Step 1: Cutting Through Fixed Views
The first step is to learn to work with our expectations. We all have them: The idea for what the world would be like if only X, Y, and Z would change. The utopia we know we could achieve if only the right people were elected, the right economic checks were put in place, the right sorts of companies were given a chance to succeed.
The problem with these fixed views is that they are the basis for dualistic thinking. If you go into the world with the notion that your opinions are better than everyone else’s and try to force them down people’s throats, you are only propagating aggression.
When you find that you have been trying to push your personal trip on someone at work, you can meditate and examine where these fixed views come from. You can sit on the cushion, breath after breath, and watch the display of your mind. As thoughts come and go, it’s almost like you’re watching a really funny, scary, and sometimes obnoxious movie play out right before your eyes. Yet you can just watch this display, gently coming back to the breath over and over again.
By continuously coming back to the present, we are learning to free ourselves from fixed points of view. That is an important first step in creating change, at work and in society.