Have you ever been at that place where you don't just take a pause in your day, but push pause on your Life: to look at it and wonder how close it comes to be truly fulfilling?
If you have ever done that, then you will deeply understand the magnitude of that moment. That moment which may span from minutes to weeks to years – in search of how to best live your Purpose, successfully unfold your talents and make meaningful Impact.
Finding the joy in the Journey and learning along the way, can make it all worthwhile, and also fun.
You may be using this time for introspection and feel more ready now than ever to open up to those inner motivations you know you have, but which may not be obvious to the world. Time even if a human construct sure can fly, thus we better learn to use it well.
Life can sometimes seem like a hide and seek game. When you look ahead, it looks somewhat foggy and like a multiverse of options and when you look back, you could catch yourself saying: "So clear now, why it happened that way!".
Learning about ourselves and the world, keeping an open mind for yet unknown perspectives, can bring about joyful revelations and instill more Consciousness into it all.
Our beliefs write most of our Life's story until the moment when we become conscious of our power to write and rewrite them.
In the process we can finally get clarity on the things we genuinely desire and expand our understanding of what we were told was possible and what we learn is really possible for us.
Our civilization, still mostly based on industrial age structures often does not and, through its nature of control, cannot support the very human and more Life-embracing approach we like to take. This means we are often faced with limitations of tickboxes, certifications and official approval stamps, definitions we didn't take part in making and a maybe sometimes too obvious and desperate drive of control, a fear of the unknown.
The outside-the-box thinkers, the positive disruptors are not always welcomed with open arms by the mainstream.
Have you ever had that feeling of thinking out loud and facing, at best, nervous resistance?
We live in an age though, where this resistance seems to be changing more rapidly also on a thought leader and impact maker level. Revolutionary tools – like biofeedback headsets to measure your brainwaves – and a broader palette of Learning is more available now to pave the way of our Personal Evolution. Do you also see signs of that trend? Are you deep into these new discoveries already?
The experience of how elevating it is to step out, or at times like this maybe rather being shaken out, of that box of standards, seems to be more widely shared now as something worthwhile to have. Evaluating for ourself, which are society-forced things that do not serve our best interest and which are the behaviors, values and appreciated formats for a Life we choose to keep and build, that are aligned with that upgrade we strive for.
An inclusive mindset, respecting everyone's freedom of choice just like our own, can contribute to a smoother process that is considerate with our surroundings. In other words, while we contemplate and make changes, we do not necessarily alienate everyone around us.
While in that crystallising process, seeking answers to your questions around what are the experiences and things that are fulfilling to you, you perhaps get tempted to consume a lot of information.
It may be that in your eagerness to put together the puzzle pieces you want to use to build your fulfilling Life of and accelerate your business success with, you are checking out even unusual resources. Resources you haven't considered before.
Have you been looking up recently anything that tickled your curiosity? Have you learnt things that are really far out? And then did you ask yourself, "what is anyway far out"?
Who could deny you cutting edge knowledge if you choose to get it?
And while I like to practice allowing myself "to expand thinking by exploring and collecting information and knowledge that are different or even conflicting with what [I] already believe is right or true."¹, so that I can bring in my own diverse puzzle pieces for a more holistic picture of our human reality, I've come to learn how essential it is to focus on things that really matter to us and very carefully choose what we focus our energy on (recommending Greg McKeown's Essentialism²). Honouring that very Time on Earth we just mentioned (if at this point you want to geek out about spacetime theory, I don't mind at all as I just did exactly that:).
Being able to find solutions holding differing and even conflicting perspectives seems to be characteristic for exceptional leaders; heightened empathy"and a general flexibility in how you think of yourself"³, are considered self-transformation at its wisest.
The great thing is, that our understanding of human experience has expanded in the past years. Neuroscience has made discoveries about meditation, flow and how our mind works that revolutionize how we access our potential to the fullest possible.
It would take some time to count together all the resources, courses, quests and learning programmes I've taken in the last few years.
This learning is beyond certificates, beyond what was taught in school and at university. Beyond one teacher or even ten.
Here, I ask someone who seems to share a passion for Learning, to accompany us in thoughts:
"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but the lifelong attempt to acquire it." – Albert Einstein
Education can be limitless if you learn from all the teachers throughout history, from the thought leaders of today and ancient times, through books, actual school, college and university teachers, people you meet, random conversations. We can learn from others and through our own sensory experiences. Learning opportunities are everywhere all the time.
When I read inspiring stories and hear from the ones who broke through those first big barriers to Abundance and a fulfilling Life, it can be really uplifting, while I truly believe that our individual Path is our own.
Like a huge marketplace of information, beliefs and Inspiration: you choose which pieces you take. Then again you tinker on your own and come up with revelations that are rooted deeply within you and also some that dawn on you when throughout your learning you connect dots in your own unique way.
For a deeper understanding of Life and human experience, lifelong learning seems to be a pathway filled with amazing discoveries of our own.
For me this is a very important part how I continue to embrace Life: learning every day. I do believe in my Coaching Path, not because I know one particular technique or else. I worked on myself as a human being first. On my own Consciousness.
I learnt from various sources within and without the Mindvalley Universe of Vishen Lakhiani. About coaching from Evercoach, Michael Neill, Jason Goldberg, Rich Litvin, Christine Hassler, Margaret Moore and Dani Watson; about energy and mindfulness from Jeffrey Allen, Donna Eden, Marisa Peer, Michael Beckwith and many more.
I invested a vast amount of my resources, time and energy in my own self-development, and my approach to Life sees this investment as something that is ongoing. It never stops. It's an evolution to infinity – or as long as my human lifespan allows.
Learning about ourself can unfold also in the smallest mindful moments: looking at your nightstand and discover that your favourite books share a common theme for example. Like I did with mine, seeing Adventure everywhere, in The Hobbit and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. These being my library's treasures above any scientific books, if I was to bring anything to that fabled desert island.
How do you approach your own learning?
What are your favourite topics?
What are the books you always keep close by? What are their themes?
Does your creative mind keep nagging you for learning beyond the world of business?
How this all can mean you being a source of Inspiration for one more reason to the people you work and live with?
Finding joy in Learning and sharing with the ones who know you, what amazing new things you read or heard about, integrating these learnings into your Life and role modeling how much our evolution can happen in our day-to-day lives, you become an even more valuable Leader. Someone who can share from a fuller cup.
You can also get to know each other with your peers, team members, colleagues, employees, friends through perpetually expanding lenses in this continuum of Learning.
I leave the closing words again to that someone whose Spirit shall inspire us further:
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day."
Resources
²Greg McKeown: Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less - Talk at Genius Network®
³Rotman School of Management study and Roger Martin's The Opposable Mind referenced in the book of Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal: Stealing Fire. How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work. (p. 47, p.92)
Einstein Quotes
Albert Einstein to J. Dispentiere- March 24, 1954.AEA 59-495
From the memoirs of William Miller, an editor, quoted in Life magazine, May 2, 1955; Expanded, p. 281
#Leadership #coaching
Thank you so much, Campbell!
Such a contemplating time and I come to understand that it doesn't need the world to stand still, to be able to carve out our very own time on any day whenever we feel like doing that.
I'm so happy to be able to share the Journey with you and with the ones who like to come along to ponder about the essence of things and actively do for making this experience called Life better for themselves and others.
I so treasure your thoughts and it does feel good when what I share resonates deeply.
Thank you! See you around until next time:)
Hey Tamara I like where you are going with this challenge of the mindset and the parameters that are almost pre-decided for us. The choice of remaining institutionalized or breaking the learning barriers around can lead to feeling out of sinq with others and reaching out for a bigger more meaningful world of learning can be tiring but if successful incredibly rewarding. Looking forward to your next "food for thought" article.