What if Now is holding you back?
We often hear advice to “live in the Now” and told about the power of living in the present. Don’t get me wrong, I agree completely that it is important to let go of things from our past that are not allowing us to move forward in life. However, I recently have begun to ask a different question.
What if Now is holding you back?
As we move through our daily lives, we tend to get into routines. Routines at home. Routines at work. Routines in our relationships. Routines provide order, process and even comfort. We know exactly what needs to be done and when it needs to be completed, allowing us to move on to other routines without much thought as to what comes before or after. We end up flitting from one routine to the next, day after day, without realizing that we are slowly but surely boxing ourselves into limitations.
The Routine Drain
Doing the same things, the same way limits our ability to see or think beyond the routine. We slowly chip away at our skills and knowledge that aren’t necessary for the tasks in front of us. We lose connection to our interests and talents that motivate and inspire us. In essence, we can begin to lose who we are because where we are in life, in the Now, doesn’t call for those parts of ourselves to be engaged. Now has somehow managed to drain the vibrancy and uniqueness of who we truly are out of our lives, careers and relationships.
The natural routines that we create or adopt from others can actually end up not just stripping us of our awareness of who we truly are, but also causing us to doubt what who we are means. We are then left having internal conversations like the following:
My current job doesn't require me to use all those skills I used to know like the back of my hand - have I lost them?
Am I as smart, creative, and communicative as I know I can be? Do I even know what that means anymore? Do I care?
Exchanging Old Bags for New
It can be somewhat alarming to realize that after doing all the work to release the baggage of our past, we have picked up brand new bags in the present. However, as with all things, it is the awareness that allows us to make the choices and changes that will lead us toward what we want to achieve. Oddly enough, removing the limitations of Now is what will allow us to live in the present and prepare for the future.
Awareness is the first step to making change, but then the hard part begins. Taking a long look at your life and recognizing the areas in which the patterns from your life are keeping you small and living at less than the full capacity your strengths and abilities. An inventory will provide you with a list of the roles, activities and people that are limiting your vision of yourself and what you can do. It will take asking yourself some possibly tough questions not only about who you are, but also about who and what is important in your life, and then deciding if having those things in your life are worth not living at your full potential.
The Ultimate Decision
The ultimate decision is yours to make, and try to avoid judging yourself one way or the other. Again, awareness is the key, and if you are making a conscious choice to accept or reject something, then that choice is what is valid for you right now. When and if the time comes for it to be different, it will be.
The limitations of Now can distract us and keep us from living life to the fullest. However, it is also Now that gives us the opportunity to change direction in an instant and start on an entirely new path. The trick is to stay aware of our surroundings and make sure that path isn’t going in a circle.
Learn more at Thrive Coaching Solutions