#271 How to Be Present

How Do You Slow Down?

Life is fast. Life is hard.

How do you slow down? By being present… it’s the only way.

When you're truly present and in the moment with your family, working on a project, lifting, or whatever it is you like to do, it does slow time down. You feel like you can take a deep breath, look at the sun, or see the leaves shaking on the trees.

What About the Future?

Constantly worrying about the future is only going to produce more feelings of anxiousness. Constantly being pissed off about the past is regretful and a waste of precious time.

**Do your best with what’s going on right now in front of you. Simple, but not difficult to do.**

Modern day society isn’t doing us any favors either. If anything, it’s becoming more and more challenging to be “present.” And this is why you have to work on it. It’s something that demands daily practice.

Give Yourself the Best Shot

Obsessing over a particular outcome or being worried about the future will create problems for you if left unmanaged.

**So, how do you deal these challenges, emotions, and feelings? By focusing on right now. By focusing on the daily processes that you have in place.**

Are you guaranteed a certain outcome? Absolutely not. But don’t you want to give yourself a fighting chance? You do that by focusing on the process and always doing the small, seemingly insignificant everyday things.

Yeah, I’m talking about the boring shit that almost no one talks about. Focusing on those variables that you control is what will give you the best chance. Executing on the small things every day will help put your mind at ease about the future.

Don’t Get Caught in the Past

Don’t live in the past. Don’t let it dictate how you move forward. Once it's over, it's over. Learn from it so you don’t make the same mistake again.

What’s done is done. There’s nothing you can do about it, so why would you waste your time on something you can’t change? Constantly berating and beating yourself up takes you out of the present.

Cut yourself some slack.

Once you understand that MOST things are out of your control, a whole new worldview will open for you.

When Have You Been Present?

Go ahead, think about it.

Some things that immediately come to mind are when my kids were born, my wedding day, and spending the last few hours with my grandfather. I can still vividly remember the last time I played golf with my grandfather when he was able to still swing a club. I remember getting out to hit his shot, I remember him smiling, and I remember the sun shining.