Hey, it's Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business
and life you love and this is Q&A Tuesday. Today's question comes from Miss Gina and
she writes:
"Hey Marie I love all the advice in your videos and noticed you often go back to the
idea of being present and giving each moment our full attention. I agree with you that
being present leads to a better business and quality of life, but I struggle with how to
put it into practice in a world that demands constant planning ahead, whether it's booking
an airline ticket or mapping out a project and particularly with running a business,
how do you balance being present with the necessity of looking forward and constantly
having to anticipate and prepare for what's next? Thanks so much, Gina from Ottawa."
Great question Gina and one that I've heard so many times because at first glance, it
seems like training yourself to be present in the moment totally conflicts with planning
your future. I mean, if you're completely in the now, how are you supposed to exist
in the real world?
As you can see, being obsessed with being in the moment and refusing to look at the
future isn't exactly practical, but you can be in the present and plan for your future.
You just need this important distinction. The difference between planning versus worrying.
Planning happens in the present moment while worry takes you out of it. Here's an example.
A recurring thought; "Oh no! What if it rains on my wedding day" is a worry, and
according to Alanis, it's also ironic. But worrying about rain is a future based anxiety
about something you can't control versus how can I plan just in case it rains; maybe
I should order some tents or get some flip-flops for all the guests. You know what? I should
make a list and start making some calls right now. That is called future planning and it
can all happen in the present moment. So any time you find yourself worrying, stop and
see what if you should really be doing is just a little planning and when you do plan
whether it's making a dinner reservation, booking a plane ticket or mapping out your 12-month
marketing calendar, be fully present and dive in whole-hog.
During our team retreats, we often spend a lot of time leaning into our future and imagining
what we'd like the next 18 to 36 months to look like. What do we want to talk about
on MarieTV, what kind of products you want to release and the whole time that the whole
team is doing that planning process we are fully present in the moment. In fact, a lack
of planning is often what takes you out of the moment because your mind keeps going to
the future worrying about what you haven't taken care of and how you may have to deal
with it. So if you want to get real deep, trip on this tweetable.
"Planning consciously for the future is one of the best tools to stay grounded in
the present."
That was my A to your Q, Gina, and I hope it helps. Now I would love to hear from you.
How do you balance being in the present moment with planning for your future? Do you have some
future-based worries that a little present moment planning could fix? If so, I love to
hear about it in the comments below.
As always the best discussions happen after the episode over at MarieForleo.com so go
there and leave a comment now.
Did you like this video? If so, subscribe and share it with your friends and if you
want even more resources to create a business and life that you love plus some personal insights
from me that I only talk about in e-mail, get your buns over to MarieForleo.com and
sign up for email updates now.
Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that special
gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I'll catch you next time
on Marie TV.