Clif Smith - Mindfulness Without the Bells and Beads: Unlocking Exceptional Performance, Leadership, and Well-Being for Working Professionals

1. Chapter 13
2. Chapter 14

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 6
3. Chapter 7
4. Chapter 11

CLIF SMITH

Copyright 2021 by Clifton T. Smith II. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Mindfulness meditation has been around for thousands of years and has been written and spoken about by tens of thousands of people. It is easy to inadvertently write something that is similar to what someone else wrote without knowing it and therefore not giving them credit. In writing this book, I've tried to give credit where credit is due and hope any inadvertent turn of a phrase that matches someone else's without the proper acknowledgment is seen as an honest mistake rather than a deliberate attempt to copy or plagiarize.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available:

ISBN 9781119750765 (Hardcover)
ISBN 9781119750833 (ePDF)
ISBN 9781119750826 (ePub)

Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: Sergey Pakulin/Getty Images

To my mother, Vicki, for being like the sun. You have always given me warmth, light, and love without expecting anything in return.

To my son, Alexander, for reminding me I had eyes like a child once, too, and for helping me find them again.

To my wife, Jennifer, for your love and unwavering support on our journey together.

We first met just before Clif was to speak with 4,000 of EY's newly promoted managers at the firm's annual Milestones event. Having heard great things about Clif's impact on so many people, it was a highly anticipated meeting for me.

Clif's towering height quickly gives way to his authentic words and genuine care for fellow humans. This first meeting centered on Clif's decision on whether to shift his career and life, yet again, and follow his heart and passion to bring mindfulness to even more people. Clif wanted to make a dent in the world by helping people live happier, healthier, and more productive lives. A heavy conversation before a big keynote. For most, it might throw them off. For Clif, it was an opportunity to personally practice mindfulness. Shortly after finishing our chat, Clif hit the stage and masterfully captured the crowd.

Despite being unknown to the audience and delivering his keynote wedged between an acclaimed Harvard professor and a New York Times bestselling author, Clif's talk was rated the highest. It is a testament to the power of his story, combined with an ability to be vulnerable and connect with an audience, that he can successfully introduce mindfulness to skeptics. We continue to work closely since that day.

Too often, mindfulness gets mistakenly characterized as a wellness concept that belongs outside the scope of a learning organization, which is otherwise focused on developing highly skilled leaders and technically competent professionals. Clif's approach of framing mindfulness as a way to impact performance, leadership, and well-being is unique, and his results are compelling.

In just a few years, Clif has reached over 60,000 people with his keynotes, workshops, and courses with consistently exceptional feedback. The measured business and personal impact of the programs are similarly impressive, as covered later in this book.

When we evaluated moving mindfulness into our formal curriculum and developing a plan to scale it to even more people, it was a no brainer. It's been a great decision and a wonderful partnership.

Clif's impact continues to spread throughout our firm and also with clients. They have called on Clif and his team to introduce mindfulness to their leaders and people at all levels and help them establish effective mindfulness programs.

It's exciting that Clif has put his powerful story in writing and combined it with a practical, authentic, and no-nonsense guide to developing a consistent mindfulness practice.

Wishing you the same level of impact that our people at EY have received from Clif's approach to mindfulness and life.

Tal Goldhamer, Partner and Americas Chief Learning Officer,
Ernst & Young LLP

Most people will never become nor even try to become a US Army Chinese linguist, a CIA-trained case officer, a diplomat, or a Harvard graduate. These types of achievements, it's commonly believed, are reserved for exceptionally gifted individuals, the privileged old-monied elite, or private schooltrained children of well-connected corporate or political power couples. It begs the question, then, how someone born into a poor family, living in a trailer with no college-educated family members, could ever become any one of those things, let alone all four and more? Many people think being born into a situation like that is tantamount to a life sentence of destitution and poverty. They would be wrong; there are repeatable paths from poverty to prosperity, but you only see them if you pay close attention and you only take those paths if you can get out of your own way.