32: Prioritizing Presence... not presents

I thought this would be the perfect time of year to talk about the idea of balance vs. presence. I've never been a fan of balance personally, it just doesn't make much sense to me and always leaves us feeling guilty or split between our worlds. Even the idea of the word balance makes us feel like things should also be split EQUALLY in terms of time in order to be balanced, but that's just one measure. I think more importantly we want to think about our presence during those times. Because otherwise we're constantly somewhere else in our minds anyway. I also share my concept of making "minimum payments" in certain areas of your life during different seasons versus trying to do it all and balance it all. Our goal + focus shouldn't be to create balance with all the things going on in our lives, that's misleading, but rather start prioritizing and focusing on being present. There's no upside in feeling bad about being at work or with family. I have a shirt that says -- wherever you are, be there -- and that really sums up this idea completely. YOU are responsible for your thoughts though so it takes time + attention + intention to even have the awareness that you're not present and then snap back to the moment. This won't be easy and it won't happen overnight, but it will also be an energy saver for you as it takes a lot of energy to mentally be in 2 places at once. Some quick tips to be more present: Identify the moment you're currently in. Listen more closely. Be okay with not knowing everything. Reduce the distractions. Remove yourself from the digital world. Happy holidays + we're wishing you a season of PRESENCE over anything else.