“Be good to yourself. You cannot help anyone if you are not first good to yourself.” — Chogyam Trungpa
In my first few acts as an adult, I was deeply held by the noise—frantically and feudally trying to stay ahead of the game. First in quantitative finance, then in sustainability. The results were both spectacular, and disastrous. I was successful, yet depleted. My bank account was full—my soul empty. I spent my resources trying to fill a void, and instead felt insatiable hunger for “more” in return. I was not good to myself or to others.
This racing, competing condition permeates the human condition—but it is an artificial construct that has little to do with our humanity. It is a design meant only to deliver personal disarray and human discontinuity, but it can change. It just starts with you first.
I suspect many of you are racing right now—hugging tight the corners, clinging to the pack of paranoid prognostication. “AI is coming for us all! The world is burning! Everything is broken!”
I know that feeling. I’ve been there, and often still am, even with a growing tool kit for remaining present, it’s easy to get dragged into the superhighway of noisy anger, distraction, and misinformation. You tell yourself you’ll get off on the next ramp, but then you miss the exit, then the one after.
This elegant, but deeply flawed system of living we find ourselves in is like a game. And it has the same delivered, predictable results and problems. Somewhere along the way, we forgot to ask the question that matters most:
Is it worth playing this game?
I believe this is the biggest gift of our mindfulness practice: to discover the answer. We cannot achieve peace or contribute to our connected community, ourselves, or our families, without knowing if our here and now is attuned with our goals.
Let me be clear: I am not arguing that you disengage with your careers or financial material pursuits by saying this. Rather, that we should be concerned with the state of things in our world—societal change, the trajectory of technology, geopolitical order. These things matter. And we should be trying to make progress, professionally and personally, to effect change where we can.
The real question is how.
Just as you cannot pour from an empty cup, you cannot think clearly, help others, or solve problems when you are consumed by outside noise. The noise of urgency. Of comparison. Of desiring more. Faster. Now.
You must clear space to find harmony. You must downshift. Catch your breath again. This is how we start being good to ourselves again. The duty we have of slowing ourselves down is our first act of kindness toward others.
Not to drop out, but to drop into what actually matters.
Much of the goal for Superpower Mindfulness, and the bigger project around all of what we are working toward, is about building a new toolkit:
The Map—a way to return to what matters. A reminder of the cosmic perspective. (One I get every time I watch universe size comparisons with my kids—a new obsession of theirs!)
The Lens—seeing the small, infinite depth and beauty in all things, even if it’s just a square foot of natural earth.
The key—a codex, as it were, to build a system that is resilient and changing in a volatile world. One that can reliably bring you back to a present, peaceful, and purposeful life.
With these tools, you can downshift into kindness for yourself so you can start navigating with intention again.
The Hint | One World
You are not three people — work-self, home-self, secret-self. You are one chord, made of harmonizing parts and resonating overtones. Our practice is learning to stop fragmenting ourselves and start vibrating at our natural frequencies again. Harmony isn’t something you achieve. It’s something you feel and learn to know inside of yourself. If your work is destructive, the dissonance resonates within the whole self—the whole chord will feel suspended. With the right note, resolution, or rest, your world can come together in harmony anywhere.
The Exercise | The One-Minute Tune-Up
Set a timer for one minute. Sit comfortably. Close your eyes.
First, listen outward. What do you hear? The hum of a device? Traffic outside? Your own breath? Just notice.
Then, listen inward. What do you feel? The weight of your body? The rhythm of your heartbeat? The quality of your attention right now—scattered? Calm? Somewhere between?
Now, without judgement, ask yourself one question: What tone am I vibrating at this moment?
You don’t need to name it perfectly. Just sense it. Is it sharp? Dull? High-pitched with anxiety? Low and steady like a drone? That’s your baseline. That’s where you start.
Do this once a day for a week and you will notice the tone beginning to shift. Sometimes you will have an off day. I know recognizing, accepting it, and returning myself has been invaluable in downtuning from whatever is throwing me off. I’m confident it can do the same for you.
The Question
What would change in your life if you stopped seeing your practice as something you do and started experiencing it as something you are?
For me, this shift allowed me to integrate my practice and parenting. The results have been profound—my six-year-old is now showing me new movements for our daily routine! Heart Opener, for sure 😉
The only requirement for Superpower Mindfulness: the willingness to begin.
Begin, heard as Be + Again. In life, each moment is an opportunity to be again. To be present again. To be peaceful again. To be purposeful again. Just like at the start.
The goal is simple, but not easy: to bring one million more people into the mindfulness fold, exercising their superpower to first change themselves, then the world around them. It all starts here, each moment, each step. It starts with you.
-Ken
