If you are not experiencing something you think you want in your life, a new job, new relationship, more money, simply put, its because you don’t have the space for it. Instead of trying hundreds of ways of making that thing come, put your focus on clearing space. This is something I have dedicated the past year to and continue to be present with which has meant spending much time alone and unplugged from the madding crowd. This of course means challenging the very strong parts of ego that are reliant on people’s approval, wanting to belong, the fear of missing out or being overlooked. But in the space, the space in between the thoughts and the emotions that arise lies peace and joy. A happiness that is not needy or dependent upon circumstances and stuff to be experienced. Stepping off, unplugging if you will, from the ‘way things are or should be” and feeling into spaciousness below the level of the noisy chatter monkey brain. Here is where I find who I really am and where I find what I truly want. This is where I find contentment with whatever turns up in the craziness of day to day life and a deep knowing that Iam OK and everything in my world is perfectly orchestrated and in perfect order.
This is what CoreTruth is about for those who feel that yearning inside to have this experience.
“peace. it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart” unknown
High Performance Teams – how to build one, the importance of collaboration and how a high performance team works from within the new paradigm of 100% personal responsibility.
For me, the success of building a High Performance team comes not solely from the more conventional ways of skills and behavioural training but more profoundly from the willingness for each individual to take 100% personal responsibility not only for themselves but for the whole team.
This is a Courageous way of turning up in the world because what it really means is that if there is a lack of performance in the team, it is highlighting a situation for each person to own rather than only the people directly with whom the issue shows up for. When we see an issue arise in a team where we are not getting what we really want, say a team member who is always dragging their heels or not meeting their promised deadlines, instead of having the attitude of, ‘ well that’s their problem, not mine’ a Courageous Leader would take a moment to look closely at what is occurring inside them to see in what way they are contributing to that dynamic.
Now, this is not initially an easy thing to do and perhaps why Courageously led high performance teams are not yet the norm because it just doesn’t make sense to our rational mind to accept that we have any effect over another person. We are unaware of how unconsciously we are effecting our experience and the people in it, all the time through how we are Being not just what we are Doing or saying. The communication within a team is 90% of the time non-verbal! That sounds crazy to our heads and that’s because we live in a world which places so much power in intellect and words without acknowledging the whole energetic communication piece. This is what is only just starting to be addressed in major corporate business environments when they talk of EQ or emotional intelligence.
Simply put, when each member of a team has a commitment to having a firm understanding of who they are, are practicing being mindful and present in the moment, are taking responsibility for not only how they show up but also for how the whole team shows up, that’s how a high performance team works in the new paradigm.
Collaboration sounds like such a lovely word and we talk a lot of how important it is to collaborate but when it comes down to it, how can there be true collaboration when there are individual agendas driving what is meant to be a team? And what’s more amusing is that most of those agendas are unconscious ones which come from inside each person.
Currently collaboration means something like ” I will listen to what you have to say and look like I will compromise on what feels right according to me in my framing of the world, so long as you ultimately see that MY way is the best way!”
How about choosing it to mean something more like this: “I commit to me turning up the best version of me in relationship to you and choosing to communicate my truth about what I feel and think about whatever it is we are aiming for and not withholding that or mind reading what I imagine you are thinking and feeling!”
This would foster a natural feeling of collaboration through authentic communication. Each person would be much more mindful of what they really meant and would listen for what someone was really saying and encourage (instill courage!) each member to fearlessly go for their whole truth. Now that would be a way of having a high performance team!
It takes Will to choose to stay in your centre while those around you appear to be immersed in their beliefs.
It takes Will to receive Truth from your intuition when your ego is screaming at you with its arsenal of thoughts and emotions.
It takes Will to experience your life with all its challenges and keep an open heart and mind.
Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.
When was the last time you experienced a crisis? Did it seem like it was the end of the world? Did you feel helpless, frustrated, burned-out or just down and depressed? Did you say to yourself, “This is the last straw. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired! This has got to stop. I can’t go another day like this.”?
Everyone experiences moments where outer circumstances appear to be an overwhelming crisis. To many these circumstances dominate and rule their lives. To some these crises leave lasting scars unless they are recognized as truly being blessings. When the worst crisis becomes your greatest blessing, you heal. Nature does not deliver crisis without opportunity or misfortune without blessing.
Some people have crises that drag out for years. Others seem to nip their crises in the bud almost immediately. It’s not the outer circumstances that necessarily create the crises. While they may elicit the crises, it is a person’s reaction that actually turns circumstances into crises. The length of time it takes for you to recognize your outer crisis as a blessing correlates with your degree of wisdom. Pure wisdom is the instantaneous knowing that each crisis in life is indeed a blessing. Some misfortunes don’t reveal their blessing easily, while others are recognized immediately. Hidden within all misfortunes are the seeds of an equal but opposite fortune.
With the world’s financial crisis, hundreds of thousands of people were let go or laid off from their jobs. Some of these people were left without income, some without other career opportunities and some, ultimately, without their families. At first sight, this may have been perceived as a crisis, however, many of those same people have undergone an in-depth soul-searching and re-evaluation of their lives, only to discover that they genuinely had a dream in their hearts to be, do and have something more than what they were previously experiencing and accepting. Other people have tapped into a more profound purpose for their life than what they were allowing, and are now making their meaningful dreams come true. They are now doing exactly what they always loved to do but never had the guts to do until the crisis occurred.
Crises are ultimately blessings. They are the flip side of the coin of life. Many people have been temporarily devastated by broken relationships only to discover at some later time that their supposed misfortune was a blessing. Their very loss was their ultimate gain. Whenever a door shuts, a window opens.
The longer you live, the more this seemingly paradoxical relation becomes evident and the more you see the correlation between past crises and future blessings. Through time and experience, your reactions subside and more patient actions result. Since blessings are seeded in crisis and it seems quite easy to be thankful for blessings, why not move wisely ahead and assume that any perceived crisis is a blessing? Be thankful for its strengthening qualities. Why not act thankfully instead of reacting pitifully?
As long as outer circumstances run your life, you can expect a life filled with crises. But as soon as you take charge of your reactions and change them into thankful actions, your life will begin to flow.
Be thankful. You won’t be confronted with a crisis you can’t handle. The next time you’re confronted with what appears to be a crisis, just ask yourself, “What is the hidden blessing?” The deeper you look, the easier you will find it. When you do, you can say “good-bye” to its corresponding frustration, anger and depression.
No tree stood strong without the wind.
No group stood strong without its heretic.
No person can be strong without a challenge.
So be thankful for yours.
Love and Wisdom,
Dr. John Demartini
