Decide to Live in the Moment

“I am my own sanctuary and I can be reborn as many times as I choose throughout my life.”

Lady Gaga 

     Just push the button and submit it already. You have written as much as you can while representing yourself very eloquently. You had a good year and you are excited about the rewards that should accompany this performance. Maybe you had an ok year and you know this performance was good enough so you are content. You may also be disappointed that the year didn’t go as planned and you are not looking forward to discussing this with your manager. Whatever situation you are in it is time. It is time for you to submit your annual performance review. Yet this review doesn’t matter as much as you may think. The performance you are describing is in the past. You cannot go back and change any of it. What you can do is be your best self today. You can be your best self right now. When you were awakened this morning you were reborn and the only thing that matters is right now.

Exceptional Work Matters

     But you had an exceptional year and because of that you will get a great rating on your review. That matters doesn’t it? Because of that review your annual raise will be larger than normal. Because of that review you will be well positioned for a promotion to bigger and better role. Either the raise in your current base or an increase in base from the new role will mean more money in your pocket. More money in your pocket matters. Yet how did you have an exceptional year? You probably did everything you were assigned exceptionally well. You probably did above and beyond what was assigned without being asked. You probably used your leadership skills and emotional intelligence to influence exceptional results within your organization. You did all of those things throughout the year and to maintain the success you desire you will have to do them all again today. Last year’s performance was built on the accumulation of hundreds of todays. Therefore, today is the foundation of your success.

     On the flipside if you had a bad year it probably has you feeling a little (or maybe a lot) down right now. You are looking back at the year and trying to see where you went wrong. Did you not make enough phone calls to the right people to uncover the risk that delayed your project? Did you find yourself going through the motions and 9 months into the year realize you weren’t giving your best? Did you allow a bad relationship at work to consume you and ultimately distract you from giving your best? Did you bring some personal issues to work that negatively affected your ability to perform at your best? Did you realize a long time ago that you are just in the wrong role but you are too fearful to risk your paycheck by letting your boss know you need a change? Did you spend too much company time on activities that distracted you from the job you were being paid to do? Did you just simply let yourself and the company down? The reason for your bad year is in the past now. You cannot go back and change history. What you can do today is be the best you possible. Today’s success is all that matters because it is the only thing you can truly impact.

Live in the Now

     Living in the now is a success principle that you can research at will. Eckhart Tolle is probably the most famous authority on the subject. In his book, The Power of Now, he writes; “Nothing has ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.” He emphasizes in the book that too many of us never live in the moment and therefore never truly feel alive and emanate our true Being. Yet because you’ve never truly felt alive you don’t know what you are missing. You think that you are doing everything you are supposed to do and you believe your life is good. You may even feel disrespected when told that you are “missing” something. With all self-development you must come into this with an open mind. You must realize that you too can grow. When you live in the now you are able to focus in what matters and what can actually help you grow. You can focus on your true Being in this moment since this is the only moment that matters.

     The job at hand is to increase your awareness at every given moment. This is how you live in the now. When you increase your awareness you see things that you would have missed in the past. When you increase your awareness you start to see how you are feeling. Acknowledging your feelings is critical to you aligning them for your success. When you increase your awareness you start to see how you are thinking that causes you to feel the way you are feeling. When you increase your awareness you ask yourself what are the beliefs you have to make you think the way that you do. When you increase your awareness you understand the importance of this moment. You understand the importance of every moment. You no longer think about time. You think about moments. When you string together a multitude of great moments  time no longer matters. Time doesn’t matter because time is not as relevant as the moment. When you concentrate on the moment it won’t matter if it takes 10 years or 10 days to achieve your ultimate success. The only thing that will matter is maximizing the moment.

Be Calculated and Definitive

   It is easy to say live in the moment but how do you practice it? The only way to practice it is to develop habits that support it. You have to be calculated and definitive for it to actually happen. You are unique and therefore what you need to do will be unique. For me I live in the moment by believing every day that I am Reborn. When I believe that I can easily forgive myself for my past failures. I can believe I can do better regardless of how bad I did yesterday. I can believe that I am just a little closer to my success and soon, if not today, I will achieve it. Believing I am Reborn makes me whole and a whole me is the best me possible. My habit is to open my journal and write in it every day. Inside my journal the words Believe I am Reborn are on every other page. Before I write I force myself to read those words so that I am reminded. I do this every day because I don’t want to go a day without reminding myself to live in the moment.

     Don’t let another day go by where you don’t live in the moment. Make the decision to live in the now. Live your life moment by moment. Raise your awareness so that you can live your life moment by moment. How are you feeling right now? What are you thinking right now? What are your beliefs? Take actions right now because you know they are the right things today regardless of when you see the outcome. Do not worry about the past or the future. Neither is real because the only thing that is real is this current moment. Increase your awareness to see this moment for what it is. This moment is your life and because you are Reborn you are well prepared to give this moment your all. I am Reborn is a belief that you must make yours and never relinquish it. Then and only then will you truly live in the now. Then and only then will you live the life of your desires. As always I wish you the best and remind you to enjoy the journey.

With Gratitude,

Drew