Present Over Perfect

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Ever catch yourself going through the motions of life while your mind races elsewhere? You're not alone. The most common desire I hear from my coaching clients isn't greater success, but simply to be more present—to stop missing their own lives as they fly by.

For my fellow hyper-achievers who struggle to slow down, I offer practical, accessible strategies to bring yourself back to the present: engaging your senses, writing, meditation, and prayer. These small practices can transform ordinary moments into extraordinary ones. Because sometimes, we need to slow down to speed up. Presence fuels rest, creativity, and inspiration—all essential ingredients for a meaningful life and successful business.

Enjoy!

Learn more about Carla:
Website: https:/www.carlareeves.com/
Connect on LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reevescarla/
Connect on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@differentlythepodcast

Go to https://carlareeves.com/freeclass to get The Class schedule, sign up, and/or pass it on to a friend. Each month is a new topic. Come hang out and learn with us for FREE!

Book a Complimentary Strategy Call with Carla: https://bookme.name/carlareeves/strategycall

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
I'm Carla Reeves, and this is Differently.
Whether you feel stuck insurvival, navigating a change or
seeking more for your life, maythis podcast be your weekly
nudge to take a risk to build alife that is uniquely bold,
authentic and in alignment withyour deepest values.
What if you worried less aboutthe bumps in the road and

(00:23):
instead got equipped for thejourney?
Get ready to rethink what'spossible.
Hey, differently listeners,today I want to give you a
little shorter episode.
I love when there's a podcastthat has a shorter length,
because I don't always have 30or 45 minutes, but I might have
five or 10 minutes and love totake a little something to stir

(00:46):
my thinking and take into my day.
So this is just that for youthe to-do list.
Is it a blessing or a curse?
One of the biggest desires Ihear from clients over the years
is a desire to be more present.
They feel like they're missingthe moments of their life.
Life is going by, they feel asense of urgency to make the

(01:10):
most of it and they're so busydriving momentum in their life
and it keeps them from trulybeing present to the moment that
they're in.
Rest assured, if you feel thisway, a different approach is
closer than you think and moreaccessible than you realize, and
that's what we're diving intotoday.

(01:30):
The moments that you long forare happening all around you,
but are you available, reallyavailable to catch them?
And if not, why to catch them?
And if not, why?
The biggest barrier I see in myown life and with my private

(01:51):
coaching clients or I guess Ishould say the biggest barriers
are an overactive mind, creativemind, so somebody who has a
creative mind, or you might callit like they're a builder,
where they're constantlygenerating new ideas and
building new things.
And the third one is a mindthat just loves to be busy and
is always moving and thinkingeither in the lost in the future

(02:14):
or lost in the past.
And there's a fear that if westop, we're going to miss out,
we're going to fall behind.
But the truth is that we end updoing that anyway, because we
usually push until we have tostop, because we either get sick
, our bodies make us stop, andthen we definitely miss out and

(02:37):
fall behind.
Quentin, my husband and I havebeen paying more attention to
this lately in our own lives,and when you start paying more
attention to this, to beingpresent to the moments of your
life.
You actually notice how oftenyou are not.
You might be there physicallyin your body, but you'll find

(03:00):
your mind is far away.
One night we were playingbackgammon and I caught myself
going through the motions of thegame, but I was seriously far
away in my head, thinking aboutmy to do list and what needed to
be done in my business, and Ihad to bring myself back over
and over and over againthroughout the game.

(03:21):
This happens all the time inour lives when we're doing
things.
I might be present enough tokind of laugh at a little joke
that he made, but did I reallyhear what he said or did I miss
a subtle loving gesture or alook he made my way?
Did I miss a move that I couldhave won the game?

(03:42):
Did I actually reallyexperience and even enjoy the
game, or was I half in and halfout?
Maybe our lives are far richerthan we even realize, but Anyone
who is half present is onlyexperiencing half of what's
actually available.

(04:03):
The other day I was in thegrocery store.
I caught myself like I had tojust like pause in my tracks and
like lift my head up and justlook around and actually make
eye contact with the peoplearound me because I had been
just in autopilot, going throughthe motions, lost in my head
and my grocery list and what Ineeded to get, and not really

(04:27):
paying attention as I lifted myhead and looked around.
I practiced the rest of thetrip to make sure that I
connected with people and Ismiled and I, you know, was on
the lookout for an elderlyperson who maybe needed me to
lend a hand or somebody elsethat needed me to lend a hand,
where, when I'm half unconscious, I might be missing

(04:49):
opportunities like that.
Honestly, it was a completelydifferent experience and these
opportunities are everywhere forus, but we have to be
intentional to wake ourselves upand notice them.
There are so many moments wherewe could be mindful, or more
mindful, and almost use ourdaily rituals as moments of

(05:11):
meditation.
Have you ever tried to practicewashing your hair and only
thinking about washing your hair, or brushing your teeth, and
only thinking about the feelingof the bristles on your teeth
and gums, the taste of the mintin your mouth or the sound of
the water in the sink?
It's really hard and really apractice that could replenish us

(05:35):
in ways we don't even know.
On a recent trip to Colorado, wemade a point to be accountable
to each other, to just say toeach other you know, be here now
, because so often we're therebut we're not really there
because we're lost in ourthoughts.
We're a lot of times we'replanning the next day or be
getting excited about theadventure we're going to take in

(05:57):
two days, instead of beingpresent to the adventure we're
on right here today.
The biggest barrier to beingpresent is our busy mind.
So the access is setting downthe busy brain, setting down the
to-do list.
The to-do list seems to come upover and over and over again

(06:18):
with creative entrepreneurs andbusiness owners, artists, people
who have work that they'repassionate about but they also
don't want to sacrifice theseimportant parts of their life
and the to-do list is thebarrier that prevents them from
having more of that.
The to-do list.
It is a blessing and a curse,depending on how we let it run

(06:44):
us or be a tool for us.
And the access to being morepresent in your life is setting
down the to-do listintentionally, and one of the
ways that you can do thatpresence yourself right where
you are.
The way I do this is I'll just,I'll notice the sights or the
colors or the sounds, what Ismell I'll notice the chair I'm

(07:06):
sitting in or my feet on theground and wiggling my toes so
you can tap into all of yoursenses is really helpful for
bringing yourself back to themoment that you're in.
Writing, I find, is a reallygreat way to slow down the mind
and really be present to whereyou are right in this moment.
Meditation and prayer can bereally helpful.

(07:29):
My invitation to you today isto implement one simple thing,
whether it's, you know,reminding yourself or each other
to be here now, whether it's asimple practice like engaging
with your senses or writing aprayer.
Choose one and practice it overthe next week and practice

(07:51):
mentally setting down your to-dolist, knowing that it's going
to wait.
And for my fellowhyper-achievers, entrepreneurs
that have a hard time slowingdown, I want to remind you that
sometimes we need to slow downto speed up.
Being present fuels rest andrelaxation, creativity,

(08:13):
inspiration all the very goodthings for your life and
business.
My wish for you is this Loveyour to-do lists.
I love to-do lists too.
Let them be a tool for movingthings forward in your life.
But remember that your to-dolist doesn't run your life.
You do and setting it downintentionally, figuratively and

(08:38):
literally during importantmoments of your life or just
ordinary moments that you wantto feel extraordinary, will
change the quality of thesemoments.
And we know what happens whenyou start doing differently.
Over time, this becomes yourlife.
So to do list a blessing or acurse.

(09:00):
You get to choose, and thatchoice could change everything
in the most amazing way.
Thank you for tuning in to thisepisode of differently.
It's been an honor to sharethis conversation with you.
You know one of the keys toliving fully is to take action
when you're inspired to do so.

(09:20):
I hope you found that spark ofinspiration today and would you
help us spread the word?
Did someone you know come tomind while you were listening?
If this episode could impactsomeone you know, please share
it and pass it along.
New episodes drop weekly, sotap that subscribe button and
join us next time as we continueto challenge the status quo and

(09:44):
get equipped to live lifedifferently.