SPECIAL FEATURE

THERE’S NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
Focusing on Your Success in the NOW!

If you’re human, I’m going to guess you’ve spent at least one night of your life lying in bed, wide awake, with your mind racing from thought to terrifying thought. One moment you’re analyzing your failed first marriage, the next you’re wondering why a key client hasn’t returned your latest email, and the next you’re worrying about how you’re going to afford new brakes for your car. The Buddhists call this the monkey mind because our chattering thoughts are jumping from topic to topic like a bunch of monkeys swinging from tree to tree.

“You must train yourself to keep your mind entirely in the present moment.”

So many people get caught up in the habit of causing themselves undue anguish and stress by making a big deal out of things that really aren’t such a big deal. As in the example given, when your mind is stuck worrying about the past or future, you become distracted from your true mission of achieving your dreams. To avoid this type of constant worry and pain, you need to stay in the present moment. Here are three simple ways to make that happen!

Automate your life.
Many 12-step programs promote the idea of staying in the present and taking things one day at a time. I’ll go one further: You need to take it one moment, one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year at a time. A powerful part of my Scary-Easy Weight-Loss Plan is that your food and exercise life is now automated. You make the decision once you circle the options you’re going to have, and you stick to just those foods for two weeks – day in and day out, no matter who or what gets in your way. This takes all of the guesswork and worry surrounding eating out of the picture.

Erase the negative past.
Eckhart Tolle, a modern spiritual teacher, wrote an entire book on this very subject called The Power of Now. In this book (which I recommend), he promotes the idea that pain, worry and anguish – any negative emotion, really – are a result of our minds leaving the present moment and traveling to lament over the past or worry about the future. He goes on to say that we have no control over the past, and the future depends on the now!

Think about the following statement: All pain comes from leaving this present moment. While it is so simple, it is profound. How many times have you been so focused on the tasks of the day ahead that you don’t remember a thing about driving somewhere? We are blessed with a remarkable ability to forget – if you can manage to forget an entire car ride, you can definitely forget about your perceived past failures and other memories that are causing you to overeat and under-exercise!

Focus on the positives, no matter how small.
Yes, here I go again with the importance of gratitude! Be grateful you had the ability to buy this book (or be grateful for the library card that allowed you to borrow it or the friend who cared enough to get it for you). Applaud yourself for getting to the gym today, for going to a restaurant and staying on track, for staying with this plan in such a committed way, for making yourself a priority. All are major breakthroughs! Focus on these instead of a silly number on the scale.

You must train yourself to keep your mind entirely in the present moment. This very second, the moment you are reading this, you cannot experience pain, worry, fear, anger or anything that would trigger you to veer away from your program. Simple yet unbelievable – and true! Right now you are a success!