Awareness

Welcome to Week 1 of the Mastermind. This first week is about Awareness—because awareness is the foundation of everything we’re going to do together.

You cannot change what you are not aware of.

Awareness is not just “thinking about yourself.” It’s the lived capacity to notice what you’re being, what you’re believing, what you’re avoiding, and what’s actually happening in your body and nervous system—moment to moment.

This week is an invitation into clarity, honesty, and presence.

The Core Intention of Week 1

To cultivate pure awareness of your current reality and self-concept— without trying to ‘get somewhere’, without judgment, without urgency, and without trying to “fix” yourself.

What We’re Becoming Aware Of

This week, we’re practicing awareness of:

• habits and behaviors

• thought patterns and mental loops

• emotional responses and triggers

• the body (sensations, tension, openness, contraction)

• your relationship to time, productivity, and control

• core beliefs and self-concept

• motives: what you’re really seeking, and what you’re avoiding

A key theme to remember: beliefs aren’t only thoughts—they’re often felt as a familiar emotional reality in the body.

The 3 Practice Categories for Week 1

1) Meditation

Purpose: to cultivate stillness, space, and presence—so awareness can deepen.

This is not about “having a perfect meditation.” It’s about slowing down enough to notice what’s already here.

Recommended Practices (choose 1–2)

• 3–10 minutes of seated meditation each day

• Walking meditation (slow walk, no phone, feel your steps)

• Mundane-task meditation (bring full presence to doing dishes, showering, making tea, cleaning)

Focus Cue

When you notice your mind racing, gently return to:

• the breath

• sensations in your body

• sounds around you

• the simplicity of this moment

2) Disruption

Purpose: to interrupt unconscious patterns and reveal what normally stays hidden.

Disruption is a gentle way of “shaking the snow globe”—not to create chaos, but to help you see what’s automatic.

Recommended Practices (choose 1–3 this week)

• sleep in a different direction in your bed

• change your workout routine slightly (time, sequence, environment)

• take a new route on a walk/commute

• visit a different café or work from a different space

• change a small part of your morning routine

• spend time in a new environment or scenery

Key Reminder

This isn’t about forcing change or quitting healthy habits.
It’s about noticing: What happens in me when I change something familiar?

3) Contemplation

Purpose: to inquire into motive—what’s driving your patterns and decisions.

Contemplation turns awareness into insight. It helps you see the “why” behind your habits.

Recommended Practice (5–10 minutes, 2–4 times this week)

Choose one of these questions and journal on it:

• Why do I do the things I do?

• Where am I coming from when I act this way?

• What am I trying to get? What am I trying to avoid?

• What feels threatened if I stop this pattern?

• What would someone assume I believe, based on how I live?

• What am I tolerating that I don’t want to tolerate anymore?

You don’t need perfect answers. You’re practicing honesty, not performance.

The “Slowing Down” Mini-Practice

At least once per day, choose one ordinary action and do it at half speed:

• eating

• walking

• dishes

• showering

• brushing teeth

• preparing food

Then notice:

• impatience

• restlessness

• discomfort

• boredom

• the urge to multitask or escape

This practice is pure awareness training. It shows you where the nervous system seeks control, speed, and avoidance.

The Noting Practice (Week 1: Exercise)

This week includes a core exercise called Noting (you’ll receive the full write-up separately).

For now, here’s the intention:

Noting is awareness in motion.
It’s the practice of observing your behaviors, patterns, impulses, and habits—without judgment—and recording what you notice.

Noting helps dissolve unconsciousness through simple clarity. It’s one of the most direct ways to reveal:

• what you repeatedly do

• what you consistently avoid

• what you’re seeking relief from

• what you’re unconsciously trying to prove, protect, or control

When you see clearly, change becomes natural.

👉🏼 CLICK HERE FOR FULL EXERCISE

Content Detox (Highly Recommended for Week 1)

If you’re willing, try a light “consumption detox” this week:

• fewer podcasts

• less background noise

• less scrolling

• less searching for answers externally

Not forever—just long enough to hear yourself again.

You already have access to deep inner knowing. Awareness creates the space to feel it.

What to Expect This Week (Important)

This work is not linear.

As awareness increases, you may notice:

• clarity and relief

• discomfort or restlessness

• emotional intensity

• confusion or disorientation

• grief, fear, or surprising honesty

None of this means you’re doing it wrong.
It often means you’re finally seeing what’s been running quietly underneath.

When things arise: return to the body. Return to breath. Return to presence.

The Most Important Reminder

You don’t have a problem.

The goal isn’t to judge yourself into transformation.
It’s to meet yourself with truth, presence, and compassion.

Because when awareness is honest and embodied, the next steps become obvious, and the old patterns lose their grip.

Week 1 Commitment (Simple)

If you do nothing else this week, do this:

1. Practice awareness daily (even 3 minutes counts)

2. Choose one disruption

3. Journal contemplation 2–4 times

4. Do the Noting Practice (instructions provided separately)

Welcome to Week 1.

Let this be simple.
Let it be real.
Let it begin.

— Jamie