One thing I hear moms tell me they want is to be MORE PRESENT. We know that in our daily life we have a lot of distractions pulling our attention away. And this is a problem when we are being pulled away from the tasks and people that are meaningful to us. 

Being a present parent allows us to engage, pour into and ENJOY our kids - and this has been a struggle of mine over the years - and a struggle I coach other moms through 

I polled my Facebook community on what keeps them from slowing down and being present - and the feedback was a resounding 'the mental to-do list!'.  That streaming list in the back of our minds of 'what we SHOULD be doing RIGHT NOW!'. I call this the mental chatter.  I also call this a thought trap - an autopilot thought keeping us stuck in a pattern that isn't serving us and making our lives better. 
Why do we want to be more present in our parenting and life?

* To nurture/improve our relationships
* To become more aware of what is available for us to enjoy in the here and now
* To be more relaxed rather than ruminating on the past or spinning with anxiety about the future
* To be more mindful and proactive rather than on autopilot and reactive

You might want more presence if you feel like:

* Your phone gets more attention than the people in your life
* You feel disconnected from others or your life
* You are often mentally distracted
* You really aren't enjoying what is happening, you kinda just numb and coast right through it 

The number on reason being present is hard is because of the MENTAL CHATTER. I want you to harness the power of the CBT model to see that your thoughts create your feelings and your feeling create your behaviour. 

I have an example of how I made a MINDSET shift that changed how I showed up during quarantine in a way that made me feel OPEN rather than made me feel constant rushed. 
Tips for slowing down and showing up to be more present as a mom, and in your life:

* Brain dump - declutter your brain
* Prioritize - this is a list of OPTIONS, now it is time to MAKE CHOICES
* Scheduling what NEEDS to be done - scheduling it in brings you freedom because you know there is time for what needs to get done
* Removing the distractions - from the phone to your time to your space
* Be proactive with what you will show up for - plan out specific activities/time frames that you will commit to showing up for

 

Helpful links

Listen to Are you stuck in the hustle for happiness

Listen to Are you too busy 

Blog post on How to Make Your Life Better with a Brain dump

Join the  Simple on Purpose Community Facebook group 

Sign up for the Simple Saturdays bi-weekly (FUN/HELPFUL) email

 

Full episode transcript 

Welcome to the Simple on Purpose podcast. This is a place for you, Mama, to come and feel refreshed. Because if you are going through your life, feeling resentful, feeling frustration, this is a sign you've been on autopilot letting life just happen to you instead of living it on purpose. And I say that because I've been there. I have been there - when I realized I was living my life on autopilot just building up this life of stuff and reactions and relationships that I didn't really want.

I wanted something different.

I wanted a life of action and purpose. I wanted to parent with presence and peace.

I wanted to enjoy my husband, my kids myself.

This all took me on a journey to simplify, slow down and show up for my life on purpose.

So today we're going to talk about presence.