“I want to have this discussion on how we can accelerate our professional success, achieve goals, do difficult things, but also find joy in thriving instead of just surviving,” MacAulay said.
MacAulay is on a mission to help individuals excel in high-stress environments by teaching them how to find their best selves. The Warrior’s Edge training, of which she is a co-founder, provides skills to Airmen to command their mindset. MacAulay’s training focuses on mindfulness while performing in a high-stress environment.
According to MacAulay, mindset is half the battle. Mindfulness is a way to train the brain to live in the moment. The meaning of mindfulness is being fully in the moment without any judgement or emotional activity.
“Mindfulness is basically being in the moment, seeing that there are thoughts inside your head, and then making a conscience choice not to allow those thoughts to have any power over you in that moment,” MacAulay said. “Not chasing them, not trying to figure out what they mean, not trying to build catastrophes, or regret something that you have no control over in that moment. So this helps us filter through these thought patterns.”
The secret to achieving this is not only training your body and in your craft, but Airmen should begin to train their minds.
“Body, craft and mind. You have to train all three of these things if you want to find the best version of yourself,” MacAulay said. “We train our body; we train our craft, and now it is time to train our mind.”
Through “The Warrior’s Edge,” MacAulay wants to provide Airmen the tools on how to reach their goals and to command their mindset and decisions while under stress.
MacAulay spoke on taking a “mindful minute,” which is taking one minute to find the space to breathe and train your mind to do “mental push-ups.” MacAulay says through training your mind, you can begin to see your stress differently, perform better and be mentally present when you need to be.
“I like to think I plant seeds for those who may not understand or agree with this type of solution,” MacAulay said.
As she frames this type of mindset as a performance skill set, it allows others to view and understand it differently and in a more holistic manner.
MacAulay said ultimately it’s a journey of self-reflection.
“I try to create a new conversation for people inside themselves. We all want to be better, it’s just how do we get to the space where you have the tools and the resources to be better? MacAulay said.
MacAulay’s takeaway for people is to spend some time reflecting on how you can prepare yourself for life’s challenges or ask yourself, “Are you prepared for your next challenge, body, craft and mind for adversity or for a challenging professional problem?”
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