Radical Presence

Prologue: A lot has changed since I last wrote, there have been major changes in my work life and my mental makeup. I have become an entrepreneur again and on a journey that has had a few ups and downs. I couldn’t bring myself to write for a long time, didnt think I had it in me to write anymore. So this post is an actually AI assisted, I gave it the concept, went through multiple iterations and then made a final edit in my own voice.

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We keep optimizing everything—our inboxes, our workouts, our to-do stacks—yet the mind remains noisy. Anxiety creeps in from futures that haven’t happened; regret drips in from pasts we can’t edit. The real unlock can’t be another tool, it has to be a way of being. 

Lately I’ve been trying something I like to call – Radical Presence. 

It’s a practical operating system for staying sane while building, investing, parenting, or simply living in a world running at 2x.This idea of full contact with the “Now” resonates so strongly with me. I’ve personally experienced how being in “future mode” or “past mode” drains energy without yielding any real progress. 

Presence—full contact with the Now—kills the phantom energy leak. It’s the only place where action actually happens, where the nervous system stops bracing, where clarity shows up without being forced.

Mystics said this long before we made dashboards for everything. Rumi advised, “Wherever you are, be the soul of that place,” emphasizing that presence isn’t passive; it changes the quality of the moment you’re in. Kabir asked, Where do you search me? I am with you, a translation that suggests we stop outsourcing our center. Guru Nanak pointed to Naam—remembrance—as a living, moment-to-moment attention, not a ritual, calling it an active homecoming.

Modern teachers echo this same truth in plain language. Michael Singer suggests letting go of the inner thorn instead of rearranging life so it doesn’t touch the thorn, explaining that presence dissolves the gripping. J. Krishnamurti stated that psychological time is the root of conflict, and presence ends that horizontal drag so perception is fresh.

I truly believe that presence can profoundly impact our work and lives, leading to better decisions, cleaner relationships, and genuine creativity. It’s about precision, not laziness, and that’s a sustainable drive I aspire to.

The deeper invitation is that presence isn’t a hack; it’s a home. The mystics weren’t selling retreats. They were pointing to the ordinary, unbranded Now—available in a boardroom, a kitchen, a hospital corridor, a late-night founder spiral. The promise is simple: if you meet this moment fully, it will meet you back. And from that meeting, the next right move becomes obvious.

I’m curious to hear from all of you. Have you explored radical presence or similar concepts? What practices have you found helpful? What challenges have you encountered, and how have you overcome them? I’d love for you to share your experiences and insights in the comments below. Let’s learn and grow together on this journey towards a more present and fulfilling life.

Lately, I’ve been listening to Khoj Gurbani podcast and here are a few Shabads that explore this further.