If not now, when?

What would you do if I told you that you didn’t have a then? Would you finally start writing that book? Would you gain the courage to tell your lover how much they mean to you? Would you book that trip, sign up for that dance class, start that business even though it doesn’t “make sense” yet?

I have some news you may want to sit down for: ALL WE HAVE IS NOW.

If you spend the rest of your day, your week, your month, your year, your life focusing on the “then,” you will completely miss your now.

One commonality among all of the greats, I’m taking Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Andrew Huberman, Deepak Chopra, Mattthew McConaughey, to name a few, is that they all place gratitude and focus on the present moment. Every single leader, spiritual teacher and successful entrepreneur that I look up to seems to place emphasis on the here and now.

WHAT YOU DO TODAY PAVES THE WAY FOR YOUR FUTURE. IF YOU DON’T STOP TO APPRECIATE THE GIFT THAT IS TODAY, THERE’S A PRICE YOU WILL PAY.

There is an important distinction between presence and planning. I believe this is where many of us get caught up. “But if I’m present, how am I going to get anything done?” “Why should I make a 5-year-plan if you just want me to be here right now?” “I can’t be present, I have 151735 things to do, that’s not productive.”

If you remain so focused on being “productive” all of the time, when are you living? When are you loving? When are you learning? When are you exploring and seeing and laughing and enjoying?

At what point does productivity become procrastination? Have you ever found yourself taking care of absolutely everything except for the one thing you most need to do? Yeah, I have too.

I have a list of dreams that’s remained a list for years. WHEN I SAY YEARS, I MEAN YEARS. I found a journal of mine the other day that listed off my career goals for 2022. Many of them remain the same for 2025, still yet to be accomplished. How do you think that feels in my body? Can you relate? None of us are alone in having a lofty page of desires and dreams.

It’s the ones who not only dream, but also do, who end up experiencing what it is to bask in the magic of accomplishing those goals and making those dreams come true.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve grown, healed, learned, faced, embraced and experienced so much over the last 3 years. I could probably write 6 books from the last 300 days alone. One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned over the last few years is to throw out the should’s and focus on the steps. Should’s tend to make you feel like sh*t. Steps provide structure, greatly increasing the likelihood of experiencing success and serenity (because peace is what we all really want, right?).

I don’t have all of the answers, none of us do. Even the person you look up to the most doesn’t know it all. That’s the beauty of life you see, there’s always more to learn. If you ever meet someone that claims to know everything, run. (I’m kidding but, maybe jog lightly in the other direction).

If you’re still with me, I know that there’s a dream in your heart and a calling from within that you have yet to fulfill. Rather than focusing on the why, let time be your guide.

IF NOT NOW, WHEN?

IF I TOLD YOU THAT TAKING SMALL STEPS NOW WOULD LEAD YOU TO YOUR MASSIVE GOAL IN THE NEXT YEAR, WOULD YOU TAKE THEM?

If I asked you to commit to doing one tiny thing each day that gets you closer to the thing you want the most, would you do it?

What if I asked you to do one thing each day that you immensely enjoy? Whether it’s going for a walk, soaking up the morning sunlight for 10 minutes before you start your day, singing karaoke with your best friends or baking your signature cinnamon loaf, I want you to commit to one small thing each days that brings you joy.

Presence and peak happiness go hand in hand. When you place your focus and energy on the here, your vision becomes clear. Your heart opens up, your mind takes a breath, your soul lights a spark and god takes care of the rest.

Life is unpredictable. As much as we want to control everything in our path, most of the time we are met with the very loud lesson that unfortunately we are only in control of what we are in control of (which isn’t much). All I know is that each day we get to wake up is a gift and it is up to us to decide what we do with our time here.

If you woke up tomorrow and the first thing you did was say out loud, “I AM SO GRATEFUL I GET ANOTHER DAY,” would it change the way you think? Would it change the way you operate? Would you be willing to go all in on you? Or does that sound too good to be true?

I challenge you to try it for a week. Every single day starting tomorrow when you wake up, say to yourself out loud, “I AM SO GRATEFUL I GET ANOTHER DAY.” Then do one thing that brings you joy and take one small step towards your calling. I can almost guarantee your life will look a whole lot different faster than you could ever imagine.

GRATITUDE IS THE GATEWAY TO ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS.

If not now, when? If not when, now.

I believe in you and I can’t wait to see you live your happiest, healthiest, most abundant and most healed life. You deserve to enjoy this journey we call life and not just let it pass you by focused on not feeling “good enough.”

You are enough. You are more than enough. You are perfect as you are right here and right now.

You don’t need to achieve those goals to be enough. You don’t need the fairytale love story or the large bank account or the 1 million followers. All you need is the present moment to live a beautiful, fulfilling and rich life. I can promise you though, when you shift your focus to gratitude and presence, PROSPERITY will arrive quite promptly.

With so much love and an aura of light,

Alexa 💡

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