Help Keeping my Word to Myself...
I am part of a mastermind team. There are 4 of us who meet by telephone for an hour every week to support each other in attaining goals. I got permission from my team to have a theme, "Why do I love my life so much"? instead of a measurable goal. We take turns reporting what is working for us, what is not, and where we are headed next. The intent is to support, provide a forum for accountability and give feedback.
Yes, it is strange to belong to such a linear group. I joined before I had the flash to focus on a theme. Since I am marching to a different drummer than they are, I cleared my intention. Even with my loose format, I feel pressure of what to report to the team. I have identified activites I want to develop into consistent habits like "sitting still and doing nothing", blogging and living in a way food and exercise wise that maximizes my aliveness. Still, it is tough knowing what to say when I don't feel I did so good.
Knowing I will be speaking with them makes me follow though on my word to myself when keeping my word to myself isn't a strong enough motivation. I'd rather think I keep my word to myself as sacred but I admit I am still more consistent keeping my word to others. If I say I will meet you at a certain time, I will be there. If I say I will exercise at a certain time, I may slither out of my commitment. It is not one of my favorite traits but having observed this in action, I use my word to others to help me keep my word to myself.
Today one of the members didn't really want to share. He ended up going last as if he hadn't done enough. I know the feeling. Every week I have to think about what I have or haven't done or what I have or haven't paid attention to. Sometimes it feels like confession, like what I have done is not enough. He shared his story and had taken significant steps towards his goal and had pushed his personal growth by stretching into unfamiliar territory. But he keeps asking, "Am I really making progress towards my goal"? His goals are business and financial related. He took leaps but they are not yet showing up on his bottom line and so felt bad instead of good.
This is the very reason I wanted a theme instead of a goal. I was using goals to beat myself up instead of feeling good. I am about having experiences that demonstrate why I love my life so much. This last weekend I took a class on using Myofascial Release(MFR) on horses. MFR is my speciality for pain relief and I an excellent at it. I thought this class would further refine my touch with my clients, stretch my comfort zone in relating to animals and open additional avenues for treatment. It did all of these. But most of all it was an experience; me reaching up and working on a GIANT horse named Samson and watching his eyes close halfway, and his mouth drool as he leaned into what I was doing with him. Awesome. What goal does that fulfill? I had an experience! That is enough. even if I do nothing with it, it is enough. I stepped beyond my comfort zone and the horse leaned into me. We blended. It is enough.
In this instance I got immediate and awesome feedback. My colleague who felt he didn't have such a good week may have totally changed another persons life and never even know it. Even if someone came up and told him how moved they were by his sharing and life, he seemed to discount it. His goal does not seem to give him the joy of noticing the feedback along the way that can't be measured. He doesn't see how the bamboo roots are growing along underground and one day they will shoot up with force and majesty. It is part of the mastermind process to help him see that, to cheer his success and encourage him to persist when the results are not evident, yet.
Tonight I was speaking with a different mastermid group that is more loosely structured. They cheer me on. Some members read and enjoy my blog and tell me so! We were speaking about having experiences in search of delight pure and simple. That about sums it up. In the process I find why I love my life so much.
Yes, it is strange to belong to such a linear group. I joined before I had the flash to focus on a theme. Since I am marching to a different drummer than they are, I cleared my intention. Even with my loose format, I feel pressure of what to report to the team. I have identified activites I want to develop into consistent habits like "sitting still and doing nothing", blogging and living in a way food and exercise wise that maximizes my aliveness. Still, it is tough knowing what to say when I don't feel I did so good.
Knowing I will be speaking with them makes me follow though on my word to myself when keeping my word to myself isn't a strong enough motivation. I'd rather think I keep my word to myself as sacred but I admit I am still more consistent keeping my word to others. If I say I will meet you at a certain time, I will be there. If I say I will exercise at a certain time, I may slither out of my commitment. It is not one of my favorite traits but having observed this in action, I use my word to others to help me keep my word to myself.
Today one of the members didn't really want to share. He ended up going last as if he hadn't done enough. I know the feeling. Every week I have to think about what I have or haven't done or what I have or haven't paid attention to. Sometimes it feels like confession, like what I have done is not enough. He shared his story and had taken significant steps towards his goal and had pushed his personal growth by stretching into unfamiliar territory. But he keeps asking, "Am I really making progress towards my goal"? His goals are business and financial related. He took leaps but they are not yet showing up on his bottom line and so felt bad instead of good.
This is the very reason I wanted a theme instead of a goal. I was using goals to beat myself up instead of feeling good. I am about having experiences that demonstrate why I love my life so much. This last weekend I took a class on using Myofascial Release(MFR) on horses. MFR is my speciality for pain relief and I an excellent at it. I thought this class would further refine my touch with my clients, stretch my comfort zone in relating to animals and open additional avenues for treatment. It did all of these. But most of all it was an experience; me reaching up and working on a GIANT horse named Samson and watching his eyes close halfway, and his mouth drool as he leaned into what I was doing with him. Awesome. What goal does that fulfill? I had an experience! That is enough. even if I do nothing with it, it is enough. I stepped beyond my comfort zone and the horse leaned into me. We blended. It is enough.
In this instance I got immediate and awesome feedback. My colleague who felt he didn't have such a good week may have totally changed another persons life and never even know it. Even if someone came up and told him how moved they were by his sharing and life, he seemed to discount it. His goal does not seem to give him the joy of noticing the feedback along the way that can't be measured. He doesn't see how the bamboo roots are growing along underground and one day they will shoot up with force and majesty. It is part of the mastermind process to help him see that, to cheer his success and encourage him to persist when the results are not evident, yet.
Tonight I was speaking with a different mastermid group that is more loosely structured. They cheer me on. Some members read and enjoy my blog and tell me so! We were speaking about having experiences in search of delight pure and simple. That about sums it up. In the process I find why I love my life so much.
posted by Patricia @ 6:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home