Three weeks ago, when I started writing about rocking your life and loving your way to success with my 4 steps to transformation, I told you that the process starts and ends with love. We made it through the first three steps of the love leap—Love, Elimination, and Action—and now we’re back at the beginning—the step I like to call Presence.
So, how exactly do love and presence fit together? In essence, love is presence—perfect presence—which is just a fancy way of saying that love is the act of being in harmony with yourself and the world around you. Being present means embracing every moment as it comes without polluting it with worry, judgment, or criticism.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. If love and presence are intertwined, why didn’t I just trim the P and make the “Love Your Way to Success” path three steps instead of four? Because living lovefully and successfully isn’t a destination. When you take that L-E-A-P of love and arrive at Action, your journey is only just beginning. Step #4—Presence—reminds us that success is an ongoing process, an ever-widening circle of awareness that, as we practice, continues growing and teaching us new things. But if you keep expecting to arrive at success as if it were an X on a treasure map, you’re always going to end up disappointed.
Let me put it this way—what’s the point of rocking your life if you don’t enjoy the show? Practicing presence keeps you focused on each gorgeous note as you’re playing it, instead of worrying about your inner hecklers or whether you’ll win a Grammy.
Ready to take the leap? Here are 3 ways to rock your life and love every minute:
1. Be mindful
Some people swap the word presence with mindfulness. Mindfulness means noticing and identifying thoughts and feelings as they come into your mind and then gently letting them go as you draw yourself back to the present moment. I like to practice mindfulness with my life coaching clients while they meditate in front of the New York skyline. When they start worrying about their “To Do” lists or “I am going to fail,” I encourage them to notice those thoughts and return to their breath without passing any judgments on those thoughts.
2. Use your senses
When you see, hear, taste, touch, or smell something, you are powerfully connected to the present moment. Throughout the day, practice presence by paying attention to your five senses. I often find that a boring subway ride suddenly becomes an exciting adventure when I experience it through my senses: observing the passengers around me, listening to the rattle of the car, tasting the underground air, feeling the hard plastic bench against my back, smelling my neighbor’s perfume. Practice now. What do you see, hear, taste, touch, and smell in this moment?
3. Take ten
Because presence is a practice, I suggest making a habit of it. Schedule 10 minutes a day that is entirely devoted to mindfulness. I love starting my morning with at least 10 minutes of meditation and prayer. Make a date with the moment. Start with 10 minutes today.
At its heart, loving your way to success comes down to living each moment with passion and purpose.
As legendary rocker John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.”
As always, I’m wishing you lots of love.
