Leaders often find themselves looking for the next best thing, distracted by the past and worrying about the future.
However, dwelling in the past or the future brings about dissatisfaction and unhappiness, impedes leaders from being effective, from being creative or finding appropriate solutions.
Indeed, we have all experienced these moments in meetings when everyone in the room is completely checked out, where people talk over each other and where no useful information is shared.
Wondering how to improve your leadership and live in the present?
What being present means?
Being present is a state of mind. It means being able to quiet your mind, to stay open and authentic, to remain in constant contact with your emotions and with your surroundings.
Being present means living in the moment and not overthinking the past, the present or the future. When you live in the present, you don’t over-analyze life, you accept your situation, take action or effectively resolve your problem.
Benefits of being present
Being present is powerful because it can be acted upon right now.
Usually, people dissatisfaction or unhappiness is caused by their attachment to the future or the past. Being present will help you:
- Become more effective, more intuitive, more creative.
- Be more aware of your fluctuating thoughts and emotions.
- Achieve a higher sense of confidence and authenticity.
- Increase your level of gratitude, trust, respect and broaden your charisma.
- Gain the ability to interpret and to respond appropriately to any given situation.
- Get the most out of your day and out of others.
- Hone your communication and relationship skills. You can then connect with others, adapt to people and read them better.
- Build up your emotional intelligence.
- Foresee challenges and notice details.
- Avoid being in a constant state of pain, anxiety or depression.
- Retrieve your ability to enjoy your life and be an inspiration to people around you.
- Activate the Law of Attraction.
How to become more present?
Most of the time our mind is somewhere else.
Thoughts submerge us whether we want it or not. Therefore, asking someone to stop thinking is like asking them to stop breathing.
Your job is to not eliminate the thoughts that come to mind but to control them.
Needless to say, learning to be present is not an overnight process. Becoming more present requires a lot of self-discipline and self-awareness:
- Understand that you are a mental, intellectual, emotional, spiritual being.
- Understand that your past doesn’t define you and that you cannot go back in time. Worrying about the past will not help you identify what is wrong in the present and will definitely strengthen your negative thoughts.
- Do not worry about the future. Your mind tries to create the future from your past and not from your present information. However, dreaming of your future is OK if you are expecting better for yourself.
- Be self-aware and conscious. The moment you realize that you are not present, you are in the moment.
- Stay true to yourself, avoid comparing yourself to others and avoid caring about what others think of you.
- Listen to your gut and constantly remind yourself of your purpose.
- Observe the patterns of your mind and observe your own reaction.
- Accept the thoughts that come to you, don’t act on them and keep it moving.
- Take time to reflect, to listen to yourself before dealing with people or entering a situation that you cannot handle. For example, I like taking my lunch break alone to center myself, to give me time to recharge my batteries.
- Slow down, avoid multitasking and give yourself time to think before making a decision.
- Avoid external distractions to be able to engage properly with people.
- Prioritize, appreciate your time and energy. It is also important to avoid missing moments with your family and friends.
- Be more empathetic, actively listen to people and seek someone else’s point of view.
- Find things to be grateful about.
- Find an activity that you enjoy in the moment.
- Practice focusing on your breathing.
- Surround yourself with people who matter most to you.
- Compliment people, once in a while and give them your full attention.
- Do not self-medicate.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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