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Part 1:
Over the past few weeks, three mindset change models collided for me. It was great timing as I was set to deliver a series of team coaching and building workshops for a client in Adelaide.
I have to give credit to The Zone and Debunking references, principles and models to Michelle Stanton, a fabulous workplace and personal change expert.
…limitisms and forces against change around 8 years ago in a conference held in the Romanian mountains, miles from civilisation where the Conference Aim was ‘A paradigm shift that will forever change your way of thinking’.
It did, and this is why I am where I am today.
Where we all are today is the result of choice, synchronicity, a bit of luck, the daily decisions we make and to some extent our upbringing. But I choose to focus on the daily decisions, which brings me to the Story of the Two Wolves.
One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people.
He said: “My son, the battle is between two “wolves” inside us all.
One is Negativity. It’s anger, sadness, stress, contempt, disgust, fear, embarrassment, guilt, shame and hate.
The other is Positivity. It’s joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspirations, awe, and above all, love.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
Everyday, every moment we have to decide what wolf to feed – negativity or positivity. Sometimes, we are aware of the decisions we make, other times not so much. The decisions we make naturally have flow on, or ripple effects. But how do we have the presence of mind to make these decisions?
If you’re in what Michelle calls the Zone, which many athletes describe themselves as being in when they achieve great things, you get feelings of peace, love, joy, contentment and fulfillment. You achieve more, are productive and feel ‘on fire’.
If you are Out of the Zone, you have feelings of anger, impatience, distrust, envy, disappointment, boredom. You feel stressed and pressured.
You have decided to feed the ‘Negative wolf’.
On the same note, quantum physics has shown that all humans are a mass of energy that vibrates at different frequencies. Have you ever been around someone with a positive energy that it’s just contagious? This is someone who is operating at a high frequency, this is why people say they can ‘bounce off of each other’, and that positive energy given reverberates off one another. Another way to describe this is Synchronicity.
It sounds pretty good to be in the Zone but the question is, ‘How do you stay in the Zone?’
You must choose how you react to situations and these low frequency vibes. You can choose your response by considering the principles of the Loft Approach.
With the Loft Approach, imagine that the house is your mind and there is floodwater outside, these are all the pressures, thoughts and emotions you face each day. Some people are better than others at handling these emotions, and not letting them affect their mindset so much.
Some of us are consumed by some or all emotions, pressures, thoughts and other people’s influences each day. Have you ever had a day that feels like an emotional rollercoaster every time something happens? This is what you can change when you use the Loft Approach. We teach the Loft Approach to our coachees and in our team building programs.
Now, imagine you are sitting in the Loft of the house, looking down, calmly. A new tide of pressures, thoughts comes your way, how do you approach it?
You can either try to hold the front door shut, pretending none of those thoughts or feelings exist. You can open the door, jump into the water and start swimming through the thoughts and feelings. This will leave you frantic, exhausted and overwhelmed.
Open the front door and the back door so the thoughts and emotions can flow through, then go up to the Loft. From there, you stay detached and observe the thoughts and feelings as they pass through. You don’t get tangled up with them. You don’t try and hold them out. You simply let them come in and let them go.
Now this Loft Approach can be your own fleeting thoughts, or other people’s influence over you. Why should these thoughts affect you anyway?
Often, what stands between you and being in a State of Peace, in The Zone, is your belief that a thought which is not true, is true. And, when you believe it’s true, it may disturb you. So, how do you react? With the Loft Approach, you can choose.
But, you have to catch yourself and pick up on things as they happen.
This requires that you tune into the head, the heart and the hand, to see, hear, and feel thoughts and reactions. This requires you to be present, to live in the now, not the past and not the future. And this, is often referred to as mindfulness.
By sensing these thoughts, feelings and behaviours, you can catch yourself falling out of the state and quickly step back into The Zone.
By doing this, living this way, you can be fully present in whatever you do, and imagine if your team did this? What could they achieve? What could your business achieve?
Sounds like something you’d like to achieve? Get in touch to discuss our team building programs.
Human Resources for Consulting Small and Medium Businesses in Adelaide and South Australia. Simple, and tailored advice, what you need and not what you don’t.