Lots of different ways.
It's about being conscious of not just your own thoughts, but the reasons you have those thoughts in the first place and how they serve you. being aware of our own behavioral inclinations and why they have occurred and what they are pointing towards.
The majority of the time we spend thinking about things which naturally take us out of the moment. We imagine how past or future scenarios and interactions play out and literally place energy on those thoughts even when it drains us and does nothing for the right now. Those thoughts create the feedback loop of emotions & thoughts, and it cycles around and around and we're more often than not , at the mercy of a mental-storm full of self-contradictions that we're aware of, but have a hard time acting on, and out of.
As soon as we realize we all have basic desires , we notice all of our thoughts are geared towards reaffirming our own self-perception and our own perception of everything around us. We feel 'empowered' when we think something about ourselves or others and believe it to be true.Wwhile at the same time this can work for our advantage, it can also put limitations on the possible ways in which we can expand which leads to a big loss of mental energy and not being present.
"What you resist, Persists"
I've figured this out the hard way lately which has led me to a hunch that Buddhism is a lot more Quantum than it first appears. I've had no choice but to watch my thoughts closely as i've seen first-hand how fast negativity,fear and anger can manifest into situations based on those if i find myself in those moods.
I've also thankfully realized lately that every situation you're presented with is there for the purpose of seeing beyond it and learning from it. Even the most painful scenarios we don't' want, are actually a blessing in disguise as any pain/suffering is just the minds way of saying 'No, not like this...try again'.
Scenarios repeat until we move out from them. Action + Reaction etc.
Your own thoughts shape your universe. sounds like a cop out phrase almost, but it's all down to the Language constructs in our minds and how we process information and stimuli and what it does and where it go's after. ties in to the n.l.p stuff too i guess.
If we don't have a word for it , what is it? the more we conceptually define things, the more our perception expands. the more we label things, the more limitations we put on the expansion of those things. tangents upon tangents. .
Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
The thing with Buddhism is that its not really a set of rules or anything, just a way of being self aware to the point where you can completely still feel a full range of emotions, you just don't identify with those emotions/thoughts as being who you are. essentially, the journey back from a human-
doing into a human-
being.
People make the mistake of thinking that leads to nihilism when in fact it's the opposite.
complete self awareness requires compassion of self to achieve it. then you meet that with compassion for others as we realize we're all in the same net of entangled interactions and perceptions that shape our society and behavior.
Best practice of course is to just breathe though. allow thoughts to come, but watch them go instead of latching on.
all a learning curve for all of us anyway. now is always now.
To live in the present, ask yourself what you personally think the advantages could potentially be, and ask yourself the ways that could personally work for you, by comparing how other people do it, with your own 'character'.
It's more than likely we already know everything we need to, we just can't always verbalize it and bring it home. Everything we learn as 'new' is just remembering how it was before our ego/social identities absorbed a life time of interactions and imprints.
not really sure where to end it, one of those things to relax into either way.
tl;dr = breathe.
Living in the present does not equal 'I don't care what happened in the past and I don't give a shit about future'. It's more about not letting them overcome your present being, e.g. one can't be happy because they are holding a grudge and won't let go of things or because they worry too much about what's gonna happen. It's about finding that balance where you learn from your past without holding onto it, and when you plan the future but don't let your present revolve solely around it - it's a trap easy to fall into. 
