Just Be Here Now

The most powerful life hack there is.

‍

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” — Ram Dass —

During a particularly challenging time in grad school, I took a course in mindfulness-based stress reduction.It was painful in many ways but also profound.

In the midst of one of the most hectic and overwhelming times of my life I was tasked with just focusing on this one moment.

And then this one.

And then this one.

And so on.

Not to be suspended in regretting the past or planning the future but just fully embodying this moment.

Right.

Here.

Right.

Now.

Simple and simultaneously, profoundly difficult.

Some of the teachings stuck with me as I moved on with my life, finished grad school and started working a very hectic job.

I adopted a meditation practice which I stuck with, but I also found myself lamenting the past or worrying about the future far more often than I would have liked.

This year thanks to my Masterclass subscription I had a refresher course in mindfulness from the Master himself, Jon Kabat-Zinn.

It was an important reminder and I love Kabat-Zinn’s approach.

But it’s also kind of crazy when you think of it that we need a reminder just to be here in this moment right now.

This most recent experience has had me looking at personal development in a whole new way.

We’ve become obsessed with habits and life hacks.

And I’m not saying these things are important. Habits are foundational which is why there is so much written on them.

I’ve read James Clear’s Atomic Habits and am a devotee of Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits and I love everything Jen Sincero writes, including Badass Habits (if you haven’t read You Are a Badass I highly recommend that too).

The information these and other resources provide can transform our lives if we implement what we learn (that’s a whole other story).

But the most transformational habit of all is mindfulness.

Just being here now.

If we have that as a foundation in our lives, the sky really is the limit.

But we need that foundation or things can get a little wobbly (trust me on this).

Learning and growing is an important part of the human experience. I’m a willing passenger and an active participant on the journey towards a fuller life. I’ve had half a dozen coaches over the past few years; each one enriching my life in a different way.

I’ve immersed myself in attending lectures and taking courses with some of the most well-respected teachers in our world today. People like Joe Dispenza, Elizabeth Gilbert, Byron Katie, Tony Robbins and Eckhart Tolle — among many others.

The lessons I’ve learned and, more importantly implemented, have transformed my life. But it has also introduced an element of chasing high of the next thing I can learn to change my life, which has tended to reinforce the idea that I’m not good enough now.

And that’s not okay.

Recently I started working with a new mindset coach who has urged me to slow down and focus on this moment, knowing it is already perfect. With her I’m working towards knowing that everything I want is already here now and changing my self-concept to fit the life I am manifesting.

Emmanuel A. Anderson writes his experience changing his self-concept in an article I highly recommend reading.

I firmly believe that to change our lives we need to see the change before we believe it, something late spiritual teacher and psychologist Wayne Dyer often said.

I’ve stopped listening to podcasts on my daily walks and instead am enjoying the sights and sounds around me.

I live in the English countryside so there’s a lot to explore and enjoy. I’ve started appreciating the little things more in my gratitude practice.

I have a long way to go but focusing on being in the moment a little bit more each day is transforming my day to day. It’s changed how I show up at work also. I’m much calmer because I know everything is fine. Because it is.

I still want to learn new things and to continue to evolve as a human, but I now see that learning in a different light.

I know that I’m already perfect.

Already where I’m supposed to be.

And because of that I’m enjoying the journey a lot more.

After all, isn’t that what life is all about? Just enjoying the journey on this giant rock spinning in space we can planet Earth? I hope you’re enjoying yours.

If you’d like to read more about how I apply lessons from my life to my work in global climate policy you can find me at the Climate Leadership Initiative and the Loss and Damage Collaboration.

‍