Me Time ✨ Phones Down, Eyes Up

Happy Sunday, team. How we doing today? Are we having a great day? I have had to adjust a couple of times today. So if you're listening live or you're coming in on replay, my apologies for adjusting today. I had a crazy morning. No excuses. Good morning, Andi Mack. Good morning, amar. Hello, Rose. 612. How we doing today? Hope we're all having a great day. When you pop on in here, my invitation to you is to first take a breath and second type in the chat. How are you feeling today? What is bringing you joy?

This week or today? Isn't it a great brand? I love it. I'm so glad that you know the brand also. Definitely one of my favorites. I need to need to stock up on a few more items. I wear this hat, like all the time and my dog has gotten all over the hat. But you'll notice today that I'm sitting here on the floor. This is why. This is why today. So today it's about phones down, eyes up, savoring the moment. So I'm gonna share with you a funny, maybe not so funny story, but I don't know if you guys do this, but I will often decide, intentionally decide to just leave my phone at home and Ooh, Andi Mac.

I like this. Got a lot going on. Invigorating, fun, overwhelming. Oh, the motions. I love this. So here's what my experiment has been over the last month and I thought I would share it today because it just feels right to put it out here a little bit more intentionally so I have been actively practicing a few things. First, not everything I do has to get photo documented. That's so hard. I love taking photos. I love it. If I could have a different career or an extended career, I'd want to be a photographer.

Oh, I love it so much. I love being out on a run and seeing. Seeing a random possum on the side of the road or turtle walking across the street and getting a photo of it. Today I saw a goose. The poor thing had a broken beak. It was like sideways, like a broken nose, you know, like if you see someone with a broken nose, it's like zigzag. That was like its beak this morning. I wanted to help it, but I didn't really know how. I'm sure it hurt a lot, but I've been working intentionally on picking at least one outing when I go there.

I don't take my phone. I literally leave it sitting on the counter at home or I leave it in my car or if I have to have it in my purse because I need it for something. Who knows what. Then I'll just put it in my bag and I will put my bag away and I will not take it out. So yesterday I did that thing and I got asked like, are you gonna take your phone? Don't you need to capture a photo of something? I was like, no, I don't. If we need a photo, you can take it, someone else can take it. I don't care.

And it was funny because I went to a birthday party, just stopped in for a couple hours. It was on a rooftop. It was a beautiful night, and I just held space. And since I didn't have a phone, I didn't have a distraction. I literally had to be present, which meant that there were people I hadn't seen for a really long time that were going to ask me a lot of questions. And so I had to lean into that, which is great and fine. Everybody meant well. But sometimes it can be overwhelming. The sunset was pretty.

We finally could see the sunset last night because the smoke, the air quality had started to shift away and the smoke in Minneapolis had leveled down a little bit. But I was talking to this person who was going to Tokyo, and I was like, oh, here, let me share my map with you from when I was in Japan a month ago. Oh, wait, I don't have my phone. You're gonna have to text me. Here's my number. I'll send it to you. And then another person talked to me about this business, and I was like, oh, I should connect you to so.

And so let me get you their Instagram account. Oh, wait, I don't have my phone. Can you send me a note on Instagram and I'll connect you to this person? I bet I said that about three or four times until finally I was just like, yeah, we'll get to it. It's great. But people were like, you don't have your phone. I was like, no, I left you at home. Why? What do I need it for? I don't have to pay for anything. We're at your house. I need my id. You're not going to car me, and if you do, it's fine. I'm not drinking.

So what do I need it for? I didn't drive. I can walk home. It's four blocks. So we're good, right? Like, we're good. So have you recently just put down your phone or left it behind? Now, I'm not going to lie. The first time I wanted to go and look something up, I wanted To Google something. I was like, oh, I don't have my phone. And I felt, like, this little panic in my body, and I was like, this is weird. It's just a phone. And then the second time it happened, I was like, oh, this is so annoying.

And then the third time I was happened, I was like, this is so freeing. I don't have to do anything. People are now going to have to text me to get the information if they really want it, and if they don't, I don't have to get it to them. So it was just a series of emotions and conversations that I had inside my own head about it. But what I noticed was I was so much more present. So even when I wasn't talking to someone, I wasn't awkwardly fidgeting on the side, and I wasn't trying to deflect by taking a selfie or a photo.

I literally just got to watch people again. I got to enjoy a cupcake. I got to play with a different dog. So there are times where we can just savor the moments. But there are so many times we're so connected and like, yep, I'm just sitting here on the floor with my dog, changing my perspective. Because when I sit down on the floor with him, I just get a different viewpoint. So sometimes I just change it up. But that's what it does. When we take the time for ourselves to just power down our phone and just be in the moment, what might we experience?

So it's funny, today, the reason why I had to push back my live stream a couple times was I started doing a run club at our spin studio. And since the air quality was so bad yesterday, we moved it to this morning. But I also taught a spin class this morning, and I'm training for marathons. So today is my long run day. So this is a big workout day. So I did what I always do for run club, but I had forgotten my phone. And then I was like, I don't really need it. And then I was like, well, I'm the one that takes the photos, and I'm the one that starts Strava to map our routes so that people know what route we go on.

So one of the guys ran back to the studio, and he got my phone for me, and then I had my phone, and we did the thing. I got back to the studio, I taught a spin class, and then I had nine more miles that I needed to run today. Yeah, I'm kind of crazy. It's okay, though. It's okay. I'm in training for marathon. And next weekend, I'm doing Ragnar. That's gonna be crazy. But it was funny because I got started on my second run. Strava gang. Yay. Come join us. If you're in Minneapolis, come to run club or find me on Instagram reambig30.

Send me a note, and I'll connect with you on Strava. And so, anyway, so I got on my second run. My battery's almost dead, And I was like, do I even take the phone? But I needed my Strava because I really needed to only go nine miles, and I wanted to be really particular about it. And it was funny because I'm playing my music and I'm doing my route, and. And all of a sudden, it's like, my battery's gonna die. And I was like, okay, fast math. How do I get there? And it's the same route that I always do, so I know.

But then in my head, I was like, well, nobody will think that I actually did all nine of my miles if my Strava goes dead, who cares? I know. So it's the story that we sell ourselves. Sometimes we get so attached to this tiny little device that I'm looking into to have a conversation with you. But the only day of the week that I run with my phone, the only day of the week that I track my runs, are when I do my long runs, because I want to make sure that I get the mileage, and I want to make sure that I don't run too fast, because when I do my long runs, I want to pace myself.

So I need to use it to help me make sure that I don't go too fast that day, because I don't wear watches. So today, it's really just that consideration of what can you do today where you just put your phone away. So the rest of the afternoon today, after I get done with this, my phone battery is almost dead anyway. And I sometimes, on Sundays, literally powered my phone. I turn it all the way off, and then I leave it in a different room, and I go do my thing. So I can work on a certification if I want to, I can read a book.

Next up, I'm gonna take my dog to a little art fair to go see one of our friends today in Powderhorn. If you're in Minneapolis, Powderhorn Art Fair today. So go check it out. But literally, give yourself permission to savor the moment. Savor the dinner with a friend. Savor the experience. Remember the photo. You don't have to always take the photo. Savor being present on that walk. You don't have to listen to a book. You don't have to listen to music. You don't have to listen to a podcast. Not every minute of every day needs to feel productive in our brain.

Sometimes the productivity is simply in our soul, in our breath and our ability to look around and explore what's around us. To be. Be present in a conversation with another human, to be present with our furry friends who like to be there with us. So my invitation to you on this wonderful Sunday is to simply show up and be present. Be in this moment. The only moment that you can control is the one that you're in. You can't control what's coming next in the next hour. Can't control the weather. You can't change what's in the past.

So whatever happened an hour ago, gone. Bye. So only thing that you control right now, that's it. So how might you show up right now? In a way that allows you to take a breath, allows you to look around and explore around you? How might you explore Dinner or coffee, date with a friend, Phones away. Maybe you make that agreement with one another when you arrive, unless there's emergency. So disconnect to reconnect. Savor that moment. So I'm going to leave you with that today. I'm going to invite you to just be a good person and to find a moment that you can just cherish simply for you and sit on the floor, change the perspective, get down on the floor with your pets.

May not be able to get back up, but at least you got down there. I hope you have the best day. It was so great to be here with you today and I will see you soon. I'll be back on Monday. We'll be talking about some professional development topics, so tune in soon. I also have a live stream coaching conversation coming up. I'll announce more tomorrow on the call. So get outside and move today and just know that I love you. Have the best day.