Hearing the Signal
Slowing Time
You know the feeling of whizzing down the highway, maybe it’s a country back road, and passing by little towns where if you blink, you miss the entire town.
What happens when you slow down for a second, you begin to see in bright detail all of the things that looked like a blur when you were speeding through it.
The same thing happens in life, move too fast, and you’re unable to catch the details. Sometimes, those details are the things that provide you space, clarity, harmony, perspective, guidance, direction, purpose, and meaning.
Perhaps the obsession with speed is the fatal flaw of the modern world. Everyone and everything must get faster, more efficient, more productive, and constantly too. No wonder people aren’t hearing that deep inner signal, the one that directs them to the truth of their potential and provides the roadmap on how to live in order to realize that potential.
I talk a lot about the importance of physical activity in helping us slow down time so we can live in the present moment. In fact, you can go so deep as to engage in a ‘hyper present’ moment where there is effectively nothing else that exists except your effort in the moment. I certainly felt like this yesterday doing ‘suicide’ sprints on a local outdoor lacrosse playing field.
Another practice that helps ‘slow down’ time is reading. Physical books. Not listening to audio books, or scrolling your phone on kindle on digital books. Real books. Paper. Covers. The kind you can feel, touch, and flip through.
I’ve talked a lot about ‘caring’ this week (“Caring is Cool” and “The Art of Caring”. I want to show how ‘caring’ opens up the potential for deep meaning and self-discovery by sharing how reading by interest and caring deeply about that space opened up new ways for me to connect with and make deep impact in my coaching calls this week.
Finding the signs
First, you have to SLOW DOWN. Reading does just that.
I enjoy reading deep ideas early in the morning when my mind is primed with creativity and curiosity. I don’t have the distractions of the day yet upon me. I can brew a pot of coffee, sip it leisurely, get lost in a few pages, think deeply about what it all means, and then move into the next part of the morning.
By slowing down and getting inside the activity, things being to open up. Yesterday, I read 2 pages that literally floored me. It was all about the hero’s journey being a inner quest of self battle between the conscious and unconscious minds.
What was so neat about reading this passage in a famous text (“The Hero with 10,000 Faces by Joseph Campbell) was the striking similarity to my coaching ideals and practices.
Sign #1 is finding synergies between disparate streams of information. When is all comes together, that’s a deep sign that you’re on the right aim, moving in the right direction, and learning the right lessons as you go. It’s confirmation of purpose.
Because I’m so inside of my coaching calls, I’m passionate about helping my people, I have an intimate understanding of what drives them. Despite each individual being different, there are general patterns and solutions. Seeing my particular method map almost perfectly onto thousands of years of mythological development and hundreds of years of philosophic and psychologic explanation was a well needed signal.
Sign #2 is recognizing the synergy in relationships. Once you slow down and find the connections, you begin to see the synthesis between open hearts. This is where the coaching calls come full circle with the reading and running.
Both of these activities slow me down and tune me into my own internal frequency. Like my own radio dial where I have to search through the static to find the right signal.
When I’m running, I’m thinking about what I read and conversations I have in coaching.
When I’m reading, I’m thinking about coaching calls and what I think about when I run, and also the practice of running.
When I’m on a coaching call, I’m intimately listening so I can bring in experiences from running and wisdom from reading.
The fact that I read a deep passage in a book, related that exact passage on 2 different coaching calls, and then went on a run that solidified these ideas is such a GIANT signal that it’s impossible for me to miss.
But in order to catch them all together, I need to slow down and fine tune my ear through the open heart to hear them.
How you can capitalize
For me, it’s running, reading, and coaching that all come together to provide the strong signal of purpose and meaning in my life. It’s all brought together through CARE.
I don’t read a book like “Hero with 10,000 Faces” for the objective reasons someone thinks I should. I read it because I’m deeply interested in learning, I care about the knowledge for it’s own sake.
That care in turns opens up my ability to find the connections to my coaching and running, two other activities I care DEEPLY about.
When it comes to YOUR inner signal, how do you go about finding the frequency? How can you tune your radio dial to find the right signal?
The path is clear; engage yourself in activities you care deeply about that slow you down to the present moment.
That’s how you block out the noise and find your inner signal. The faint whisper becomes a loud bellow. The shadow becomes a high resolution picture. Crystal Clear!
Here’s the general pattern to follow:
Combine a physical activity, a creative activity, and a sharing/teaching activity together to find your signal.
The physical activity is your contact with reality.
The creative activity is your contact with passion.
The sharing/teaching activity is your contact with another open heart.
Put them together through the thread of care and interest and you’ll have NO TROUBLE finding your own inner signal. The noise dissipates.
All that’s left is finding the courage to listen and act on what comes through
BONUS HINT: Playing sports, doing creative work you love, and teaching something you’re good and passionate about can ALL give you the courage you need. More synergy, how about that!
You’ve got all the tools to find out what’s calling you from the inside, the dredge up the golden seeds of your potential and give them a place to root and grow strong. But the Hero also needs a guide or mentor when embarking on their dangerous journey. If you’re ready to take the plunge and start the necessary but treacherous work of self discovery and self improvement but require a guide, I’m ready to help point you in the right way and encourage you to believe in yourself. Send me a message using the button below and let’s connect about coaching, it would be my honor!
Happy Training Friends!
You’ll find the truth if you have the right intention about it. Funny how that always seems to be true.
Nice piece Jordan!