Communicating Your Needs

Do you ever attribute responsibility for your feelings to another person? For example, do you ever say; "you make me feel...." Or, "I feel because you....?" If you ever communicate in this manner, know you are communicating in mixed messages. This is a form of violent communication.

At the root of feelings are needs. Behind every feeling there lies a certain need. Negative states like anger, depression, guilt or shame means we're not connected to our needs. Instead, we're thinking in terms of some moralistic judgement - either about somebody else (anger) or about ourselves (depression, guilt, shame).

The key to efficient communication is connecting your feelings with your needs because needs give us the most power WITH other people. This connection increases willing giving as opposed to power OVER other people through reward or punishment which reinforces scarcity or discontent.

And the most efficient way to do this is to bring people's attention to our needs that aren't being met. When there's no criticism or demand in place, then it is very natural to enjoy giving. But if you hear criticism or demands then the natural tendency is to defend or attack.

So can you identify your needs that aren't being met - is it a need for peace, respect, acknowledgement, love, support, understanding, empathy..? And beyond this, are you crystal clear what you want when you express your need for...? Saying what you don't want doesn't make clear what you do want.

Have you ever heard someone say; "We're going to get people not to..." Or, "we're going to make them stop...?" Such statements make violence seem attractive. Rather be clear on what specific action you want the person to take to meet your needs?

A request is not a demand driven by a fear of reward, punishment, duty, guilt or obligation. Demands are a form of coercion you'll end up paying for. A good way of noticing if you've made a request or a demand is to remain open to the feedback loop from other people. Another relevant question to ask is; how do you treat people when you don't get what you want?

The trick is to never hear what the other person thinks of you. Rather hear what they feel and what their unmet need is. Then you can work together to have each-others needs met and grow your relationship through authentic communication.

What's Your Purpose?

Have you ever asked yourself the question: "What am I here to do or say? What is my purpose?"

This is a question that has been with me for a very long time as I'm intrigued by what it means to live with a sense of purpose. Perhaps this is part of living with purpose - it's always difficult and grappling.

But there's something about staying in the question that is so interesting and exciting. For our path may diverge and then diverge yet again, meaning we always need to return to the question - "what am I here to do or say?"

Developing purpose I think is not supposed to be plain sailing. I have read countless articles on how to discover your purpose. But after having read all these articles, although I found some relevant stuff, I felt like there was always something missing. Something in the realm of purpose felt incomplete. Instead of fighting this I learnt to stay with the 'not knowing.'

After all the searching and contemplating and staying in the question, a new ideology emerged. And this is what the coaching process has taught me. Being coached and coaching other people I have learnt that the end point is not the key. So often we are grasping onto, clinging to or craving a certain outcome that will result in having arrived at our purpose. I have come to realize that this idea is at its core, a very limited perception.

This false assumption is merely part of a system of thinking that has been developed through years and years of conditioning - find your purpose and all will be well! This is just part of a mindset that perceives limit, and in its perception of limit, it perceives purpose as something to 'get' too.

These are the mindset assumptions, ideologies, values and belief systems that I believe we need to question if we are to develop higher levels of purpose. By doing this we are essentially saying; "Hey, I'm willing to open myself up to development and I'm not going to be confined to or limited by one set of perceptions. I'll not be a victim of a particular logic that reinforces limit and governs my thoughts, behavior and results (personal or professional) accordingly."

And herein lies a crux moment. Because in order for us to open ourselves up to this new way of thinking, we have to question our own identity. I have therefore, aligned purpose very closely with identity - knowing how we think, knowing what drives our behavior (motive), and questioning various behavioral patterns.

Clearer identity will result in a clearer sense of purpose. In accordance with identity I have outlined a few other areas that need to be considered when developing higher levels of purpose. Here they are.

• Purpose works from a space of freedom. It is non-restrictive. As soon as you place a limit on purpose you confine yourself to the realm of the ordinary. And purpose is definitely not ordinary - it is the highest form of intelligence, personal development, spiritual growth and human capability.
• Purpose is expansive. In order to develop higher purpose you need to adopt an expansive mindset. For greater insight into the expansive mindset click here.
• Purpose requires intimate knowledge and development of skills, talents and passions. When we advance in all 3 areas we automatically begin to tap into higher levels of purpose. The more time we spend on honing our skills and talents towards what we enjoy doing and using this to make a difference in the world, the greater our purpose will be.
• Purpose stems from a belief system. This system is built on something greater than self. Yet paradoxically it comes from a deep inner motivation, something not so much driven by external circumstances - and clinging to the outcome of those circumstances. Rather, purpose is intrinsically aligned with overcoming challenges and complexity from within a higher self. What challenges you and gives you that sense of fulfillment for moving through the challenge? Therein you will develop your purpose. 

So just to recap, purpose is not something to discover out of thin air. It's more something to grapple with, to feel uncomfortable about. Purpose evolves out of a belief system that goes beyond the confines of limit to a much higher path of personal growth and development. In order for us to emerge at these higher levels of purpose we need to engage with identity and all its complexity. And stay in the question!

Words like...

adamant, arbitrary, argumentative, arrogant and autocratic, all pertain to the pejorative 'I' - the victim, the poor me complex or the ego.

People in these states take little, or no responsibility for their thoughts, feelings or behavior. Instead, a person displaying these attitudes will enjoy shifting the blame. Often on to external circumstances. They may speak the words, "It's not my fault," to absolve themselves of responsibility.

When we transform these fear-driven states, we begin to take responsibility for our attitudes and behavior and we can start to use words like; aware, awakened, humble, relevant, cooperative. Words more akin to an expansive mindset.

A Zen Aspirant...

will focus on continuous and lifelong practice in the direction of becoming a fully awakened and aware humane being.  Zen places special emphasis on practicing moment to moment awareness in daily life throughout everyday of the week. 

2 years ago I went on a meditation retreat where I meditated for 10 hours a day for 10 days. I was taught to be present to the nature of reality as it is, without trying to control whatever arises from moment to moment. Aches and pains, physical sensations, thoughts all arise and then pass away. Such is the impermanence of being. 

While I believe this type of intense training was necessary for my own personal growth, I don't believe that we all have to undergo such intense training to integrate more and more awareness into our daily lives. 

This is where we can learn from Zen; Zen emphasises the training of attention and bare awareness, while infusing this into everyday life. 

As soon as you notice yourself getting irritated or agitated, empty your mind by allowing whatever is consuming your thoughts to arise and then pass away, like a cloud drifting across the vast expanse of sky.

Take a leaf from the book of the Zen aspirant by noticing the feeling and being present to that and the nature of reality as it is in that moment. And continue to practice this throughout your day, throughout your week. What happens? 

Working Within The Constraints.......

is not something we're used to because it creates a lot of discomfort. Constraints are traditionally seen as the problem. Constraints are deemed restrictive and confining - like you're wearing a jacket a couple sizes too small for you.

This is because we're pushing back against the constraints to try and control them. This ends up depleting the amount of space we have to work in. This also constrains our creativity. We end up trying to overcome the constraints as a solution to the problem.

However, this way the constraints are still there, except now we are working around them. Kinda like tip toeing around shattered glass to make sure that no shards get lodged into your bare feet. Our natural growth, development and progression is halted, reigned in and made smaller by our having to work around the constraint.

I would say that a better way to deal with a constraint would be to acknowledge its presence. Only by acknowledging the presence of the constraint can we begin to understand its nature. If we have the relevant knowledge of the constraints, we can begin to work from within them. And this is where the most unique and creative solutions to our problems come from.

Constraints shouldn't then be seen as something separate from the problem - something to be dodged like Ben Stiller dodging balls on Dodgeball. Instead of resisting the constraints and trying to push-back against them to get rid of them or control them, see if you can first acknowledge them, understand them, feel into them and embrace them.

Allow your ideas to grow organically out of the constraints that are preventing your business or life from moving forward in the direction you want. This will end up giving your life and work more definition, more meaning and much more fulfillment.

Ernie Schenck, the creative director and writer described working from within the constraint best when he said, "the biggest secret of productive creative people is that they embrace obstacles, they don’t run from them. In their minds every setback is an opportunity, every limitation is a chance. Where others see a wall, they see a doorway."

How to Handle Difficult Situations

What happens when we handle a situation with disdain? When we're left with that lingering bitter aftertaste in our mouths? Something happens that fundamentally questions our values, our world-view, our motive for participation or our perception (of self or external environments).

Perhaps we've spent hours working on a project only for someone to come along and question its validity... Or, maybe we clash with a work colleague, friend, spouse or partner on a certain issue.

The point is, something happens which shifts our perception of the way things 'should be.' This mind altering shift generates an uncomfortable feeling inside of us as who we are, our message, and where we're coming from is called into question.

Dealing with such a situation is never easy. It's profoundly difficult to take on the other person's perspective when ours has just been questioned by the same person. This is why we end up resisting or pushing back against their point-of-view. We feel that we need to protect or preserve who we are through resistance.

The problem in dealing with a situation in this manner is that the 'incident' ends up causing us more pain and discomfort in the long run. Looking back on the time when our perspective was questioned, we begin to realize that the way we responded influenced our very own state of consciousness. No we weren't relaxed and no, we didn't respond in a calm, focused way.

And this is precisely the cause of either a lack of motive, means or maturity. Because we're unable to take on the other person's perspective, our attitude to and response (behavioral and communicative) to the situation only deepens our pain. We experience the situation through emotions like anger, stress or frustration. Words like, "You don't understand me," ring forth from our lips.

Only by very intentionally relaxing into the psychological contraction can we begin to understand where the other person is coming from (regardless of whether we agree with them or not). And only then can we respond with heightened focus, intention, skill and intelligence. Next time you're faced with a difficult situation, see if you can relax into the present moment. How does this influence your relationship to the person or situation?

Mastering States of Consciousness

Besides some already established Eastern traditions, we place little significance on mastering states of consciousness. By states of consciousness I mean our ability to stay present to, and not influenced by negative states driven by fear, such as stress or anger?

We spend far more time developing strategies and tactics to get us to where we want to go. The time, effort and the stress created out of developing these strategies and tactics ends up negatively impacting not only our well being, but also our productivity. 

I'm not suggesting we don't need relevant strategies and tactics to help us along the way. I am however suggesting that the strategies and tactics we use would align much better and flow a lot easier if we learnt to master states of consciousness too. 

The future will increasingly demand that we develop rare and valuable skills for new systems more useful to us and our environments. Developing rare and valuable skills can be profoundly demanding and uncomfortable. Mastering states of consciousness, like fear and all it's negative emotions, holds more weight now than ever before. 

8 Paths to Future Success

Here are 8 paths, that I believe, will be integral to future success.

1. Work: Have you aligned your interests as best you can with your skills? Are you allowing work to govern you, or are you steering the work-ship? How best do you spend your time at work? How best do you apply your gifts at work? How much force or energy are you putting into your work? Are you able to overcome obstacles and achieve your objective at work? All relevant questions about work.
2. Passion: Cal Newport (Study Hacks) has done some interesting research on passion. His work shows that passion is not something to be 'found' in the traditional sense. Passion is more something to be cultivated through hours and hours of honing a unique and valuable skill. It's not that important to know our passion. It's more important to make a choice, just decide to do something, to become so good at something that it becomes your passion. Steve Jobs was never passionate about computers to start with, he was into Eastern philosophy. But he saw a gap, went with it, and made computers his passion, and boy was he successful. You can find Cal Newport's talk on passion here.
3. Motivation: motivation is intrinsically linked to psychology. Know the inner workings of your mind, and know your motivation. Motivation is the desire to achieve a goal. We all have a need to grow and achieve, this is part of human nature. The question is how do we channel this desire into motivation to take the steps towards our goal? Research shows that you need to be specific is this regard. Don't just say to yourself, "I'll do my best." Setting the achievement bar high will result in far better results than simply trying to "do your best."
4. Focus: I have recently developed a separate post on how develop higher levels of focus to achieve your goals. You can find this here.
5. Creativity: I think one of the best ways to explore getting more creative is through a process of trail and error. Most of us want to be more creative, but we let fear get the better of us. That inner voice of the victim sounds loud and clear; "oh you'll never be any good at that!" Or, "just think of how bad you'll sound, look, feel if you try sing, dance, act, or write!" The victim mindset dissolves any form of responsibility for creativity, leaving us more miserable than before. Be aware of this and take action despite of any insecurities so creative juices may be allowed to flow.
6. Inspire: I think the degree to which we can inspire ourselves is the same degree to which we can inspire those around us to take action aligned with our vision. If we're not interested, excited or eager to participate, cooperate or co-create, then others will pick-up on our energy, negatively impacting the results we want. I think so much of being inspired and inspiring has to do with taking responsibility for our thoughts and actions. Because if we take responsibility for the creative process then there's no room for negativity. The more fired-up we are about what we have to offer, the more fired-up those around us will be.
7. Teamwork: We're moving into a time of greater connection and cooperation. We need more of this in our work environments as systems and ways to make money get more complex. We are not machines that work with narrow focus in a cubicle piling through work all day. Even introverts thrive on teamwork where their unique gifts can be utilized for the good of the whole. Effective teamwork involves having conversations using authentic communication. This means asking people how they feel, understanding their needs and working together to have each-others needs met. Simple. Yet we like to complicate the way we connect and communicate.
8. Vision: and to finish off a big one. Vision! Vision is an integral part of designing and creating the future. Vision is uniquely part of purpose. This means understanding identity, context (systems) as well as feeling into the future to see how we move forward. Sure, when something's not working we have to go back to the drawing board to tweak a bit here or there. But the core of our vision, I would say, is a delicate balance of heart and mind.

I hope you find these paths and travelling them, rewarding for future success.

Developing Focus

Working with high focus is important to achieve the results we desire. Focus requires a high degree of intention. We can prepare and prepare, but we cannot prepare for everything. We're not in control of everything.

So when something shifts our focus and we're diverted off track, how can we still make sure we end with the result we were looking for in the first place? I would say we need 3 things to make sure we get back on track and focus to get the job done.

1. High Intention: what is your purpose? What are you looking to achieve? What are you looking to create and how can you use intention to make this happen? Focus is driven by intention, it's the fuel for focus, for honing in on your goal. Do you have a clear intention in place, or do you not know why you are on the path to achieve your goal?
2. A unique and valuable skill: we all know it takes time to develop unique and valuable skills; all part of mastery. To what extent have you developed your skill and how does this make you unique and valuable to other people. What can you offer that others can't? Are you so good at something that other people simply can't ignore you?
3. A state of consciousness: here's one of the master keys to focus. If you're caught in negative states like fear, anger, stress or anxiety then your focus will be diminished. Your state of consciousness needs to be very relaxed, open, aware and present for a high level of focus to emerge. A good way of checking in is to ask yourself what's driving your behavior? What's your motive for participation? 

All these 3 aspects will assist you in developing clearer, stronger and more powerful focus. And the greater your focus, the greater your ability to achieve the outcome you're looking for.

Dealing with Existential Fear

Today's post is in response to a comment I received on yesterday's post on fear. I think it would be relevant for me to explore the topic of existential fear in today's post as this is what came up in the comment. How do we stop creating existential fear to begin with so we don't get caught up in negative states like worry, stress and anxiety?

I think this is such an interesting question and particularly relevant to our current context. Why? Because there's a lot of uncertainty at this time and many of our leaders either in large corporate organisations or government continue to disregard many of the issues at hand. 

But this is where I think we need to become clear. Through awareness, education and knowledge of what's going on from a systemic point of view we can be better prepared to handle existential fear. But if we move into the future blind, with no real understanding of systems and how they affect us, then we will forever be victims of existential fear. 

So let's take a step back. What do we need to increase our knowledge and understanding of our current context to help eliminate any form of existential fear? Well we need to understand that we have entered a period of declining or even negative growth. We live on a finite planet and the resources that we've been consuming can no longer sustain the level of growth that we've experienced in the past. 

Exponential growth, that's a doubling period every 7 years, cannot be sustained. This form of growth has deeply impacted our environment as well as systems, be they financial or political. We have also hit peak oil, that means that oil is unlikely to drop below the $100 a barrel mark ever again. Oil prices will continue to rise as ways to extract oil from the earth get increasingly complex. 

There's 2 other important factors I would like to mention: being able to sustain astronomic levels of debt and climate change. Debt has crippled economies throughout the world due to the global financial crisis of 2008. And the increase in temperature, although not yet remarkable, has been set in motion. Super storm Sandy will pale in comparison to future climatic catastrophes if something's not done about climate change. 

It's not my intention to be a scaremonger. On the contrary, I think knowledge of what's going on will mean that, although the future is unknown and unpredictable and may cause discomfort, a knowledge of the facts will make existential fear a lot less gripping. 

Secondly, I would argue there's a great opportunity here to get involved in the forming of a new earth, with new systems, systems more aligned with our human nature. Nature not driven by greed or fear, but a nature grounded in community and connection and whole hearted participation. We each have unique gifts to offer, why not begin to use those gifts to create a more healthy and peaceful world? 

And finally, there has to be a strong intention in our actions and thoughts. We have to be driven by a strong sense of purpose. And this comes from understanding who we are and what we have to offer to the social or enviromental movement. How can we use our gifts and craft our skills to create something meaningful that will make a difference? 

When we're grounded in our purpose then the existential fear doesn't matter a great deal. Sure, the fear may be there and we have to be present to it and not resist it, but our sense of interest and excitement about creating the future we want to see, can carry us through the fear with relative ease. 

Perhaps much of not getting caught up in existential fear requires that we talk about it. Have conversations about our feelings and our needs in times of increasing uncertainty and change. Maybe it's time we opened up to our existential fears instead of burrying them under victim states of fear that cause so much pain and suffering...? However uncomfortable this may be. 

Fear & Negative States

All negative states - anger, frustration, anxiety, depression, greed, sadness.... the list goes on, have at their core an underlying assumption of fear.

What is this fear and where does it come from? Fear is generated out of a psychological contraction which sends a message via a chemical reaction in our brain to our physiological make-up. The message is; there's something wrong here. Our instinct or the 'fight/flight' response kicks in.

Back in the day when we were hunter gathers, we needed this basic instinct to protect ourselves from danger. However nowadays, we use this fear to drive negative states such as the feelings described above. Basically there are 3 forms of fear.

1. Pathological Fear: this is caused by history, past events or past trauma. This effects us in that when anything from a past trauma is simulated in our current context, the fear that we experienced then can be triggered in the same way now.
2. Current or Circumstantial Fear: this is fear that arises in the moment. Our current context results in a contraction which drives negative states.
3. Existential Fear: this is caused by the unknown or concern or worry about what's going to happen in the future. This causes fear to arise which can give way to emotions like anxiety, stress or overwhelm.

The thing we don't realize is that the brain perceives all these sources of fear as exactly the same. Whether its caused by past events or current circumstances is irrelevant. The brain only recognizes the fear, the idea of something wrong and this causes the chemical reaction (fight or flight) to kick in. In this instance it's the negative state that drives our behavior often causing us to make bad decisions, or behave in an immature way or not get the results we were looking for.

So how to transform fear? One way would be to deal with the pathological nature of fear - the past trauma. One would need to, with the help of a psychologist, recreate the events of the trauma. The feelings that came up at the time of the event could then be acknowledged, felt and, over time, transcended. This process takes long though.

A much quicker way is to transform fear in the moment. But for this you need to undertake the necessary training. You have to learn to be very present to fear. You have to learn to feel fear fully in the moment in order to transcend fear. There has to be a higher level of self motivation or intentionality to transform resistance to the uncomfortable nature of fear in the moment. 

To develop self-mastery, you have to take full responsibility for the nature of fear. The greater your intention, the faster you will progress. What you resist persists. Accept the fear, surrender to it, to transcend the fear and all its associated negative states. Then you will be able to act with calmness, clarity and purpose.

A Divided Company vs a Connected Company

A divided company is made up of a hierarchy. Since the industrial revolution companies have been viewed in terms of a division of labor. People are compartmentalized in 'boxes' from top (few people) to bottom (many people) in a pyramid scheme. There's also a hierarchy of tasks and goals.

This type of system is common especially among large organisations where the work environment is viewed as stable and the job description is well defined. Here's the problem with this system. 

There's been a shift in the global economy. The percentage of manufacturing (stable processes) has shrunk while the percentage of services (changing, dynamic, and variable) has increased. 

I called my service provider yesterday with a unique problem. I listened to a series of voice prompts. Press 1, press 4 etc. I had to wait 20 minutes to speak to a person but that person was unable to solve my problem so I got transferred to someone else. 

This is a classic case of a divided company. You end up bouncing around from person to person, until eventually you have to speak to someone at director or VP level, to get your problem solved. 

The broken, ineffective nature of how the divided company goes about trying to solve your problem is because invariably the problem spans a number of different functions. 

How is this different in a connected company? A connected company works more like a holarchy. What does this mean? It means that each part of the company is connected in working for the good of the whole. 

If we look at the same scenario of phoning into a company with a problem, firstly you would get a real person answering the phone. That person is authorized to solve your problem. What if they can't? 

Instead of transferring you, they tap into a network of people who have the knowledge to solve your problem. They stick with you while they gain the necessary help to solve your problem. Your problem is their problem which is part of the greater whole. 

Rather than being organised as a hierarchy, a connected company operates as a network of individuals and teams responsible for serving the customer's needs. Although each person may operate as an individual business unit, they nevertheless represent the entire company, owning the whole of the problem. 

There will still need to be part of the company that operates the traditional way (hierarchical/divided) to get through standard business tasks or processes.

But the service part of the company (based on variables) that requires human judgement and creativity/ innovation is better served by connected holarchies to solve unique problems in the workplace. 

How to Find Your Flow

The above graphic was developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi as a part of his work on flow.

It shows that we enter a state of flow when there's matching levels of challenge and skill. We're relaxed, interested and focused all at the same time. There's just the right amount of tension to challenge ourselves with - not too much (overwhelm) and not too little (boredom).

For flow to exist there must be a balance between the challenge at hand and the skills of the person engaged in the challenge. If the task is too easy or too difficult, flow cannot occur. The challenge must test the skills of the performer, but the performer's skills must be developed enough for him to move through the challenge with meaning and purpose.

When we're in a state of flow we're said to be in the groove or in the zone. It's almost as if time stands still. There's also no concept of the egoistic self. One is fully immersed in the activity, and there's a seamless movement between thought and action.

I would argue that the more we refine our unique skills, the greater our capacity to enter more deliberately into states of flow. The more we work at shaping our crafts, the more enjoyment we gain out of engaging in challenges that put our skills to test. This gives us the opportunity to enter into increasing flow.

Flow can then be built into who we are as human beings, adding to our happiness and well being.

Horizontalidad (flat structure)

Horizontalidad or 'flat structure' was a term coined in Argentina in the late 1990's. At the time, Argentina was going through a particularly difficult economic period, a crisis, where industry fell to 16% of GDP from 30% in 1975. Wages also fell by 20% between this period.

It was only until the middle class were effected by the crisis as well as subsequent bank closures, that the Argentian people formed a 'flat structure' in the way they did things.

They realized they could no longer rely on government to meet their fundamental needs so they gathered in neighborhoods to support each-other. Eventually these gatherings turned into local assemblies that participated in protests, created a barter economy, community gardens with food sharing, collective kitchens and other vehicles combating the problems of the time.

Workers took over factories too and ran them themselves while providing service to local communities. The reason I write about this movement that occurred in Argentina in the late 1990's is because I believe we can learn a lot from it.

It shows that the full participation of ordinary people through direct democracy and other participatory vehicles, can create a system that can cater to their direct needs.

I think much of the future economy will depend on the formulation of such a system. With the economic growth cycle in decline, we will need to figure out new ways of meeting our needs, and we can do this by forming local communities of scale.

Much of these local communities will need to be formed at grass roots level - where all new systems begin. Only once they've taken on a semblance of effectiveness at these lower levels can we begin to integrate them into higher and further reaching levels of society, such as government.

But I think the key could lie in using a flat structure when building new economies. This way we can integrate what works and refine what doesn't work. A flat structure allows for this playfulness in that the idea of right or wrong doesn't have such dire consequences. The focus gravitates more towards what is more or less useful according to our context and our needs in that context.

The Future of Work..?

What will the future of work look like?

The traditional model of work goes something like this: get grades to get into university. Study and learn what they give you to get your degree. Find a job aligned with your degree and then work your way up the ladder in that company for say 10 years.

The system is very systemized. You're put into a system, told what to do, and paid to do it. The company requires anticipated behavior to eliminate as much risk as possible. Structures are hierarchical (top down), people are viewed as cogs in the system, not necessarily paid to think, but paid to follow rules and regulations.

But people's mindsets are shifting as expectations rise, structures change and a global consciousness emerges.

So what will the future of work look like? Well there's no way of predicting at this stage, but there are some patterns/dynamics emerging. What will these changes be based on? Rapid change for one. Work will need to be more fluid and flexible to fit increasing flux.

Work will no longer follow a linear path, it will be more expansive, more transitional. Work will come from who we are as individuals. We will need to take greater responsibility for the direction of our work through self-awareness, knowledge and a deeper understanding of systems (personal, organizational and environmental).

A lot of our work will revolve around mastering skills associated with our strengths as well as the ability to adapt to game changing technologies and scenarios. Greater emphasis will be placed on personal development. The internet has made all types of information readily available so there's no longer an excuse for not knowing something in your specialization.

Finally and by no means least of all, there'll be an ironing out of hierarchies, an integration of mentoring and coaching and a fostering of environments to nurture and grow talent. People will gravitate towards greater levels of autonomy and purpose in their work. There'll be more aligning of skills and interests.

The power must lie with both employee and employer to see that authentic communication, skills training, emotional intelligence, self-improvement, and the seeking of new knowledge all happens in conjunction with each-other.

Questioning Limiting Beliefs (and Morphic Fields)

Beliefs, assumptions, ideologies, and ultimately behavior and attitudes all make up part of who we are. We gain these different parts of ourselves through various influences such as parents, culture, the ideas of our times and people we spend time with. There is even scientific evidence available that proves that much of who we are has been passed on through 'morphic fields.' Although it is not my intention to get all scientific in this article, let me just explain what a 'morphic field' is.

A 'morphic field,' is a term applied by English scientist and author Rupert Sheldrake. His research digs into parapsychology and 'morhic resonance' in relation to topics such as animal and plant development, behavior, memory, perception and cognition. Basically a 'morphic field' is within and around a 'morphic unit' which organizes its characteristic structure and pattern of activity. The idea is that a collective group with an already established 'morphic field' will read the collective information of that field through what he terms 'morphic resonance,' using this to guide its development.

So how does this relate to my topic of questioning limiting beliefs? Well, it really goes to the core of who we are, our make-up and how our beliefs and assumptions serve us, or not. For example, our patterns of thought influence the way we behave,  our attitudes and even how we communicate with other people. This has a profound effect on our relationships, how we feel about ourselves (our sense of self-worth), together with the results we experience in our lives.

Most of the time we don't really question the usefulness of our beliefs, assumptions or ideologies. They guide us as opposed to us guiding them. This can have a limiting effect on our personal and social development.

Say I went to a school where I was teased a lot as a kid. As a child we don't have the maturity or experience to deal with this effectively. It can often get stored in our sub conscious only to have limiting effects later on in life. Such an experience (of there's something wrong) can be integrated into the child's identity. Over time if this perception is not healed, it may result in a subsequent fear that takes hold of the person and causes overwhelming stress.

How does this manifest itself? It could manifest in a number of ways, but if the perception is fear-based, it will always stem from the core assumption of limit. It may for example, result in a person believing she is never good enough, or not worthy of success, or she may develop a deep-rooted fear of rejection. Quickly we can see how these limiting beliefs are played out through the role of the victim. Such a belief can then be fulfilled through various means such as work, relationships or identity.

However, as soon as we question the very basis of this core assumption, we can begin to observe its limiting nature. Ultimately everything has a limit, some things more than others, but for our purpose of growth and development we need to find which are more useful than others. Through the questioning process we can begin to examine our core beliefs, transform them, deconstruct them, or simply replace them with new, more relevant and healthy beliefs and ideologies. Ones that will result in attitudes and behaviors more aligned with our growth and development.

We can then work at creating the results we desire.

5 Ways to Shift your Perspective for Life Improvement

We all need ways to improve health, wealth, business, families and relationships.

Here are 5 ways to improve your life in any of the above categories.

1. Focus on concrete behaviors more than abstract goals. An abstract goal may be something like, I need to get in shape. A concrete behavior is something like focusing on walking 15 minutes today, 20 minutes tomorrow, and 30 minutes the next day.
2. Focus on taking baby steps. I know this is a bit of a cliche but there's tremendous value in not trying to do everything in one day. I have been working at transitioning over to more of a whole foods and raw plant food diet. I know I can't do this overnight - my system would reject such a radical change. It's a process and I have to work  at integrating more of this food into my daily diet. Seek tiny successes as opposed to massive leaps.
3. Create new behaviors that make old ones obsolete instead of resisting, pushing back or trying to change old ways of doing things. I have learnt this over time, and it's so important to integrate new, more healthy behaviors while dissolving old patterns of thinking and behaving that no longer serve you. Otherwise you're just going to replace what was there with the same again because these systems are hard wired into our body/mind and therefore behavior.
4. Ask yourself what's the underlying assumptive base for you wanting to change whatever it is you're seeking to change. Often we seek change for the wrong reasons. For example is your need to change the result of a 'fight/flight' response to something that is causing you a lot of discomfort. I think it's better to observe where this comes from. Then you can go about changing the core assumption which will be better for your all round growth.
5. If you keep getting the same results perhaps it's time to shift your focus for a new perspective. A great way to do this is to ask yourself some different questions that will allow you to see your problem in a new light. Often by shifting our awareness we immediately create an opening for relevant change to take place. If you're having difficulty finding the right questions, or posing of yourself the difficult questions needed for growth, seek help. A coach is a great way to help you gain perspective on the areas that perhaps you may be overlooking.

Growth can be immensely challenging, so be patient with yourself. It takes time and perseverance. Reward yourself for the tiny successes. Its those small successes that add up to the bigger ones. Change, especially behavioral, communicative and relational is a process of connecting the dots for more relevance, greater purpose as well as more joy in what you do.