The night I wasn’t really there

Some years ago, I sat at the table during a family dinner, nodding along and pretending to listen.

My dad had just told one of his famous dad jokes, and I wasn’t there to enjoy it.

The roast chicken was exceptional. Everyone was involved, but I couldn’t focus.

My mind was busy rehashing old conversations, thinking about what I hadn’t finished, my struggling income, and worrying about what I needed to do next.

I barely remember what we ate.

What I do remember was a sense of low-grade anxiety, like I was always half a step behind and couldn’t quite catch up.

At that time in my life, I was beginning to think this ‘not being here’ thing was normal.

But after enough of those moments, going through the motions but never really there, I knew I had to put my big boy trousers on and return to planet Earth.

What helped wasn’t more planning, to-do lists, or effort to make better money.

It had to do with how I used my mind.

It was about learning how to untangle the noise and focus on what mattered:

The people and the things right in front of me.

I did this, not through any clever tactics.

I found a way by changing my understanding of how thoughts worked.

I learned the habit of continually letting go of any thoughts that didn’t serve me by realising how ethereal those thoughts actually were.

When we stop buying into the ‘seriousness’ of our thoughts, amazing things start to happen.

If you’d like to learn exactly how to implement this new understanding, you’ll love my Untethered Mind course.

I guide you through a series of realisations that change your mindset so you become more present, creative, and yourself.

Learn more about Untethered Mind here.

Merry Christmas, and thank you for being a subscriber - it means a lot.

Much love,

Alex