The New Fit Journal is a series exploring the New Fit Movement.

From Doing to Being

We know that a conscious shift is required for long term fitness. Without it, nothing will work in the long term. Forget it. No diet, no exercise methodology, nothing will work. Technology is only 50% of the equation. At Barenakd, we use the most advanced technologies, but without the conscious shift you will never see long term success.

We previously defined consciousness as the ability to perceive, or be aware of, objects and events. Then the required shift in consciousness is not just a change, but an improvement in your ability to perceive, or be aware of, objects and events.

Today we are going to get a little more specific. The mind loves labels and categorizations so we are going to use them to point the way. In fact, we will be flat out annoying and use Microsoft Visio.

One way to verbalize this conscious shift is to say we want to go from Doing to Being. Doing characterizes the mental state of the vast majority of Americans. We are obsessed with doing, with achieving. We can’t even relax. We must actively seek a means of leisure. For Americans, there is nothing outside of doing. Often when we are not doing, we experience guilt. Why? For not doing something of course!

The problem with the mental state of doing is that it is future based. In other words, when you are doing, you are doing to achieve some end. When will that end be achieved? In the future. The problem with this mental structure is that the future is only a mental structure in itself. It is not a reality. When the future comes, it comes in the form of the present. So if our default mental state in the present is to do, what happens when our task is accomplished? We have to do something else. And thus we have a viscous cycle of never being satisfied.

I want to restate this another way to make the point. The mental structure of doing is characterized by a dissatisfaction with the present moment and an obsession with the future. I’m not satisfied now … but i will be in the future once xxxx happens or I acomplish xxxx. Once again, the problem with this is that when the future comes, it comes in the form of the present moment. If your default mental state is to be not satisfied with the present moment, then the state of doing will keep you constantly dissatisfied.

Being, on the other hand, is SOLELY present based. You cannot be in the future, you can only be in the now. There is nothing to accomplish, you have already accomplished it. In fact, you are above accomplishing. You are above success and failure.

Quickly, I want to address the common reaction to this. Being doesn’t mean that you will never accomplish anything, that you don’t care about success. It doesn’t mean that you will live your life in complete and total serenity, but on a park bench dressed in rags and eating from the trash. This type of extreme picture comes from the doing mental structure. It comes from fear of not remaining in the cycle of dissatisfaction. For surely if I’m not in a never ending state of want and desire, I’ll end up on the street with my hand out!

The truth, however, is that in the state of being, the work you do will be of the highest quality. And … the work you do will be the correct work. When you are being fitness, you don’t have to do fitness. Success becomes effortless because your resistance is dissolved. If this doesn’t make sense right away that’s ok. Hopefully a seed has been planted.

So how do we get to being? One method is to simply address where you mind is in any given moment. See the flow chart below.

To cultivate our shift, we must monitor where our mind resides. Are we focused on the now? Are we in a state of being or in a state of doing? One large distinction to make immediately is that you can be doing something while remaining in the state of being. We can practice this everyday. It’s good to start with tasks we might dislike. Perhaps at work or even at home. When doing the dishes for instance, we can either be in a state of dissatisfaction because we want to be done washing the dishes, or we can simply focus our entire attention on washing the dishes. We can get completely lost in the task at hand. There can be no dissatisfaction when you are at peace with the present moment.

Can you break the cycle of doing and simply be?