One thing that has bugged me the most in recent times is my son constantly asking this question - “Hello, Are you even paying attention to what I am saying”. The honest answer is no, I am not even present when he is saying something to me.
This led me to my quest on How to be present and wanted to share three key learnings which have helped me on this journey
To be present you need to be focussed
To have focus, you need to narrow your choices
Once you narrow your choices, you need to pick hard things to do
Once I knew what the process would be for me, I zoomed in on one thing which I love to do and that will be hard for me and also take years to get there as I can keep layering the difficulty on it. What did I pick on to start with - Running.
I started by walking, moved on to running half marathons and now I am training to run a full marathon in less than 4 hours in 2025. I can keep on expanding this goal as I achieve a goal every 2-3 years.
As you read this some might wonder, how has this helped me to Be Present. This led me to a realization, that when I choose hard things to do, the mountain is so high to climb that I cannot see the other side. The only way out for me is to move forward by focusing on what is in front of me and which is taking one step after another, and having one breath at a time as I run this distance.
I have kept on adding new mountains to climb as I move along and it has helped me stay focussed, do hard things, and Be Present. A few things that I have picked up in this journey are writing, photography, and meditation. It is a journey and I am not done yet.
I would love to hear your thoughts on it.