It’s common to hear people say, “Hasn’t this year gone quickly?” But this time, when I reached into the loft, it seemed like the fairy lights were still warm in their box! 2024 has been a busy year for me personally, so it’s perhaps no surprise that it has flown by.
Between my wife and me becoming empty nesters, moving to the seaside, and then finding and buying our permanent home there, I’ve been packing a lot in.
This busyness has included meeting new people, taking up running again with the local running club, helping son #2 get settled in a flat and start his career, and welcoming son #3 back home after he decided to quit uni. The empty nest is refilling – but it’s good to have him at home too.
December is a classic time for reflection. What have we done, achieved, and struggled with? What have we learned, gained, and lost? What do we want to do next? And there you go, my immediate focus when writing this blog is to talk about what we’ve done and got through, and what’s on the to-do list for 2025.
But as Eckhart Tolle tells us in The Power of Now, the only time that really matters is Now, because that is all that really exists.
“Time isn’t precious at all because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time – past and future – the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.”
What he means is:
The past was once ‘Now.’
The present is ‘Now.’
The future, when it arrives, will be ‘Now.’
Reviewing and planning are such important aspects of the way we work that it is impossible to eradicate the past and the future from our lives entirely. But what is possible is to spend more time focusing on the Now, and how we act in it, rather than dwelling on what has passed or what we need to do in the future and how we are going to do it.
In my view, focusing more on the current moment, living for today, being present, or practicing mindfulness—whatever you want to call it—helps us to make conscious and bold actions rather than ones clouded by past learnings and regrets, or future targets and deadlines. We are all guilty of worrying something won’t get done on time, or that we are ‘imposters,’ or that we could have done it better or differently.
But for most of us, we are doing good: living, breathing, working, and experiencing. Dealing with challenges, overcoming obstacles, celebrating success. It doesn’t matter if we don’t remember the intricate details. Our memory banks will store the stuff that is important for next time and our muscle memory will kick in when we next need that skill or resolve.
So, rather than tell you what I and Skout have been doing over the past 12 months, I am going to tell you what I am doing right now.
Well, I am on a train (pulling into Wolverhampton as I type) headed for Macclesfield, to spend the afternoon and evening with the brilliant Skout team. Right now, I am thinking about celebrating a great, if challenging, year with the people who have made it memorable. I am drinking my third coffee of the day because it was an early start, and I needed it. I’m not dwelling on what my future caffeine intake should be or how many I’ve already had – I’m enjoying this cup. I am looking at my scuffed wedding ring of 27 happy years. I’m now leaving Wolverhampton and remembering being here to see Mika (yes) earlier this year. I am trying to crack dad jokes on Teams with the other Skouts and thinking about what a good time we’re going to have, quizzing, axe throwing, and chatting later (but that’s later). I am being asked if I want snacks off the trolley by someone whose happiness matters. I am sitting in a carriage with many other humans all also present in their own way, but many probably thinking about what they did in the past or what’s they need to get sorted before Christmas.
There’s loads happening right in this moment, but it would be so easy not to register half of it. Obviously, the Now is also intrinsically connected with the past and future. But putting 100% focus on what you are doing in the moment can open your eyes and make you more committed to doing every Now well.
Think about some of these phrases and which are the most positive and friendly and which are more loaded with stress:
- “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
- “It’s a waste of time.”
- “You only live once.”
- “Eat the frog and you’ll feel instantly better” (not literally, but attack the thing worrying you about tomorrow, now).
- “I wish it could be Christmas every day” (really?).
- “I wish I had done that differently” (do it better now, then).
- “I can’t wait for my holiday” (but what about all the Nows you’re going to have before then?).
There’s actually lots we can stop thinking about without any negative impact on our lives. The must-dos, the bucket lists, the hanging on to fading memories. Live your bucket life, don’t write it on a list.
Also, consider that although Christmas and 2025 is close and naturally occupying our headspace, there’s over half of December to go – that’s still 4% of 2024’s Nows to experience.
By this point you’re probably wondering what the heck this has to do with Skout and what we do. Well, quite a lot. As I said, we cannot avoid the past and future in our line of work, as is the case for many of you, but what we can do is ensure we make the most of now. How?
- By not stressing about the future – I have been guilty in the past (there I go again) of planning too far ahead and then expecting to be able to roll out plans like clockwork. The challenge of this is that the Now is unpredictable and 100% is rarely achievable. I have learned and want to help others to focus on the fact that doing what we need to do right now is the most important thing. In the back of our minds, we know what we want the journey to look like, but we need to focus on the next step we are taking.
- By delivering what matters, when it matters – We work in an agile world and need to be able to react in the moment, as well as planning ahead. Traditionally, we have been great at planning but in 2024 we have got much better at responding to Now. The balance of the two makes us, today, a super strong B2B comms partner.
- Giving people the moments that matter – We are not alone in promoting flexible working and like the rest of the world, we are seeing the world of work and life change constantly. By being flexible in more ways than many are, we aim to give our team the moments that matter when they matter. It’s different strokes for different folks and we are keeping an open and agile mind about what our people need and when they need it – even if that means right now.
When you think about what a quick year 2024 has been or what you’re going to need to do in 2025, stop and think about the current moment. Don’t let it pass by and then, millions of similar moments later, wonder where all the time went.
Wishing you a Happy Now!
