Best of “Be Present”

Like in Focus Time — Favs, here I highlight my favorite songs from the most recent “period” of my life. You can jump right to the playlist on Spotify here, or read the explanation for the playlist below.

This period was called “Be Present” and started when I moved back home with my family in Michigan.

The name “Be Present” came to mind, because I felt I needed to be much more present during my interactions. My mind was often elsewhere, particularly it was thinking about my startup. I didn’t really enjoy being around others when the focus was not startups, and I probably wasn’t too enjoyable to be around because I would often direct the conversation towards startups!

In hindsight, how I got here is not too surprising. The last period of my life I labeled as “Focus Time”, where I wanted to focus all of my attention on my startup. Shameless plug: give us a follow on Twitter if you think higher education can be done better 🤓

I knew that when building a startup, there was a chance that it would take over my life. What I didn’t realize is that my excitement for things I once loved and my curiosity of the unknown could go away! For me, losing my curiosity was a terrible feeling.

Fortunately, my curiosity was not lost forever! While “being present” in my interactions helped a bit, I found the most helpful thing was to engage in things, besides work, that excite me. I started to prioritize hanging out with friends, cooking, and music again.

Having joy for something else besides work gave my mind more to think about, more to engage with. It gave me a stepping stone to be excited about new topics and new experiences.

While adjusting priorities does mean less time for the startup, it also means a Nick that is more enjoyable for others to be around!

So that’s the reason for “Be Present”, an attempt at getting more engaged with others! I hope if you listen to the songs on this playlist, they will give you something new to be excited and curious about!

If you enjoyed this “Best of — Be Present” playlist, you can find the full “Be Present” playlist here.

Thanks for listening!