It’s bizarre. I know plenty of people who have told me that they do not know how to how to relax. One client told me that he feels guilty sitting doing nothing on a Saturday – he feels obliged to fly around the house and garden determined to find something to occupy him. Another client recently revealed that, whilst Saturday morning is his golf morning, and although he actually goes out for his eighteen holes, he doesn’t really play! He can’t – his mind is wandering back to all that happened during the week or what’s going to happen the following week. He’s out on the course but, not only is he not relaxed, he’s not even all there! Even better, a friend who doesn’t have a care in the world – great job that he’s really on top of, great personal life, great everything, told me that when he plays golf he cannot prevent himself feeling guilty – feeling that he should be in the office or at home!

Once the day swings into action it’s oh so easy to be overwhelmed by the routine, the urgent (as distinct from the important), the latest minor crisis or, most prevalent of all, unproductive thought. And even though you may have started your day properly, it is all too easy to become submerged and go back to our default state of unfocused mindlessness.

I talk with quite a number of people – clients and readers of my Personal Development Ezine – who explain to me that they have become far calmer, more aware and focused as a consequence of the various little “mental exercises” that they practice to banish stress and move themselves in the direction that they want their life to go. I often receive feedback from people who tell me that their lives have been transformed and that they have seen many of their goals achieved almost effortlessly. But others wonder why, if they are developing calm, clarity and presence of mind, nothing new and exciting seems to be happening in their lives.