@danbeverly.com http://danbeverly.com
maybe, just maybe I will get to it today (even though this
is the third week in a row I’ve said that on a daily basis –
and still nada!). Or perhaps it’s the big strategic project
that gets done once (if) all the day-to-day activity gets
done.
These extra items are examples of exactly the cognitive
burden we’ve just said would be great to put down.
So add this question to your morning routine:
“What do I need to let go of, for today?”
Get intentional putting down the stuff you’re not going to
get to. Give yourself permission to let go of what you
won’t get to anyway. And remind yourself that in saying
“no” to the extras, you’re saying “yes” to your priorities.
Your new daily practice
A final thought: make this a practice. Something you
consciously and diligently apply, with discipline and
routine. Not a task. Not an activity. A practice, woven
into the fabric of your morning routine.
Dan Beverly is a leadership and performance coach to scores of high-
achieving professional women. His coaching work helps them to advance their
leadership agenda, accelerate their career and achieve their highest potential..
His mission is to inspire impossibility in others: to help us excel in a new future.
Go online to book your Discovery Call with Dan – and start capitalising on
your pivotal career moments today.
http://danbeverly.com/