Is “Being Present” Overrated?

Many high profile thinkers and best-selling books have encouraged us to be “in the present.” This is great advice under some, but not all, circumstances.

To connect with others, you need to be present and listen with focus to others. For good communication, you also have to corral wandering thoughts or the tendency to think too far ahead in a conversation.

On the other hand, when it comes to creating successful results in life and career, “being present” can lead you down a rabbit hole. Consider these new ideas about time, the Past, Present, and Future, from thought leader Dr. Barry Morguelan, M.D.

He was looking at how easily we get stuck in painful emotions from the Past by focusing – as many advise, on the Present. Dr. B advises us to stop it. He says trying to grab onto the Present is no more effective than wallowing in the past. The most effective train out of Stuckville is to focus on the future.

Why? If we are look with a clear head, the Present so instantly becomes the Past and is so quickly fleeting, the Present offers no genuine chance to create the kinds of success most of us desire. It just disappears too quickly-millisecond by millisecond- into becoming the Past. You will have more space and freedom to create the reality you want by focusing on what you desire moving forward.

Use the Past to clarify 1) what you want more of; or 2) what you want to change.

As for The Present? Well, Dr. Morguelan says with a smile, “The Present is best used for enjoyment.”