“Silence is a source of great strength.” Lao Tzu

I had forgotten the importance of daily silence until I read Vijah Eswaran’s article “Don’t Underestimate the Power of Silence”. In his article, Eswaran shares a 60-minute exercise to start off each day called the ‘Sphere of Silence’. This exercise is meant to get you focused and clear on the direction of your day, keep you calm and composed, and help you combat the day-to-day workload, overwhelm, and chaos.

The idea of doing this exercise really resonated with me because lately I’ve had a hard time staying focused and have been procrastinating on a few projects. I decided to give it a try.

Eswaran breaks down his 60-minute exercise into four segments that must be done in silence.

The first 30-minutes are spent on your goals. In the first ten minutes, you write out your short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals. The next 10-minutes are spent reviewing your goals from the day before and progress made. The last 10-minutes are spent looking at the unmet goal and determining why you didn’t meet them so you get motivated to act on them.

• The next 10-minutes are spent reading. This is reading something for learning, development and/or inspiration and can be a book, article, poem or anything that interests you.

• The next 10-minutes are spent writing. This is for you to jot down any thoughts, learnings or ideas that came from what you read.

• The last 10-minutes are for self-reflection and quiet. This allows you to be intentional with your energy and attitude for the day.

After doing The Sphere of Silence for only six days I am amazed at the results. I am more focused, motivated, energized, creative, and productive. I am reading more than I have in months and realize how much I love reading for learning and inspiration. And at the end of my day I feel accomplished, purposeful and happy. What’s not to like about that?

I am reinvigorated and appreciate the reminder of the importance of silence. I completely agree with Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu’s quote: “Silence is a source of great strength.” and I will continue doing The Sphere of Silence exercise each morning.

If you’re struggling to stay focused and productive managing your day-to-day responsibilities, I urge you to try the Sphere of Silence exercise. You’ll be surprised by the results, both personally and professionally.