Good morning, afternoon or evening wherever you may be and welcome to a long overdue instalment of the My Coach Ben blog. The project is steadily gathering pace and there is a small wait for those wishing to join the assault on life’s inertia offensive. A recurrent theme I’m coming across is that of Being.
The title of this instalment is drawn from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. A book I was fortunate enough to suffer in English lessons at school. The meaning of the question has so many connotations it doesn’t bear counting. The interpretations of the verb to be are countless. However, for the sake of this discussion, I’ll apply it to Coaching. As an important part of anyone’s day to day existence and path to fulfilment.
In the Coaching context, Being relates to being present. Present as in existing in the here and now. This is both a simple and complex concept as whilst it seems very obvious, it’s likely that a very small percentage of us are actually in a state of Being – even at the time of reading this.
In our everyday lives, we are constantly in a state of thought. Be this in the past or the future, this thought thing exists. This in fact determines our very experience of life. I’ve previously discussed how the power of thought affects our emotions as we interpret our life events, whether positively or negatively.
You see, in order to get the best out of who and what we are, we need to try to experience a state of Being as often as possible. A point where we ignore the thoughts going on and simply Be. A state where we are just in the here and now. Experiencing who we are. People will tend to think of this as meditation. Indeed this would be correct.
There are so many forms of meditation. They are so widely available that it makes no sense for me to discuss it here. Besides there are many other methods of Being also. Be this listening to music, going for a walk or just sitting and quietly enjoying some peace and quiet.
The point is that many of our issues, problems, challenges, whatever you want to call them, are very rarely solved by staying in them. When we do this we aren’t Being, but simply dwelling on the subject. Going over theses issues, problems and challenges in such a way is like complaining about missing the bus, instead of checking to see when the next one will arrive… Perhaps it’s easier to just walk instead!
We’ve all had these moments where an idea, a solution or compromise comes to us out of the blue. This happens when in fact we are being in the moment. Being. Letting our creativity flow without actually thinking about it. The expression that says: less is more really is true in this sense. Take a step back from the challenge and the answer will come.
This approach works in personal life, career or business. In fact any situation that involves a person.
Summary
There is only one answer to Prince Hamlet’s question. It can only: To Be. To be present as often as we can. Take some time each day to consider where we actually are in life. Regardless of the past or the future. This is called taking responsibility. It isn’t until we’ve done this can we be at peace and allow solutions to come to us freely. In fact,
Whichever method of Being you choose, you’ll feel the benefit. You’ll be amazed what levels of inspiration, peace and wellbeing and especially courage can come of it. If we dwell in the thoughts that swim around within us, we’re simply being driven instead of doing the driving.
As Shakespeare wrote:
“The undiscover’d country from whose bourn no traveller returns, puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have, than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all…”
In essence, don’t be a coward to your conscience, leave the past and future troubles behind. They’re either done, or may not arrive if we focus correctly on the now. Dare to fly to the unknown and pleasantly surprise yourself.
Until next time.
Your Coach Ben
