We are like batteries… ! (?)

Human beings are great energy getters — great energy users. 

Like a battery, however, we do not store energy well over the long term. 

It is like this: we eat and sleep and rest to gain energy — when we are active we use energy.  If we practice a disciplined management of the FLOW of our energy between intake and activity, we can create greater and greater capacity for the storage and use of energy.   If we simply store and conserve energy, however, we do NOT get a good return on our investment.

Have you ever had a flashlight sit for a year?  Is it as bright one year later as it was the day it was purchased?  We know from common experience that it will not be as bright.  It loses energy in its lack of use.  The energy dissipates and is lost and is never available for a useful purpose: in this case, the illumination of dark places.

Imagine just sleeping and eating for a year.  Would you be ready to run several marathons and lift copious weights for days and days as a result?  Of course not!  The return on conservation of energy over the long term is not good.

This doesn’t meant that rest and relaxation are not useful and helpful, but we are at our best and our most effective and efficient when we manage our energy in the short term and build our capacity to USE energy.  We are most effective as short-term energy gainers and as energy users.

If you have been reading other entries in this blog, you know that we are energy creators as well…

Create something with purpose,

Douglas Leadbetter M.Ed.

Who is “I”; Who is “am”?

When we say “I” did this or that… what does that mean?  When we say “I am” this or that… what does that also mean?  Who is this person — I?  Your body?  Your thoughts?  Some version of yourself that others think of you?  Your spirit or your soul?  Your deeper consciousness? Most folks never give this a thought — so they never gain control leading to release and then flow. Read the rest of this entry »

Where is my mind?

Where is my mind?  If you have ever asked that question, the answer is in the ‘whole self’ as will be explained through this post and through a soon to come video post that provides a diagramatic answer to this important question.

Section 23

The Component Parts of the Whole Self

In the time and space of our present daily existence on this wonderful planet earth, it is the conscious mind that dominates most people; therefore the conscious mind dominates our world.  Raw consciousness is a powerful state of being.  It is your conscious mind that sought out this book and is engaged with reading it now; it is your conscious mind that you use to plan, think, worry, and prepare dinner….  The conscious mind has an important role in our lives; there are other influences however, other parts of your being that are very important.  They are the subconscious mind, the body, and your life-force.  Together with the conscious mind, they constitute the four parts of the Whole Self.  This chapter will fully explore the relationship and the connectedness each part has to the whole.  Through learning about these connections and relationship, you will understand the parts, their roles, and their relationship to one another; then you will know the rules that govern your Whole Self and thereby how to most effectively synergize your state of affluence as a whole person, aligned to a purpose.   Tools, techniques, and actions for you to use will be presented. 

As a brief aside, we of course know that the human condition cannot in reality be cut into four neat and tidy parts and placed in a diagram to be poked and prodded, each part distinct from the other – the human condition is so very much more complicated than that.  But, the human condition can be spoken of and referred to in parts and as a whole and put into diagrams in order to understand and learn.  To do this is to suspend reality in order to pierce it.  A diagram that represents the Whole Self is appended as the last page of this chapter; you might want to look at it for a moment now.  Next, a brief outline of each part of the Whole Self will be provided through the paragraphs immediately below, and a more detailed explanation of each will follow as the chapter progresses. 

The conscious mind: a powerhouse that must be harnessed.  It is the conscious mind that in most people holds the reins of power in the overall relationship of the parts.  It can play a critically positive role, or it can be the maker of misery.  The Ego center of its own world, it is capable of considering information from other parts of the whole and can communicate directly with the subconscious, body, and life-force, yet it is independent and aloof in most people.

The subconscious mind:   a quiet powerhouse that performs many automatic and autonomic functions; it is also a source of inspiration and creative power.  It is also the dutiful servant of the conscious mind.  It carries out orders from the conscious through a non-judgmental communication with body and life-force.  Its strength can be destructive if it is not directed and well-managed.  The subconscious is a powerful tool to be treated with great care.

The body: capable of being a powerhouse, yet too often not.  It is a symbiotic mass of vibrating cells in an alliance with the two minds, given life through life-force, living in this time and space.  The body is a wonderfully complex temple of beauty capable of great strength and service to the wholeness of being, yet it is easily prone to harsh frequencies coming from an unbridled consciousness and its dutiful servant, the subconscious. 

Life-force: the silent pervasive power, it is the essence of love, beauty, acceptance, creation, generative life, desire…. Life-force is the energy of the universe seeking full expression in personal form – it is our spark.  It is each person’s connection to the universal life-force and what I will call Universal Consciousness and you may or may not call God.  It is our connection to life itself and to the essence of other beings.  Please note that when discussing and presenting the concept of life-force, I choose to use the term Universal Consciousness so that I can discuss the concept without delving into religion or philosophy.  I do not intend to nor would I diminish the importance of religion, philosophy, or God; I simply wish to keep out of the debate between various religions and philosophies and keep a respectful position concerned solely with your realization of affluence and purpose.

Connections and High Performance

You know about systems of government, circulatory systems, systems of thought, the educational system….  On and on it goes.

When someone or some group maximizes the potential of one or many systems in concert to create amazing results, they are synergizing their systems for high performance.

The Synergy in Life System and the central concepts of GreenSeed Consulting have come to be as a result of my experience, training, observation, and thought in several diverse areas. These are: systems of team play used in sport; systems of thought from both psychology and philosophy; systems of individual human performance from the study of physiology; systems of education; physical and mental systems from martial arts… and systems of management and leadership. 

It was the study of systems of management that started me looking closely at the profound connections within and between systems.  I knew from experience that all systems have aims or objectives and that creating synergy within and between systems is where high performance is born.  When you look at it in a general sense, everyone knows this but just might not use the same vocabulary to explain high performance.  For me, it was when I started to study the area of Systems Thinking — interestingly, it has roots in electrical engineering — that the power of finding and creating connections within and between systems began to establish as at first a thought and now as a FACT in my mind.

For example, there are connections between systems of play in sport and the systems of physiological training used with the athletes on a team; they also require systems of thought that are geared to performance… and this requires a vision or a system of philosophy.  That same team requires training and learning derived from and brought forth through systems of education…. On it goes. It’s all connected.

How about your group or team?  Are there connections within and between systems?  How about you?  Do you have a system of thought that creates a state of high performance? 

What lays at the base of all the systems that exist in our world?  What is the connection that underlies all things?  Energy.  That is a statement of scientific fact.  Energy is our one substance.  Create a philosophy or psychology that is hopeful and has an aim, and you will create a resonant physiology of health — based on your use of and direction of energy.  Create a system of education that is natural, flowing, and in concert with psychology, physiology, social systems tendencies etc. and you will have a recipe for potential high performance because of the use of and direction of energy.  Everything is connected in energy, through aims and objectives, and most importantly through our ability to synergize individual and corporate systems to meet those aims and objectives.  That’s high performance!  This is fascinating.

Want to read more?  click here.

Principle Centered Leadership :-)

Stephen Covey wrote a great book… a great big book many years ago.  Principle Centered Leadership.    Here’s what it means to me…

Covey expends a great deal of time and effort focusing the readers attention on natural metaphors.  The enduring law of the farm is the grand, guiding theme of this book.  The first sixteen chapters focus greatly on the development of self, and they culminate in a management model called the Principle Centered Leadership paradigm. It is constructed on the following foundations: the alternate life centers of security, guidance, wisdom, and power; the characteristics of highly effective people; the resolutions of discipline, character and competence, and service; integrity, maturity, and abundance; growth; moral compassing; Principle Centered Power; communication; influence; and balance.  What does all of this mean to me? Read the rest of this entry »

Systems Thinking in Daily Life: variation

You must read this post! It contains important information about your application of simple systems concepts to daily living both as an individual and as a member of a group. The assumption made throughout this post is that you would like to increase the occurrence of positive moments, actions, and directions for yourself and for your group(s). If this statement rings true for you, then have a look at how understanding variation gives you power.

Everything in our world is subject to variation. This is easiest to see in organic organisms in cycles such as sleep, growth, decay, times of high energy and times of low energy. The variation of inorganic organisms with the rhythms of electron orbits and string vibration is not as important to this topic, so we’ll leave that for another time. We are living organisms that have variation in our daily cycles of life. The key question to this post is “can we affect these variations to lessen the bad and increase the good?” YES!

Let’s first look at a hypothetical variation graph. This one will represent the variation we see in ourselves and groups with highs and lows in our states of mind, our peak functioning, our effectiveness, success… etc.

In this simple representation of variation, the vertical or ‘y’ axis represents highs and lows. The upper peak of each of the curves represent positive, and the lower peaks represent less positive or negative. The horizontal or ‘x’ axis represents time. So, in a simple analysis of this particular graph we can see that the curved line represents movement between positive and negative states over time. The constant horizontal arrow represents the midline or base state.

So, how do we get more of the ‘good’ and less of the ‘bad’?  One secret for both individuals and for groups lies in the arrow.  The arrow is the midline of contentment… or simply, being.  Think about the diagram and think about yourself.  When you are on a ‘high’ it feels pretty good.  You are elated, full of energy, electric.  When you are on a low, it doesn’t feel good; lows are just low and not any fun at all.  The midline though… it’s quiet contentment.  Just being is a nice place to be.

Think about this in a group.  Have you ever been in a group where a member is trying to hard to ‘make’ something happen?  They are trying to make things fun or they are trying to show themselves off… or, or, or.  You know what this feels like.  It’s tense.  Maybe you are lucky enough to have been or be part of a team or a work-group where everyone is content… wow!  That’s the place where things get done!  A contented person will work harder, longer, care more, and do more for the company or group and for their co-workers.  Read the studies on successful corporations, and you will see that this has been proved as truth over and over again. 

So, the question now remains, “how do we get to the arrow?”  Or a question like that would do.  Well, as individuals we try to simply ‘be’.  I explain this in great detail in my book.  There’s a bit of letting go and there’s a bit of constructing thought.  There’s a dynamic tension, but its attainable and in quite practical ways.  In groups, you need to define what a simple contentment looks and feels like.  Everyone wants to come to work to do a good job, feel good about their work, and go home feeling they have done a good day of work.  The problem is in the systems we set up around us.  There are things that frustrate and confound in every organization and without a good or even a professional facilitator to help you address your situation objectively,  you are often doomed to steep in your own self-created mess.

Seeing systems is half the solution.  Truly.  The other half is in learning how to direct the natural flow of systems.  Not so much trying to control, but working to steer and direct.  Its a soft science kind of like the soft martial arts that would rather redirect the energy of another and not meet it head on.  Why ‘take on’ your systems when you can influence them? 

There’s another place to focus upon for both groups and individuals and that is in the ascending curve just as it passes the midline of the arrow.  At that moment, one should work towards building the next success.  Build on the upswing.  Direct thought and action to the attainment of positive success at the upswing and you can move from one success to the next. Charles Handy, in The Empty Raincoat discusses this with charming alacrity as it applies to business success.  It applies to individuals as well.  Athletes do it all the time.  When they have achieved one level of a training cycle and got that success under control they reach for another, higher level of success.  If an athlete spends too much ‘down time’ they lose all their gains and have to fight twice as hard to train their way out.  No, the smart ones build success upon success.  A jet airliner spends a lot of fuel to get off the ground, but once up they use far less.  Its like that in our understanding of variation.  Think about, construct and direct success as you experience success and continually reach for the next success.  This is a powerful mental model for you to begin using.  Comments?  Tell me about a time you have used any part of these ideas.  Tell everyone about using them successfully in the next few weeks.  It works.  That’s all.

Does Optimism Make You Live Longer?

Optimism is related to longer life in a new Scientific American quoted study.  Check it out!  I love the second comment left on the SA page after the article!  Hilarious.  Question: how does optimism relate to energy that you can control?  Are you in charge of creating optimism?

Systems Thinking — Business Energy

Lately I have been navigating the WWW looking for sites that share similar ideas to this one.  So far a few have popped up and I’ve left comments and joined discussions. For a moment I would like to present one that is called Business Energy written and managed by Penelope Else.  She struck me with her interesting and voice-laden article about the need for business people to twitter.  I think she convinced me to tweet and twit etc.  More than that, however, it was when I read her ‘about’ page that I knew there was someone to recommend to readers at this site.  In blue below is a section of that page:

What is Business Energy?  It’s the vibe that your business puts out into the marketplace: the energy with which you create and implement new ideas, cohere as a team and engage with your customers.  It’s the source of your attractiveness for new business opportunities and the cause of your success.

It comes from a combination of: clear goals & planning, creativity, leadership resilience, good social networks and a healthy, motivating attitude towards staff and clients.  These don’t always come naturally, but they can all be learned.

If you have spent any time at this site looking around, you will recognize immediately what I like about Penelope’s words.  Vibe… vibration?  Energy….  Cohere as a team = alignment and synergy.  Clear goals and planning are right there with determining a purpose.  Good social networkers….

I have a great feeling about this site and Penelope’s work; I am grateful to her for creating such an enriching site.  I want to take just a moment to reflect on good social networking; it is at the root of building direction, alignment, purpose, and the synergistic focus that truly brings high performance results. Furthermore, I am becoming convinced that the web is presenting to all of us who are tuned in an opportunity to make connections, mine knowledge, stay current, make good decisions and so much more. If used correctly, I find that the web and related tools offers an opportunity to find streams of energy and thought that are useful and helpful in each of our growth and success. We have at our finger tips through techniques that can be learned, an opportunity to meet with people from all around the world in what Will Richardson calls intraspaced communities built around passion.  We are able to become more than the sum of the parts through working together towards common aims.  We are truly able to find others who align with what we align with and create vibrant cadence in positive directions.  Thanks for reading.

Douglas Leadbetter M.Ed

Balancing Systems

A system that has an aim or a goal balances over time.  Kind of like our body and the constant flux we are in to keep a constant core temperature of 98.6 F.  Or thereabouts.  This flux is called homeostasis and that simply means a balance over time.  We get a little cold, we put on a jacket or a sweater.  A little hot and the sweater comes off.  We work hard, we sweat.   Get cold and we shiver.  All of this is part of our overall aim of … well, survival. 

A thermostat in a house balances over time.  Set it at the temperature you want and it reacts to changes in the internal environment of your house.  It gets a little cold, the heat kicks in.  It gets too hot, the heat comes off.  You know how this works.  The goal of this system is to keep a constant temperature over time.

These are examples of systems with an aim or a goal, balancing over time.  Now, let’s say you have something you want to achieve or a goal to be reached.  You WILL experience undulations — highs and lows — over time.  Knowing this is liberating.  You ever experience this?  You are feeling great and full of energy and you make some plans to work-out, lose weight, paint the entire house, learn how to play stocks…. And then a week later, you don’t feel as high and the stuffing comes out of your plans.  Well, this is a system that is finding the mid-point, finding balance.  Many people feel the low and give up.  THE LOW IS NORMAL!  Knowing this allows you to feel out the low, experience it for what it is, recognize it, carry on and find the balance of the system. 

Take this information to the bank.  Think about it a bit.  Everyone has rhythms — everyone.  The ability to see and understand those rhythms and experience them for what they are without trying to get away from them — that’s wisdom.  And wisdom is a path.  Follow your systems for a while and see where they lead.  Do you get manic?  Depressed?  Can you through gaining an objective view point, change habituated behavior?  Can you find points in the system to leverage, and others to simply allow to play out?  You can.  Of course you can.  Work with this idea.  Its about seeing the systems and working with them for greatest effect — for high performance.  All the best. 

Douglas Leadbetter  M.Ed.

The Synergy in Life System — Section 10

If you’ve been keeping up… well, here is the fascinating extension of what is really at the source of all things — its vibrating energy.  Go ahead and research for yourself and then return to find out why this is significant in your life, in your plans and decisions directed towards success Read the rest of this entry »

In taking action…

In taking action, do so and believe that you can do so in the following ways: demonstrate fairness, give encouragement, nurture, show patience, stay interested in positive growth, provide quality service, contribute in positive ways, demonstrate honesty and integrity, be concerned with excellence, value human dignity, be accepting, be kind and open, show compassion, be gentle, be teachable, be creative, be loving and demonstrate an abundant character, be receptive, be appreciative, be reflective….