Mantra #1: What’s Important Now?
A mantra is a small phrase with surprising power — one that helps you stay present and focused. It offers clarity when life feels confusing, perspective when things get stressful, and a reminder that you are more resilient than you realize. Whatever happens, you will be okay.
In a world that feels increasingly chaotic and unpredictable, these small phrases matter more than ever. They help you stay grounded in what’s real and remind you that you can choose what’s important now.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing my top ten mantras — the ones that have guided me through many seasons of life. So, let’s begin with the question that has reshaped my path more times than I can count.
Mantra #1: What’s important now?
This is a powerful question to begin the year with. Your answer becomes a compass — not just for your daily activities, but for your life and what truly matters in your current phase of living.
There are two ways to use this mantra:
1. The Practical Application
“What’s important now?” is a tool for improving productivity and staying focused on what truly deserves your attention.
When everything feels urgent, this question helps you decide what matters, what can wait, and what can be released altogether. It keeps your time aligned with your real priorities and your energy directed toward what actually moves life forward.
I often ask myself: What will happen if this thing I think is urgent doesn’t get done? Will it matter in a week, a month, or a year? Usually, the answer is no.
2. The Deeper Application
The second use of this mantra is more meaningful: it helps you clarify how you want to experience life right now.
After many years of coaching people through major transitions, I’ve noticed something consistent: the happiest people are those aligned with what’s important in the season they’re actually living. Many of us continue operating from a previous phase of life — even when it no longer fits who we are.
Life moves in seasons. As the familiar verse reminds us, “For everything there is a season. A time and place for every purpose under the sun.” Each season asks something different from us. When we’re not aligned with that season, nothing feels quite right. We feel out of place — because we are.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing we must have it all and do it all now. But we don’t. We can’t. And we’re not meant to. Life unfolds like a book with many chapters, and not everything belongs in chapter one.
Asking “What’s important now?” brings you back into alignment with your real priorities — the ones that match the season you’re living in, not the last one or the one you think you “should” be in.
Looking back, I can see how much better life worked when I honored the purpose of the season I was in — and how stressful it felt when I resisted it.
This question simplifies decision-making. You only need to ask whether the choice in front of you aligns with the purpose of your season. If it does, you move forward. If it doesn’t, you let it go.
We’re living longer than generations before us, which means more seasons to experience and more chapters to write. This may be your season to prioritize family, career, travel, learning, health, service, creativity, or simply savoring life and feeling grateful for all the chapters you’ve lived.
A Closing Thought
When life feels uncertain, this simple question brings you back to yourself. “What’s important now?” It doesn’t demand perfection — only presence. You don’t have to have everything figured out. You only need to know what matters right now.
Let this question steady you, simplify your choices, and bring you back into alignment with your season of life.
One question. One moment. One chapter at a time.
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