We all have days like this, don’t we? It doesn’t even seem to matter if we are precisely on time. In fact, it really has nothing to do with time at all. Punctuality is irrelevant. It’s more about whether we have mentally shown up to be present in that moment. The real question is, did you wake up with the eye of the tiger?
We feel this very deeply inside. At the start of our day, we instantly know whether or not we’ve brought our “A” game. No matter what we’ve got planned on the day’s agenda, if our head is cluttered with a myriad of thoughts, it will most likely impede on our focus, clarity, and concentration for the rest of the day.
We get to where we’re going, right? But sometimes we just get our bodies there, and our minds are elsewhere.
On those days, you might be doing one of these; Sound familiar?
- You find yourself looking down at your watch multiple times, and still not know what time it is. (true story, I confess I’ve done this many times).
- Someone introduces themselves to you and you forget their name almost instantly. You are in a conversation with someone, nodding and smiling, but you aren’t really hearing or understanding a word they are saying. You try to pay attention but the information is just not computing. You have difficulty connecting because you are distracted and therefore struggle to pay close attention.
- You fumble for familiar words and tussle with routine thinking, while just yesterday, you were sharp as a tack. For me, it’s a day that I just don’t seem to click. I’m simply “off.” I refer to it as my “dumb” day, lol. Every now and then, my brain escapes. I accept the “me” that showed up that day and figure out a way to work with I’ve got.
Clearly, there is something to be said for “getting up on the wrong side of the bed.” Not every day is the same, nor is every day perfect. From one day to the next, and for a host of reasons (stress, sleep deprivation, illness, etc.), our moods shift and can easily throw us off our game. It is unrealistic to think that we can be our best selves every single day, but we can do our best to workaround the day’s shortcomings.
It’s hard enough to sustain focus on a good day, but if we begin our day without it from the get go, we are going to really struggle. When we are mentally absent, we are emotionally and socially unavailable to ourselves and to others around us. In a sense, we are in our own way. Losing our mind/body connection will tend to “show up” in all spheres of our lives. It is impossible to be productive or even engaging when we feel “off.”
When we lose our mind/body connection, I often wonder if we are better off just staying home, rather than showing up without purpose or clarity. Ideally, if we could learn to compartmentalize our invading thoughts and place them on a shelf somewhere, maybe we could combat this “off-ness.” Wouldn’t it be great if all we had to do was press a “reset” button to recover?
Or, perhaps we need to be a bit more realistic. Simply accept that we are merely human, not tigers. It’s hard to sustain ferocity every day of the week. We all aspire to be champions, but few can “roar” on a daily basis without a fight.
What are your secrets to “showing up?” How do you maintain that mind/body connection? What steps do you take to recover your focus, should you lose it? Please join in this conversation. I would love to hear you roar.
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