How To Be Present And Still Plan For The Future

Zoom in just a tiny bit on me right now. That was weird. But whatever.

Hey, it's Marie Forleo and you are watching Marie TV, 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 notice 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. If you're completely in the now, how are you supposed to exist in the real world?

Hey, Marie. How do you want to get to the airport?

The only place I want to get to is here, now.

Hey, Marie. Dinner next Wednesday night, should I make a reservation?

I have a reservation, a table for one, at now o'clock.

Hey, Marie. There's a train coming.

That's future talk. I don't care what's coming, I care what's now. So 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. (singing)

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 anytime you find yourself worrying, stop and see if what you should really be doing is just a little planning.

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 Marie TV? What kind of products do we 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 [inaudible 00:03:48] cue, 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'd 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. 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 email, 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.

B-School is coming up. Want in? For more info and free training, go to JOINBSCHOOL.com. Don't throw your junk around because we can hear your junk. Park your junk. [foreign language 00:04:51]. There's a squirrel, [inaudible 00:04:53]. I'm nervous. There's so many eyeballs watching me.