Infusing More Presence And Authenticity In Your Day

How can we break free from autopilot and live more consciously aligned with our deepest values?

This short talk looks at the "48-Hour Presence Challenge," a simple yet powerful experiment to expand your awareness and transform your daily experience. By choosing a core value and viewing your life through its lens for two days, you'll gain surprising insights into your thoughts, emotions, and actions. This practice offers a practical path to break free from unconscious patterns and consciously create a life of meaning and purpose.

Transcript

How do we become more present in our lives? How do we live life awake, Aligned with our deepest and truest values, Instead of maneuvering from one moment to the next on autopilot? Hey there conscious creator, My name is Anthony and thanks for being here with me right now and for hitting play today, Not just on this audio track, But for hitting play on your life. And welcome to another edition of the You Are A Conscious Creator podcast, Where I hope this message can provide you with some inspiration and guidance to help you consciously create a life of meaning, Purpose, And one that you absolutely love. One of the things I've been challenging myself with lately is seeing how present I can become, Regardless of what I'm doing or what my momentary circumstances are. Whether I'm in the middle of writing something, Working with a client, Responding to an email, Doing chores I'm prone to resist, Like weeding my garden, Or even simple things like brushing my teeth or washing the dishes, I set the intention to see how much I can bear witness to my whole experience, Noticing the life all around me and within me. But it's far from easy, And sometimes the hardest part is simply remembering to have that intention. But we have the ability to cultivate this power and build that muscle of pure, Unadulterated presence, And not just while we're on the meditation cushion. So in this episode, I want to share with you a simple practice, But really it's an experiment that can help you expand your level of presence and awareness no matter what you're doing, Even if the world around you feels a bit chaotic. It comes from something I learned from spiritual teacher James Anthony Walker in his course here on Inside Timer, Mindful Paths Steps Towards a Living Spirituality, Which I highly recommend you give a listen to. He calls it the 48-Hour Presence Challenge. And it's pretty eye-opening to say the least. It involves just four simple steps. The first step is to do a quick, Honest assessment of your current level of presence and awareness that you have in your life. And you can do that by reflecting on some of the following questions. Over the last few days, Where have I been mentally, Emotionally, And spiritually? How many of my thoughts during that time do I actually remember? How many well-considered actions did I take? What were those actions? And why did I take them? If these answers are difficult to remember, That's okay. That means your level of presence can only go up from here. You are just simply gauging where you're at in this step. The next step is to do a quick assessment of your current level of presence and awareness. One word that resonates with your core values or represents a quality that you most want to add into your life. It's any quality that you want to begin to embody. Something that could most benefit you and the people in your life. So this could be, For example, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Forgiveness, Abundance. Obviously the list could be extensive, But choose one quality that you most need right now and will have the biggest impact on your life. Now for step three. Once you have your selected word, Over the next 48 hours, You are going to monitor yourself. You are going to assess your ability to stay as fully present and aligned with this word as possible. So the goal here is to simply observe yourself throughout the day over the next two days. Noticing your thoughts, Your emotions, Your actions, Your interactions with others, Your mindsets, Your attitudes, And your habits. So you can see how connected you are with the word you've chosen. And before you start this 48 hours, You are going to set the intention to be ultra aware of how aligned you can become with this word in every single moment. So your goal here is awareness. Honest and non-judgmental awareness. And lastly, Step four. Over the course of this 48 hour period, It's important you journal about your experience. Writing down your observations of going about your day with the intention to stay connected with this quality, To this word. What is it like trying to align your reality through the lens of that word? How has it affected you? How has it affected you? How easy or difficult is it? What insights did you discover? What did you learn? How can this quality benefit your life and your relationship with others if you were to set the intention to stay aligned with it every single day? And most importantly, Journal about what you think your next steps are. Remember, This is just an experiment you are running to help you understand how and where you might need to grow in your life, While helping you live a more awake, Present, And authentic life. You are essentially becoming more conscious by doing this exercise. Because you can't change and evolve what you are unconscious of. But make no mistake though, Just by living with the daily intention to remain aligned with the spiritual qualities that matter most to you, Will greatly transform the way you experience reality. Little by little, You are creating a powerful lens to find your true self. You are creating a powerful lens to filter the way in which you see the world. And the more you wear those glasses, The more you will love and truly connect with everything you see. Thanks for listening today. Have a wonderful, Beautiful, And highly conscious day. Much love.