Jenny just bought a ridiculously awesome brand-new Ford Taurus SHO. The car has heated seats, air conditioned seats, full navigation, DVD player, retractable rear sun shade, 21-speaker surround sound, blue tooth telephone capability, automatic rain-sensing windshield wipers, blind-spot indicators, and a host of other sweet options. Oh, and by the way, the seats massage your legs and back while you drive!!!
She let me drive this beast for the first time two weeks ago, and I had so much trouble paying attention! I mean, every other second some automated system was starting up, a light was flashing, or a sound came on alerting you to something. It was so distracting that I had trouble driving! Who knew a seat massager could cause an accident!
I especially had trouble paying attention to Jenny. While every one of the “loaded” options was doing its thing, Jenny was also trying to carry on a conversation with me, and for the life of me, I barely heard what she was saying.
That’s when I remembered that I had to get present. I couldn’t just live in the distractions that were around in the car, or survive only with the thoughts in my head. I had to get present with every word that was coming out of Jenny’s mouth in order to inspire and connect with her.
Life can be one big distraction. You have so many conflicting priorities and “shoulds” that you want to get done. Life can be so distracting that we forget to be present with the people who run our businesses, with the strangers we meet, and with the families who love us so dearly.
Be present. Feel everything your body is touching. Listen to every sound in your environment. Connect with your energy and focus your attention on the human beings who are around you.
If you truly want to be an inspiration to your environment, and connect with other people, be present.
Jamar Cobb-Dennard is the Vice-President of Business Development for reachmore, which teaches small business owners how to build a business that runs without them. For more resources on business leadership, please visit http://blog.goreachmore.com.
Tags: business coach, business coaching, clarity, connect, distractions, eliminate, focus, inspire, motivate, prioritize, relationships