Differently
Turn your mind into your most powerful catalyst for growth.
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Differently
Present Over Perfect
Ever catch yourself going through the motions of life while your mind races elsewhere? You're not alone. The most common desire I hear from my coaching clients isn't greater success, but simply to be more present—to stop missing their own lives as they fly by.
For my fellow hyper-achievers who struggle to slow down, I offer practical, accessible strategies to bring yourself back to the present: engaging your senses, writing, meditation, and prayer. These small practices can transform ordinary moments into extraordinary ones. Because sometimes, we need to slow down to speed up. Presence fuels rest, creativity, and inspiration—all essential ingredients for a meaningful life and successful business.
Enjoy!
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Thank you for listening!
I'm Carla Reeves, and this is Differently. Whether you feel stuck in survival, navigating a change or seeking more for your life, may this podcast be your weekly nudge to take a risk to build a life that is uniquely bold, authentic and in alignment with your deepest values. What if you worried less about the bumps in the road and instead got equipped for the journey? Get ready to rethink what's possible. Hey, differently listeners, today I want to give you a little shorter episode. I love when there's a podcast that has a shorter length, because I don't always have 30 or 45 minutes, but I might have five or 10 minutes and love to take a little something to stir my thinking and take into my day. So this is just that for you the to-do list. Is it a blessing or a curse?
Speaker 1:One of the biggest desires I hear from clients over the years is a desire to be more present. They feel like they're missing the moments of their life. Life is going by, they feel a sense of urgency to make the most of it and they're so busy driving momentum in their life and it keeps them from truly being present to the moment that they're in. Rest assured, if you feel this way, a different approach is closer than you think and more accessible than you realize, and that's what we're diving into today. The moments that you long for are happening all around you, but are you available, really available to catch them? And if not, why to catch them? And if not, why? The biggest barrier I see in my own life and with my private coaching clients or I guess I should say the biggest barriers are an overactive mind, creative mind, so somebody who has a creative mind, or you might call it like they're a builder, where they're constantly generating new ideas and building new things. And the third one is a mind that just loves to be busy and is always moving and thinking either in the lost in the future or lost in the past. And there's a fear that if we stop, we're going to miss out, we're going to fall behind. But the truth is that we end up doing that anyway, because we usually push until we have to stop, because we either get sick, our bodies make us stop, and then we definitely miss out and fall behind.
Speaker 1:Quentin, my husband and I have been paying more attention to this lately in our own lives, and when you start paying more attention to this, to being present to the moments of your life. You actually notice how often you are not. You might be there physically in your body, but you'll find your mind is far away. One night we were playing backgammon and I caught myself going through the motions of the game, but I was seriously far away in my head, thinking about my to do list and what needed to be done in my business, and I had to bring myself back over and over and over again throughout the game. This happens all the time in our lives when we're doing things. I might be present enough to kind of laugh at a little joke that he made, but did I really hear what he said or did I miss a subtle loving gesture or a look he made my way? Did I miss a move that I could have won the game? Did I actually really experience and even enjoy the game, or was I half in and half out? Maybe our lives are far richer than we even realize, but Anyone who is half present is only experiencing half of what's actually available.
Speaker 1:The other day I was in the grocery store. I caught myself like I had to just like pause in my tracks and like lift my head up and just look around and actually make eye contact with the people around me because I had been just in autopilot, going through the motions, lost in my head and my grocery list and what I needed to get, and not really paying attention as I lifted my head and looked around. I practiced the rest of the trip to make sure that I connected with people and I smiled and I, you know, was on the lookout for an elderly person who maybe needed me to lend a hand or somebody else that needed me to lend a hand, where, when I'm half unconscious, I might be missing opportunities like that. Honestly, it was a completely different experience and these opportunities are everywhere for us, but we have to be intentional to wake ourselves up and notice them. There are so many moments where we could be mindful, or more mindful, and almost use our daily rituals as moments of meditation. Have you ever tried to practice washing your hair and only thinking about washing your hair, or brushing your teeth, and only thinking about the feeling of the bristles on your teeth and gums, the taste of the mint in your mouth or the sound of the water in the sink? It's really hard and really a practice that could replenish us in ways we don't even know.
Speaker 1:On a recent trip to Colorado, we made a point to be accountable to each other, to just say to each other you know, be here now, because so often we're there but we're not really there because we're lost in our thoughts. We're a lot of times we're planning the next day or be getting excited about the adventure we're going to take in two days, instead of being present to the adventure we're on right here today. The biggest barrier to being present is our busy mind. So the access is setting down the busy brain, setting down the to-do list. The to-do list seems to come up over and over and over again with creative entrepreneurs and business owners, artists, people who have work that they're passionate about but they also don't want to sacrifice these important parts of their life and the to-do list is the barrier that prevents them from having more of that. The to-do list. It is a blessing and a curse, depending on how we let it run us or be a tool for us.
Speaker 1:And the access to being more present in your life is setting down the to-do list intentionally, and one of the ways that you can do that presence yourself right where you are. The way I do this is I'll just, I'll notice the sights or the colors or the sounds, what I smell I'll notice the chair I'm sitting in or my feet on the ground and wiggling my toes so you can tap into all of your senses is really helpful for bringing yourself back to the moment that you're in. Writing, I find, is a really great way to slow down the mind and really be present to where you are right in this moment. Meditation and prayer can be really helpful. My invitation to you today is to implement one simple thing, whether it's, you know, reminding yourself or each other to be here now, whether it's a simple practice like engaging with your senses or writing a prayer. Choose one and practice it over the next week and practice mentally setting down your to-do list, knowing that it's going to wait.
Speaker 1:And for my fellow hyper-achievers, entrepreneurs that have a hard time slowing down, I want to remind you that sometimes we need to slow down to speed up. Being present fuels rest and relaxation, creativity, inspiration all the very good things for your life and business. My wish for you is this Love your to-do lists. I love to-do lists too. Let them be a tool for moving things forward in your life.
Speaker 1:But remember that your to-do list doesn't run your life. You do and setting it down intentionally, figuratively and literally during important moments of your life or just ordinary moments that you want to feel extraordinary, will change the quality of these moments. And we know what happens when you start doing differently. Over time, this becomes your life. So to do list a blessing or a curse. You get to choose, and that choice could change everything in the most amazing way. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of differently. It's been an honor to share this conversation with you. You know one of the keys to living fully is to take action when you're inspired to do so. I hope you found that spark of inspiration today and would you help us spread the word? Did someone you know come to mind while you were listening? If this episode could impact someone you know, please share it and pass it along. New episodes drop weekly, so tap that subscribe button and join us next time as we continue to challenge the status quo and get equipped to live life differently.