Focus on Remembering

Remembering is usually associated with the past: facts, faces, names, dates. Yet what if remembering is less about looking backwards and more about who you are choosing to be right now in the present?

This week on the Focus on WHY podcast in episode 501, my guest Rachael Edmondson-Clarke shares a quietly powerful journey of remembering—catching yourself, reconnecting with purpose and choosing, every day, how you want to show up.

Although Rachael spoke about a dramatic event, the conversation's focus wasn’t centred on that single, life-defining moment. Instead, it was about all those quiet whispers she'd ignored until life forced her to pause.

You may recognise the pattern: pursuing success, ticking off expectations and following the ‘shoulds’ and ‘musts’ of professional life. For Rachael, this path led to her lying on the floor of her glass-walled office, overwhelmed and disconnected. It was only then, faced with the stark reality of a panic attack, that remembering became an act of survival. It was time to reconnect with something deeper, more truthful and meaningful. She calls this your soul’s contract.

Remembering isn’t always straightforward. You can easily forget yourself in the noise and rush of daily life. You react out of habit. Frustration appears. Yet within each moment sits the quiet opportunity to pause, remember and choose again.

In parenting, relationships and leadership, remembering becomes a daily practice. You remember how you want others to feel around you, what legacy you wish to leave and how you wish to be remembered—not by titles, accolades or through achievements but through all the love given, comfort offered and patience chosen.

Remembering isn’t about perfection either. Some days energy is low, sleep is scarce and the list remains unfinished–all part of being human. Neither is remembering a destination. It’s a continual return to presence and purpose. ‘How am I living into this moment?’ Rachael asks. Ask the same question as your answer shapes everything—how you lead, parent, serve and love.

So what if, each day, you focused on remembering? What if you chose, with conscious intention, the impact you want to have in every space you enter–through connection, kindness, and courage?

Remembering is your invitation to show up not as how or who you believe you should be, but as the leader, parent, friend, or partner you genuinely want to become.

Focus on Remembering. Focus on Why.

REFLECTION WITH ACTION: What meaning do you want to remember and how will you choose to show up the next time life whispers for your attention?