#17 When do you feel that you are fully present?
In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes asks a question that sounds simple but reveals just how rarely we actually experience it — and then makes a compelling case for why boredom might be one of the most underrated tools you have. Another sharp, thought-provoking episode that is over before you know it.
In this Q&Q episode of Between the Ears, Arnold Beekes asks a question that sounds simple but reveals just how rarely we actually experience it — and then makes a compelling case for why boredom might be one of the most underrated tools you have. Another sharp, thought-provoking episode that is over before you know it.
The Question
When do you feel that you are fully present?
- Most of us are either replaying the past or rehearsing the future — rarely actually here
- Arnold noticed it himself during his morning mobility exercises — losing count because his mind was elsewhere thinking about an unpaid internet bill
- He feels most present when reading something he genuinely cares about — rumination, emotions, mental health
- Full presence isn't a default state — it's something worth noticing, cultivating and returning to deliberately
- When do you feel it? In conversation, in nature, in flow? That answer tells you something important
The Quote
"There is no room for creativity if you are busy following orders."
- Large and small companies alike suffer from a creativity drought — because people are too busy meeting expectations to think freely
- Your brain needs space to make new connections — and that space is almost impossible to find when you're constantly trying to please someone above you
- Boredom is not wasted time — it is when your brain quietly connects the wires that produce creative breakthroughs
- Next time you're standing in a queue or sitting in a taxi, put the phone down and let your mind wander
- Creativity cannot be forced into a full head — it needs room
About Arnold Beekes
🧠 Arnold Beekes enables you to have a better life between the ears.
✦ Links: https://bio.link/beekes
✦ Brain Fitness: https://braingym.fitness
✦ Brain Athletes Community: https://brainathletes.club
✦ Innovation Athletes: https://innovationathletes.club
🎙️ Edited and Produced by The PodFather Network LLC
🌐 https://roycoughlan.com/
#BetweenTheEars #ArnoldBeekes #BrainFitness #QuestionAndQuote #FullPresence #Creativity #Boredom #UnleashYourUniqueness #Mindset #PersonalGrowth #InnerWork
Welcome, I'm Arnold Beekes and this is the question and quote version of the Between the Ears podcast. The goal is to enable you to unleash and use your uniqueness. Question.
When do you feel that you are fully present? When do you feel that you are fully present? You might say that's an easy question. I'm always present the moment I wake up from my sleep. Well, I would argue you are not and I am not because most of the time we are not present in what we are doing, whether that's our eating, our commuting, in meetings, talking with other men.
We're not present. What does it mean that we're not present? Well, we think about something in the past, something which happened an hour ago, something which happened two days ago, something which happened 30 years ago. So you are not present because you're thinking about something which is talking now but it reminds you of something in the past or we are in the future like, oh, I got this meeting coming up.
Oh, I'm kind of nervous or what will that person say or will people like what I'm saying or like my new clothes or like my podcast or so you're in the future. Most of the time I would argue we are either in the past or in the future or a combination. A simple example, I noticed this morning I do every morning some mobility exercises here in my room and I do certain well all of the exercise like one I do three times another exercise I do five times most of them I do 15 times so I got a count in my head like the number of times I'm doing that particular exercise but a lot of times I don't know where I am with my counting because I'm thinking about something else.
Thinking about how I have to pay my internet because there are some problems and then I'm like oh where was I with my counting what was I at 7 or 12 and I don't know anymore. So while doing these mobility exercises I was clearly not present. Where was I really present is when I read something that really interests me.
So something about mental health or about dealing with our emotions or what I recently am studying is how to deal with rumination where my thoughts our thoughts they keep on on the repeat button all the time and well somehow they prefer to do that in the middle of the night so there was a video and text around rumination well then I'm fully present because it addresses something which I really care about so I asked you when do you feel that you are fully present quote there is no room for creativity if you are busy following orders there's no room for creativity if you are busy following orders. Actually that is why there is such a lack of creativity in companies large and small because you're just trying to meet the expectations of your boss and if you don't do that you got a problem so you don't have time and there's no space literally in your head to come up with creative ideas because you're busy following those orders but what's crucial for creativity is that you you need some space in your head that's why it's so good to have a certain amount of time where you're bored yes I told you heard that correctly boredom is good for you and it's not like if you're standing in line in the supermarket to pay for your goods don't pick up your phone if you are sitting in a taxi and the taxi brings you from your hotel to your meeting room don't look at your phone being bored is good because then your brain gets time to connect the wires and make new connections and those new connections could be your creativity so give yourself some space otherwise literally you're trying to push yourself to come up with these new ideas but there's literally no space and please remember we need your uniqueness be a better maker for yourself fathers for the world
Explorer, Generalist, Innovator, and Trainer/Coach
Arnold Beekes is an explorer, generalist, innovator, and trainer/coach, and the founder of Arnold Beekes Creations and the Brain Athletes community. He spent his first 20 years working in technology and organisational leadership, managing teams ranging from 10 people up to 6,000 on a global scale, before dedicating the next 20 years to studying psychology, personal leadership, brain health, sports, and spirituality.
Arnold has been coaching in some form for over 50 years, starting as the youngest certified field hockey coach in the Netherlands at just 17. Having lived in five different countries, he draws on his own wide-ranging experience to help people build a better life "between the ears," one insight at a time.
Today, through Brain Athletes and his podcast, Between The Ears, Arnold helps mid-life professionals and young leaders break free from the invisible straitjackets holding them back, so they can reach their full potential and contribute to what he calls a Better World for All.
