Learn to live in the moment - it will make you happier long term
We all know this constant desire to move forward, to know what the next steps is, to have a goal. However, what many of us don’t know is to pause and live in the moment. To appreciate when everything is good in our lives. However, the good news is, we can learn that skill to fully appreciate the moment and live in it, without thinking or worrying about tomorrow.
In a way, this is also what defines great leadership. The art here is, when you lead a team, to strike the right balance between being always on the look-out for your next step and move forward, while at the same time celebrating the small successes and achievements of your team. To learn that, will make you less anxious, cause less stress and lets you be more balanced to face any obstacles you might face. So the big question, how to we learn to live in the moment more?
One way that I found particularly useful is to apply some form of meditation and especially breathing exercises. The idea here is, for a very short time, to just concentrate on your breath and nothing else matters. It will calm down your mind and allow you to focus again when things might be overwhelming you.
Another great technique is to apply visualisation. When your mind goes on as journey of all different scenarios that might happen in the future, imagine your expectations or fears as a large cloud. Then, in your mind, walk straight through the cloud with thinking about all the worst case scenarios, only to realise, that once you walked through all these worst case scenarios, they are all hot air and the fear you felt will be gone. It is a fascinating circumstance that when you face your fears in that cloud, at the end of it, you feel relieved and free.
Thirdly, listen to yourself and self-reflect regularly to understand early signs of unhappiness, anxiety and stress. Don’t think about tomorrow, live for the here and now and enjoy it. It is ok to just enjoy the moment, while at the same time having an overall goal and perspective. Very often, people are afraid to live in the her and now, as they think it might be interpreted as a sign of laziness. It is not, it is essential that we take those moment in our life and appreciate them, without feeling ashamed to just relax or do nothing at all. We don’t always have to be productive, active and plan our next move. Sometimes, we can just be, as this will give us more power for our next move in the long term.
It is therefore essential, that we find an equilibrium between times of action and take conscious times of relaxation where we make peace with the fact of doing nothing at all and chill. We don’t need to be ashamed of that. The more we do this the happier and more balanced we will be. We will regain power inn times of relaxation to use for effectively in time of action. Also, we will be able to deal with failure much better and have a clear image of ourselves and our desires.
Overall, don’t be ashamed of doing nothing or not knowing what the next step is. There are techniques such as meditation or visualisation on how to learn to face your anxiety to move forward and learn to live in the moment. It will make you less anxious, more balances and at the end happier and more successful in the end. It is a journey, but the good news it, you decide when you want to start. Good luck !
