A mentor of mine once said, "Life is not a thought, life is a feeling. To develop feeling, develop a quietness of life."
Sage words for any leader. The imbalances many leaders trigger are simply because they have become too mind-identified. The mind is a wonderful tool. However, it is useless in terms of detecting your purpose, dealing with the unknown, accessing creativity or breaking through paradigms. Feeling is the only way to effectively initiate any of those actions, then the mind is enlisted to be used as the fine tool it is for the right purpose.
The high activity state leaders operate within tends to lead to hyper-active minds. To all intents and purposes, we don't have thoughts, our thoughts have us (as Eckhart Tolle put it). The philosopher Horace said, nearly 2,000 years ago, "Rule your mind our your mind will rule you."
Easy to say, hard to do. But until you can stop your mind at will, and invoke it at will, your mind has you. And fulfillment and your potential will elude you. It's like pouring water into a bucket you never empty.
In yesterday's article I wrote of the three attributes of leadership: Personal Responsibility, Self Management and Innerdirectedness. Without all three of these in balance, we are teetering on a one-legged or two legged stool. When all three are developed in equal measure, we have balance.
How to develop Innerdirectedness? That is more than one blog post. But with all the mess on Wall Street and what not, I'd like to share the key points of a recent article called Expert Tips for Simpler Living. Since our environments--including the lives we set up--mirror our inner state, simplifying is a powerful external exercise which actually helps you develop all three attributes.
First, by taking the action to simplify, you are accepting Personal Responsibility for the impact you are having on "your" environment. Second, it requires Self Management to prioritize it, stay with it, and complete it. And, lastly, if you don't fill up the space you empty (externally and internally) and can leave a little space in your life (and mind), then Innerdirectedness actually has somewhere to show up. You see, Innerdirectedness doesn't scream (usually, anyway). It whispers. You need some space and some quietness for it to show up.
Here is my challenge to you. Take a small step--no matter how small--in each of the following areas within the next seven days. Then, see how you feel.
1. Try TV-free Living
Mini-action--instead of turning on the TV, read, walk, connect, call someone or whatever. Even if for one night, or for one hour.
Major action--use your TV only to watch DVD's. Cancel cable. Saves you hours and about $500 per year. (This is what Sara and I did.)
2. Consider One Vehicle
Mini-action--for one day act-as-if you only have one car. See what it is like to purposefully make that choice.
Major action--Sell the second car. You will save about $8,000 per year. (This is what Sara and I did. However, two motorcycles took the place of the car. Sara's gets 80 mpg, mine a little over 50 mpg. And now we don't fly for vacations so much--we travel locally.)
3. Live Below Your Means
Mini-action--For one day, track every single penny you spend. (And I mean every cent.) Look at every single item. Ask, did that expenditure give me joy? Or was it a requirement? Or was it simply a waste?
Major-action--Live below your means, meaning not only are your expenses less than your income, but you are funding everything you need for the future.
4. Buy Used
Mini-action: One thing that you are about to buy new, say a book, a CD, a tool, or whatever, but it through Craig's List or eBay.
Major-action: Develop the ongoing habit of always looking at used stuff, first. You'll save a bundle and have a much smaller carbon footprint.
5. Choose Local Food
Mini-Action: Find the local farmers market. Make your shopping list for the week. Go to the farmer's market first, fulfill all you can, then go by the grocery. (My wife Sara is fantastic at doing this. She hits the farmer's market, then Trader Joe's, then Whole Paycheck--I mean Whole Foods. I cannot believe the difference in taste. Even I can tell the difference when food is produced locally--often with care.)
Major Action: Make that a habit.
6. Create Community
Mini-action: Go meet a neighbor you've not yet met. Or, if you know them all, take them over some brownies or something. Or host a get together to review a book, or talk politics.
Major-action: Do something on an ongoing basis to bring people together in your community. (Sara and I are investigating living in an intentional community in the Pacific Northwest. We'd like to adopt that as a way of life. But we really don't have to move anywhere to do that. It is a choice we are considering.)
7. Keep a journal
Mini-action: Journal for 5 minutes before going to bed tonight.
Major-action: Journal every night, including the dreams you have while sleeping. (I used to do this fastidiously for years, have gotten away from it, and miss it. It is amazing to me the insights that happen when I take something out of my mind and put it to paper. "You can't plough a field by turning it over in your mind." Irish proverb)
8. Reconnect to Nature
Mini-action: Go for a stroll in nature. Not a power-hike. Not a get from here to there walk. But really stroll.
Major action: Repeat weekly
9. Declutter
Mini-action: Clear one drawer or corner that has stuff accumulating in it
Major action: Declutter everything, and then for everything you bring in to the house, take something else out. Further, only buy things you absolutely love. (That will save you thousands of dollars, because all the things you don't love are the things you are donating and giving away. Do the math.)
10. Choose not-so-big homes
Mini-action: Read Susan Susanka's book, The Not So Big House book.
Major action: Next purchase, see how small you can go and still live large.
The net-net. Your environment reflects who you are. Look at your environment, and see what is says about you. Be ruthless. Cut away everything that is not necessary. Then, resist the temptation to fill up that space. Likewise, let there be space in you.
Through that portal--through that space--the true potential of your leadership will find the gateway it needs to emerge.
Article is from Oct/Nov 2008 Mother Earth News magazine
