We do our best to eat organic, free-range, vegetarian, vegan, pure, Non-GMO, 100% unprocessed food to make sure that we aren’t ingesting anything impure or unhealthy.
Yet most of us are stretching ourselves so thin with our daily lives (email, phone calls, interruptions, errands, multitasking, etc.) that the “us” the world gets is processed and commoditized to the point that most of the time we can only provide the imitation cheese version of ourselves to the world. In short, we avoid processed food but give the world our processed selves.
So how do we get closer to our true selves? How do we begin to stop the self-sabotage that prevents us from being the powerful, 100% pure, selves that we are always trying to be?
We accomplish this first and foremost by being present.
Presence in our daily lives means being available and aware to each moment and what that moment holds so that we can be fully open and available to the task or person before of us.
Here are a few quick tips to giving the world your most powerful you:
Stop Multitasking
Despite what we think, humans are not very good multi-taskers. We are at our very best when we can be in the here and now or “Zen-out”. In fact in certain instances multitasking and the fallacy of our ability to do more than one thing at a time can be very dangerous: think texting and driving.
It is best to do one thing at a time and do it with all your intent. Focus on that subject. Give it your all and remove distractions. This will serve you in both your professional and personal life.
Breathe
The most familiar parts of our lives often become lost in complacency and routine. It’s these areas where a little intention and focus can yield massive results. Be sure to take a few moments when you are feeling overwhelmed to refocus yourself through breathing.
Achieving and feeling these benefits is very simple: close your eyes and take a deep breath and let it out slowly through your nose. Breathing out through the nose being key to promoting relaxation. Repeat. You’ll notice your mind and body calming and becoming relaxed.
This is also a good practice to enact throughout the day to provide yourself solace and oxygen so that you can relax and refocus between tasks.
Be Aware
Take stock of your actions and intentions: What are you doing and why? Are you focused? Are you distracted? What is distracting you?
Take stock of your body and it’s needs: Hungry? Tired? Too much caffeine? Do you need a change of scenery for a moment?
It’s vital to be aware of yourself and your surroundings so that you can live fully in the moment as it exists and be fully involved in the present action.
When you are able to be in the moment you will find that you are more creative, more appreciative, more pleasant, more connected to loved ones, coworkers and friends, more open to new ideas, more playful, less stressed and less worried.
Finding and being our best selves is truly the quickest and most lasting way to make the world around us a better place but like anything of value it is you who must do the heavy lifting. You must find the desire and effort to create a more useful and happy you.