Tonight, the Golden State Warriors look to claim a spot the record books. With a win against the Memphis Grizzlies, they would finish the regular season at 73-9, which would be the best record in NBA history.

One key to the Warriors’ success that almost no one is talking about is the four core values coach Steve Kerr asks his players to embody:

• Joy
• Mindfulness
• Compassion
• Competition

After the team broke the record for the best start to a season last fall, Curry attributed some of their success to a mindful outlook.

He told the New York Times, “You got to continue to just stay in the moment. When you stay in the moment, good things happen, because everybody’s just wrapped up in the process.”

Mindfulness experts know that, just as important as good experiences, fewer negative feelings arise for people who practice mindfulness during their daily activity.

“When our brains get caught up in thoughts from the past…or thoughts of the future…it creates a stress response, and we can’t use the part of the brain that keeps us engaged in the moment,” says mindfulness author Dr. Kristen Race.

Bryce Arghiere

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You can train your brain to focus better by incorporating mindfulness exercises throughout your day.

Here are some guidelines for becoming a more focused and mindful leader.

First, start off your day right. Researchers have found that we release the most stress hormones within minutes after waking. Why? Because thinking of the day ahead triggers our fight-or-flight instinct and releases cortisol into our blood.

Instead, try this: When you wake up, spend two minutes in your bed simply noticing your breath. As thoughts about the day pop into your mind, let them go and return to your breath.

When you get to the office, take 10 minutes at your desk to boost your brain with a short mindfulness practice before you dive into activity.

Close your eyes, relax, and sit upright. Place your full focus on your breath. Simply maintain an ongoing flow of attention on the experience of your breathing: inhale, exhale; inhale; exhale. To help your focus stay on your breathing, count silently at each exhalation. Any time you find your mind distracted, simply release the distraction by returning your focus to your breath.

Most important, allow yourself to enjoy these minutes.

To avoid entering a meeting with a wandering mind, take two minutes to practice mindfulness. You can do so while you’re walking to the meeting.

Even better, let the first two minutes of the meeting be silent, allowing everybody to arrive both physically and mentally. Then, if possible, end the meeting five minutes before the hour in order to allow all participants a mindful transition to their next meeting.

After lunch, set a timer on your phone to ring every hour. When the timer rings, cease your current activity and do one minute of mindfulness practice.

Finally, as the day comes to an end and you start your commute home, apply mindfulness. For at least 10 minutes of the commute, turn off your phone and simply be. Let go of any thoughts that arise. Attend to your breath.

Doing so will allow you to let go of the stresses of the day so you can return home and be fully present with your family.

 Ebay, the online auction website has just reported zero growth in fourth-quarter revenue from the same period a year earlier and a 50% drop in net income.

At times like this, managers tend to draw up endless plans to boost their employees’ productivity, writes Bryce Arghiere. Some plans are externally-focused and others are internally-focused External tactics provide incentives or deterrents (carrot and stick).

These approaches are the most common and take shape in many ways: rewards and recognition for high performance, setting attainable goals, holding employees accountable.

Internal ones don’t coax or threaten—they teach. The change happens inside the employee and lasts – unlike rewards and requirements that work only if they are constantly applied and adapted often.

An internal approach is obviously preferable. With limited hours available for training, what do you leave out and what do you teach? Software or soft skills?

Lately, a stronger and stronger case has been made to include mindfulness.

What makes mindfulness training so valuable is that it helps employees develop tools to do every specialized skill better.

But even if many employees are skeptical and the bosses are the only ones who opt for training, employees still benefit.

Another study found job satisfaction and performance soared among employees whose supervisors practiced mindfulness.

I’m interested in hearing more about a  mindfulness course.

Worker stress levels are rising, with over half of the global workforce (53%) reporting that they are closer to burnout than they were just five years ago, according to a Regus Group survey of over 22,000 business people across 100 countries.

And while stress can be contagious, the converse is also true: when any member of a team experiences well-being, the effect seems to spread across the entire team.

Takeaway: understand and prioritize activities that promote well-being for yourself and your team. Here’s how:

1. Allow time to disconnect outside of work.

2. Train the brain to deal with chaos.

3. Emphasize “monotasking” for better focus.

4. Be purposeful about “gap” time during the work day, or slow periods over the course of the working year.

5. Exercise empathy and compassion.

I am interested in learning more about Furthr’s mindfulness course.