At the beginning of every Connections Workshop the leadership team has to come up with a word that they will model for the weekend. The word I chose this past weekend was “movement.”
The word movement is an appropriate choice for me right now as the Inside Out offices and Christine and my home residence is on the move again. We like where we live now, however running the business in a strata has proved to be challenging, so, we are moving on.
As I’m sure you can appreciate, moving has its challenges. There is lots of planning, preparation and packing that is required and of course there are financial considerations to take care of. The whole process is a project of considerable effort requiring many coordinated moving parts. This week we have to coordinate our move with the finish of our new place, which still has a number of small projects to complete before we move in. If just one of those coordinated moving parts is lagging, the whole move lags.
This serves as an important reminder to me concerning the importance of movement to me personally. I am made up of mental, emotional, spiritual and physical parts that require coordination and forward movement to be healthy and whole.
What I was reminded of this past weekend is how easily my forward movement and momentum can sputter and come to a complete stop; similar to how a car runs out of gas. In those moments I feel stuck in some confusion and despair and am in need to a kick start. So many people attend my programs because they are experiencing these same feelings of being stuck in some confusion and despair. We often call it a “rut.”
So; the trick to avoiding those ruts in my life is to keep moving and maintaining the all important momentum I have created.
Here are a few tips on how to maintain your movement and momentum
- Awareness
As per usual, awareness or consciousness is crucial to maintaining momentum. I want to be aware of why I am sputtering. I have been triggered by some event, circumstance or feedback and it is creating some confusion and despair. I could see clearly this past weekend, how my business life is a constant cycle of deadlines and reboots. I run a major weekend program once a month and the weeks leading up to that program is a constant roller coaster of building momentum to attaining the numbers we target for a successful program. I have to admit that I get hijacked at times when we lose participants and team members close to running a program. I slide into disappointment and frustration and suddenly I find myself in a dark hole of self pity and personal pain. I do not like this place but sometimes it happens so quickly that I am unaware of just how profoundly it is affecting me and how I have closed myself around it and retreated into the darkness.
To avoid retreating completely into that darkness, I have to be conscious of the sputtering as it is happening before my momentum is completely stopped. It takes a lot of concentration and effort to get moving in a positive forward direction when I do a full stop.
- Identify My Shadow Talk
When I am sputtering, it is as if a dark force has jumped on my back and is weighing me down. The weight of what I am thinking and feeling is collapsing my spirit in those moments. When that happens I want to identify where my Shadow Self is and the message he is shouting at me. When it comes to business, I am an easy target for my Shadow. I have lots and lots of confidence in writing programs and delivering them, but I do not have the same confidence in transforming amazing programs into a successful business (no matter for how many years I have already proven that through thousands of participants who have transformed their lives at my programs). Any set-backs along the road to gaining a critical mass of individuals for a successful program has my Shadow barking loudly, ‘here we go again, another example of how you can’t transform your gifts into business success.’
I have to catch that devastating internal dialogue before it spirals me into self judgment, self doubt and self abuse.
- Let Go of the Dark Energy
Once I have identified the devastating Shadow Talk, I want to let it go. This may sound like a difficult thing to do but in reality it is nothing more than a choice. Shadow talk has its own energy and weight. The power of the message that “I am a failure,” immediately begins to collapse my spirit; however, I have the ability to step back from that collapse, identify its source and allow the energy to ride through me. The unhealthiest thing I can do when Shadow Talk begins to impact me, is to close myself around that Talk and hide the pain. These are the moments that I go into my coping, medicating behaviors, choosing not to deal with the pain and darkness in a healthy way. I have to remind myself to stay open and let go of the weight of darkness that is pulling me down. I will take a moment to say internally, let it go. Sometimes I will close my eyes and visualize the energy just passing through me.
The Observing Self
The part of me that is able to step back and separate me from the Shadow Talk is called the “Observing Self.” It has also been called the “Seat of Consciousness” or the “Inner Witness.” When I utilize my Observing Self, I have the ability to identify the thoughts and feelings inside of me objectively and not get stuck believing this is the truth about me. This allows me to stay open and release the thoughts, feelings and dark energy, which in turn will make space for my Sacred Self to move me in a healthy, positive forward direction.
- Focus on the Positive Sacred Self
Once I have made the conscious choice to let go of Shadow Talk, it is essential to focus my attention on my Sacred Self and on Sacred Talk. My Sacred Self keeps reminding me of my potential as a person and my purpose for being here. I have to remember that what I do is much more a Calling than just a job or career. Remarkably, my Inside Out Leadership programs have been transforming lives for the past twenty years; every one of those thousands of people who have attended have experienced profound change in their lives and it’s been my privilege to guide them as they shared their stories, faced their fears and most importantly, celebrated their breakthroughs.
I encourage you to utilize these tips to ensure that you keep moving forward in your life as you realize your potential and live out your purpose.
Terry
