Cultivate a practice of mindfulness to prepare oneself to address and even solve complex problems.

Looking at the news on any given day, one can be forgiven if they feel depressed or disappointed. There are constant news stories of natural disasters accelerated by climate change, geopolitical crises, rampant inequalities, and suffering.

As designers, we are trained to address problems for people. However, we cannot solve or address problems if we ourselves are broken. Or at least, it’s very hard to. Our ability to problem-solve requires us to be resilient as we understand the full extent of how problems affect people and the planet, yet hopeful and pragmatic enough to move towards addressing those problems through our own design process.

To live by principle 4, it is best to find ways to “slow the mind”. In the context of design, being able to achieve presence and clear thought is very useful when making sense of all the information in our process and being able to leap toward new concepts. Reflection helps us prepare ourselves for the next “lightbulb” moment in the problem-solving process.

Contemplative practice or meditation is a very effective way to slow the mind and achieve presence. Box breathing is an easy starting point. Simply find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Begin by breathing in for 4 seconds, holding that breath for 4 seconds, exhaling for 4 seconds, and then holding for 4 seconds. Repeat and slowly increase your time spent across the four breathing stages: 4-4-4-4 to 5-5-5-5, and so on.

Other ways to slow the mind and engage with the body can be activated through dance, sport, art, and painting. The idea is to engage the body, move away from rational thinking, and enable your creativity to flow.