Productivity versus Presence: the Key to Well-Being on Your Soul Path
There is a famous quote by Alan Watts that says, “stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.” I believe this is the key to well-being on your soul path.
As a Spiritual Mentor and Intuitive Guide my passion is to simplify spiritual connection and to support you in breaking free from the limited ‘societal norms’ of life. You know you were made for more, you desire to pursue your soul purpose, you want to live an abundant life, yet you don’t know how to get from here to there. My job is to support and guide you in uncovering your worthiness as you flow along your soul path.
Are you constantly focused on being productive? Is your to-do list often overwhelming you? Do you ever feel as if you haven’t done enough? Are your thoughts filled with overthinking and overanalyzing which action step to take next? Do you often look at other people and wonder what they did to achieve the life they are living?
If these questions resonate with you then you most likely are focused on productivity rather than presence.
In this blog I will share the difference between living a life focused on productivity and a life focused on presence. I will answer some of the most frequently asked questions on how to achieve well-being on your soul path. Through this you’ll better understand Alan Watts' famous quote that I shared above and how living with a focus on presence can allow you to enjoy life more.
If you desire to feel as if you are thriving in life, rather than simply surviving each day, then grab your journal and a pen and get ready to reflect on all that I have to share.
What does well-being on your soul path mean?
It’s actually as simple as it sounds. To be well.
Following your soul path is the journey of allowing your inner compass (your intuition & voice of your soul) to guide you through life each step of the way. Knowing the Universe has your back, and even when you feel out of control, being able to surrender and trust the journey. Your soul path is about recognizing that you don’t need to control everything in order to enjoy life. When you let go of control you allow space for divine unfoldment to take place.
Living from well-being on your soul path means that you prioritize the wellness of your entire being from moment to moment as you flow with life.
Why is energy more important than action?
The energy is the wellness of your being. You are an energetic being, meaning that taking action isn’t going to solve your state of being unwell.
The energy you choose to embody while in action is what determines your state of wellness. For example, if you choose to take action from the energy of stress then your state of being becomes stressful. Whereas when you learn to transmute the energy of stress into the energy of peace before taking action, you will then be able to take action from the energetic state of peace.
Whichever energy you choose to prioritize ends up either supporting your wellness or being to the detriment of your wellness.
Your well-being isn’t created from the action you take, it is created from the energy you create. The energy must come first, because if the action comes first it won’t change your experience. Hence why most people feel as if they are in the perpetual cycle of survival. You must learn to shift your energy.
How does an action-focused mindset create more stress?
When you prioritize action over everything it means most often your action is coming from a feeling of being pressured, rushed, or forced.
Think of this thought, “I have to get this done”, versus the thought, “I’m so excited to do this”. Can you feel a difference? The only way you can get into the thought of “I’m so excited to do this”, is if you prioritize feeling good first.
When your constant cycle of thoughts is focused on the amount of tasks on your to-do list, and all the things you have yet to accomplish you are creating more stress for yourself. I hate to break it to you, but the to-do list will never be finished. There will always be more to accomplish, this is the nature of life.
The action-focused mindset is often triggered by needing to achieve a certain result or reach the end product. The moment you achieve that result or reach the end, your mind will immediately shift into the thoughts of all the other tasks that need to be done. Again, perpetually keeping you in the cycle of feeling stressed and overwhelmed about everything that needs to be accomplished.
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Back to the blog - Productivity versus Presence: the Key to Well-Being on Your Soul Path
What does presence create in your life?
Presence is the ability of experiencing this exact moment as it unfolds.
When you live from a state of presence it means you are able to experience the emotions and feelings during the situation you are in. Let’s say you are spending time with your family for someone’s birthday. When living with presence you experience the joy, celebration, love and connection that is all being shared in the moment.
Another great example would be when I go for my daily walk in nature. Rather than being in my mind focused on all the things that I have yet to accomplish, I am focused on breathing in the fresh air that surrounds me. I feel into the grounding energy the trees share with me. Instantly I have a huge smile on my face because I feel completely at peace, grounded in Spirit, and in awe of the beautiful scenery that I am witnessing.
Presence allows you to experience all the positive and uplifting emotions you desire to feel. Living with presence encourages you to prioritize experiencing the moments that make you feel good more often, rather than pushing them to the side to complete that pesky to-do list.
Presence means you are no longer waiting to experience peace and calmness, and instead you are allowing yourself to feel it right now.
Does this mean you never need to be productive?
No. Taking action and being productive is still an important part in creating a life you enjoy.
The difference is that instead of taking action because you feel stressed, you are able to prioritize taking action because you feel passionate about what you are acting on. This means that you get to enjoy the process of being productive, rather than feeling forced to reach an outcome through your productivity.
How do you find alignment between presence and productivity?
The key in finding alignment between these two is by focusing on your emotions and the feelings that are moving through you.
At the beginning of 2022 I channeled a spiritual message to guide me throughout my year. The message was “leaving pressure and finding purpose”. This message was my mantra to support myself in finding alignment between presence and productivity.
The moment I felt pressure, I knew I was acting from the action-focused mindset that prioritizes life on productivity levels. I’ve lived this experience many times over and I know that it doesn’t lead me to feeling good. In order to ensure my productivity was in alignment with my well-being I needed to learn to shift my energy of pressure into an energy of purpose.
How do you guide yourself into the energy of purpose? Well, you become present in the moment, finding joy and peace in whichever way feels good to you, and then tapping into the energy of your Spirit, which is filled with purpose.
Part of my purpose is to bring joy, compassion and light into the world around me. There are many different ways I can do this, when it comes to my professional work I do this by sharing my knowledge and experience in emotional wellness and spiritual connection. For instance, to sit down and write this blog post I needed to get into an energy that felt good in order to let my purpose lead the way.
Finding alignment between presence and productivity is a very personal experience and it can look and feel different for everyone. The key takeaway for you moving forward is to start becoming aware of when you are fully present, so you are able to experience life with presence, rather than measure your days by productivity.
The tools and strategies I teach in my 1:1 mentoring program and my group program are focused on prioritizing your energy and learning to live from a state of well-being.
If this blog post resonates with you and you feel a calling deep within to start living with more presence, then it’s time for you to check out more of my offers.
Each offer can support you in a different way and it all depends on where you desire support.
1:1 Mentoring - a deep dive into understanding your emotions and energy so you can live feeling empowered and peaceful.
Group Program - being connected in a spiritual community as you uncover the voice of your soul, and strengthen your connection to the universe in order to live in a divine way as you feel guided on your soul path.
Meditation Membership - a space to stay accountable and feel supported as you practice spiritual connection, living from presence, and honouring yourself on your journey.
Until next time, sending love & light on your spiritual journey,
Sydney Smith
Spiritual Mentor
Founder of Adventuring with Poseidon Wellness
