Crossing the Threshold
“YOU CANNOT SOLVE PROBLEMS WITH THE SAME THINKING THAT CREATED THEM”
-ALBERT EINSTEIN
Einstein nails it again - it makes sense that we have to shift our perspective to create solutions. Resilience work is founded on this principle - flexible thinking: enabling the mind to think about something from a number of different perspectives. Easy right? Sometimes IT IS! And sometimes it can feel incredibly challenging. It’s a leap of faith to truly open ourselves up to a new way of thinking - we don’t know what we’ll find or where that will lead us. Our defenses are down and our original (and comfortable) way of thinking is at risk of being left behind. When we open ourselves and enable flexible thinking - we initiate a resilient change in ourselves and allow access to problem-solving and solution generation like never before. Want to reap the rewards? Lean into the discomfort, stay for a little while (reminder to breathe), and feel what emerges on the other side.
Pro Tip: Embrace ‘beginners mind’ to find more ease and joy when going through a growth spurt.
Songwriting Workshop - Boulder, Colorado
Beginner’s mind (shoshin) is a principle in Zen Buddhism referring to an attitude of “openness and eagerness”. It’s dropping biases and expectations, even when you are at an advanced level, and seeing things with a fresh perspective, curiosity, and wonder.
So, how do you make the leap from your current self into your emerging self? I've spent over 20 years studying how we, as humans, adapt and experience change. The teachings of Otto Scharmer from the Presencing Institute (Theory U) lays out the process of emergence beautifully (with some additional explanation from me):
Downloading (‘downloading’ of past patterns)
Suspending
Seeing (w/fresh eyes)
Redirecting
Sensing (from the field)
LETTING GO (FREEDOM!)
Presencing (connecting to the source - your core source)
Letting Come
Crystallizing (vision and intention)
Prototyping (by linking head, heart, and hand)
Embodying
Performing (by operating from the whole)
Image Credit: Presencing Institute
This is not linear in the sense that we move through all the steps, one after another, and never return to a ‘previous’ step. Most commonly, we oscillate between steps as we practice and learn to solidify our new place. This is not digression - this is honing. Keep going, be gentle with yourself as you take the leap towards your emerging future. It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.