Bringing Full Presence
Bringing Full Presence
And keeping the storm at bay
When you read this email, are you trying to get to the next item in your inbox? Or can you set aside a few minutes to read this?
Your Most Creative Work demands your full attention. But the word attention doesn’t always cut it, because attention often refers to a short window of time where we are able to focus.
What I’m more interested in is the idea of presence and being which I first learned about from Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now.
When we are present, we are able to quiet the dialogue that is running in the background. This dialogue (sometimes synonymous with pain), comes from being a human and sharing the planet with other people. Yet when we get caught up in the storm of thinking and worry, we have no energy to create.
Some days you are not in the moment and that’s fine. The engines won’t start and you’re upset about something that you can’t drop. Yet the magic is in returning to the moment no matter what has happened.
Sometimes I have a crisis in my dreams. While they are not pleasant to deal with, waking up from the crisis is a relief to be reminded that things come and go. Difficult situations pass.
Keeping it Moving
While creative work is not a race to see who can output the most stuff, having momentum is critical to success. To not let life’s situations stick to us like velcro means that we can stay the course when the waves are trying to pull us down.
For this reason, there is nothing like the early morning for working on your Most Creative Work. And if you have to work with the evening, find a way to alter your body’s state with either a cold shower or a warm bath before beginning to work. Maybe go for a jog, anything that will create a division between your work day and your more creative sessions.
In the evening it would be more crucial than ever to hide your phone while you work so there are no remnants from the day nagging at you.
On a granular level, I often share that I use the service Focusmate to stay on track, and I can say it fits the bill for creating presence in a work session. It’s a little strange that working with a stranger over a webcam can have this effect, but it really does help because no matter what’s going on in the background of your life, for that block of time you have to stay with your work.
What helps you become present to your Most Creative Work?
I am currently creating some training on the topic of Confident (Enough) on Camera. This area interests me because showing up on video is one of the most human ways we can be present online. The problem is that making videos can be simply horrifying.
If you see the value in making videos for avenues like YouTube, Instagram or LinkedIn, feel free to write back about scheduling a short interview where we can go over what you are looking to achieve.
I have made a lot of videos over on my YouTube channel, most notably Elliott’s Podcast. I can say that making those videos helped solidify my thinking on various topics. On the music side of things, making the videos helped me a considerable amount at improving my skills.
Thanks for being present with me today, see you soon…
Elliott