322 Leave A Legacy By Being Mindful Says Speaker/Author Thom Singer

Tom Singer is a professional master of ceremonies and keynote speaker for corporate, law firms, and convention audiences. He's also authored 12 books on the power of business relationships, sales, networking, presentation skills, and entrepreneurship. Tom is also the host of the Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do podcast where he interviews business leaders who possess an extra dose of the entrepreneurial spirit. Stories from Tom's interviews are shared with his clients and he challenges people to be more engaged and enthusiastic in all of their actions.

Contact Info

• Website: www.ThomSinger.com
• Podcast: Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do
• LinkedIn / Twitter / IG / YouTube @ThomSinger
• Facebook: @ThomSingerSpeaker

Most Influential Person

• My father. My dad was 52 years old when I was born. So in a lot of ways it was like being raised by a grandfather. He had three sons who, when I was born were 10, 12 and 14. And by the way, I had the same set of parents. I was sort of a surprise. My Dad always told everybody that a surprise was an accident that worked out really well because he liked me.

Effect on Emotions

• I think that As I've gone into this whole 50 to 75 plan that I'm shepherding, I think that being mindful of experiences and of saying yes to things, of not getting stressed, of not getting pissed, of just doing all that, I think the emotion that it has triggered more than anything else is joy.
• I think because I am mindful, that I'm going to have a good time.
• I think it has unleashed that emotion of joy and I think my wife sees it. I think my kids see it. I think my friends see it. I think my clients see it, so I think that's how mindfulness has affected my emotions.

Thoughts on Breathing

• I don't think that [mindfulness has affected my breathing] other than the fact that it brings oxygen into my lungs that then goes into my blood and goes to my brain.
• So when I first started running and I couldn't run a mile and I hired my friend who was a runner to kind of coach me through it. He actually pushed me too hard and I triggered asthma that I hadn't had in years.
• I almost had to go to the hospital. I certainly hadn't used an inhaler in forever. I had to go to the doctor and everything else. So I was mindful of breathing when I couldn't.
• But the rest of the time, for some reason, once I got up to where I was running three to five miles and then five to 10 miles throughout the training, I rarely am that winded.

Suggested Resources

• Book: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen Covey
• App: My camera app because I pay more attention to things that are photo worthy and maybe that's mindful.

Bullying Story

• You know, I'm just going to be real honest. I have one situation that comes to mind when you asked that question that involve bullying and I'm just going to put it out there.
• I was kind of the bully and I was probably 12 years old and a bunch of people were sort of mocking, you know, a kid who kind of didn't fit in and I was part of it.
• And what's interesting is it's not part of my personality, it's not part of who I am. It's not part of who I was at the time and if I had been mindful of not having to be part of that group or whatever, I wouldn't have been part of it. I don't keep in touch with this person.
• I don't know if it was scarring or if it was just a minor thing, but I've always felt really bad about that. And because of that I've always been really conscious of not falling into that mob mentality and not being surprised by bystander mentality.
• Again, I wasn't leading the whole thing. I wasn't the bully, but I was part of the group and I mean at the time I knew it was wrong and I don't know why it came to mind when you asked about it, but now I feel kind of like crap for even having been a part of it, just thinking about it again.
• But I do know that it stayed with me to the point that I never did anything like that again, at least not to that level that I'm aware of.

Quote

"When you are mindful of your purpose in any conversation, you leave a legacy." Thom Singer