One of the things I’ve learned through coaching - both as a practitioner and as a client - is the clear distinction between doing and being.
It should be no surprise to anyone that we live in a society where doing is far more encouraged than being. We are a goal oriented folk after all. Even those of us who struggle with identifying our own goals have goals foisted upon us by others. Metrics and statistics dominate our lives and are the crux of decision making in the vast majority of situations.
When we are in doing mode, we are focused on achieving particular goals. We’re simultaneously thinking about what might happen in the future while looking back into the past to get guidance on how to move forward. Our thoughts are creating our reality. While we think we are creating more control, we are actually less in control of our lives when we are in doing mode.
When we are in being mode, we are in the present moment. We are not trying to change or control what’s happening. We are focused on accepting and allowing. Our thoughts and feelings carry no heavy burdens from the past to weigh us down, which garners a greater sense of freedom.
The more time we focus on being instead of doing ultimately allows us to start to define our lives - both personal and professional - on our terms.
In this week’s blog, I walk you through several practices that can help you shift your focus from a place of goal oriented doing to a space of allowing and being. It’s only from this place that we can start to build our lives in the way that is most meaningful to us.