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Why Clarity.....
....and why now?
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Greetings!
We can no longer fathom watching standard definition TV broadcasts. We HAVE to view our sporting events, National Geographic programming and late night comedy in HD -- High Definition.
HDClarity is an e-zine for those wanting to develop more trust, understanding and camaraderie in their work environment, and their life in general. A smoother running team is a more profitable team. They get things done faster, for less cost. If you'd like to discover methods for developing High Definition Clarity in your daily life, please read on.
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"In basketball -- as in life -- true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when things are going your way."
Bill Jackson - Sacred Hoops
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Transmissions, 6th gear....and more?
Let's review driving 101...
1st Gear - Struggle. It's like
the first step of a 12-step
program. Admit that we have a
struggle. For some it's relationships. For others it's a fixation on
mediocrity. I've got clients who obsess
about not belonging to the same Club their neighbor belongs to. These
are all "Stuggles". They're as personal as hygiene....you OWN them,
but recognizing them is critical.
2nd Gear - Want.
Taking the struggle and converting it to a "Want". Remembering that "WANTING" something is a far
more valuable to long-term change than "NEEDING" it.
3rd Gear - What's in the way.
Here's where we realize that what's standing
in the way is never external. It's not
the boss. It's not lack of money. It's not your in-laws. It's not
your stupid direct report. The impediment is your concept of
history...your life-script....your inherited, learned rules of life. It's our DISC profile. It's our mothers and fathers still defining us our abilities and limitations for us.
It's REALLY hard to get out of 3rd.
Review 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gears in detail
4th Gear - Decision. This is why "WANT" is so important. An overwhelming "WANT" guides us to a DECISION
to do something about it. Handling a "NEED",
on the other hand, rarely, if ever, involves real choice. We resolve a "NEED" because our history (our Knower/Judger,
K/J) says we HAVE TO. We DECIDE to
acquire our WANT because we are observing unfiltered data and are in a mode
(Learner/Researcher, L/R) to improve our condition.
5th Gear - Act!
If we simply fail to dump the clutch and accelerate, nothing
happens. DECIDING is not enough to
affect a change. What actually happens
here is that our L/R re-programs our K/J with NEW
RULES! NEW
SCRIPTS! By altering the K/J, we
actually take the first steps at becoming something different than we were
moments earlier (as defined by our K/J).
Review 4th and 5th Gears in detail
Are we done? We're
breezing along in 5th gear...100-110 mph. We've successfully worked our way through the
gears by recognizing our struggle, figuring out what we want, identifying what's
in the way, deciding to alter our internal messages about that and JUST
DOING IT (Nike has the right idea.....it's just damned hard to start out in 5th
gear!). How can we be sure this all
stays in place?
6th GEAR! - Be open to new data and adjust!
The most competent cars on the road these days don't stop at
5 gears...they have 6 and sometimes more.
Why? Because it gives the driver
more choices. More choices for keeping
the engine operating in the power band of RPMs.
6th gear is where you begin to realize that life can be
whatever you want it to be. Your team
can develop into that lean, mean productive machine you always heard about in
b-school. You are totally
accountable. Somewhere back in 3rd
gear, it started to become evident that it's not "THEM" that keeps you in your
mediocre mode. It's not "if only" that
holds you back. It's not "THEY WON'T
LISTEN TO ME" that makes your team's productivity suffer. When YOU realize that YOU create your own
reality (see HDClarity issue on Ho'oponopono April 2009 for explanation)...that
YOU are responsible for the successes and failures that surround you, then YOU
are cruising in 6th gear. At
130 mph, who else is gonna steer? Shift?
Brake? Watch the gauges? Coordinate all that? That's a LOT OF WORK!
Scary, huh? Maybe
that's why most don't use any more than 1st through 3rd. Safe.
Totally within the understanding of an embedded K/J. Never too fast.
Never too much responsibility. Always someone, something else to hold
accountable....besides you.
6th gear is a lot of work. You're always wondering "what's over that
crest?"..... "can the tires hold on this surface?" "Do I need to
downshift and get more data?" "How is this serving me...is this where
I WANT
to be?" There is a certain element of
struggle even in 6th gear. A
certain element of fear. It's fast! Is it TOO
fast? Am I talented enough with all this
going on to get through the course....around the corner....to the
finish line? Is it where I wanted my DECISION (4th
gear) to take me?....or is FEAR going to repel me...is FEAR in the way
(3rd
gear)?
Downshifting is allowed, even necessary from time to time. New data becomes evident. You change your WANT, and up through the
gears you go again. 6th gear
is EXCITING. It's work and you develop
your skills the more time you spend in it and the more miles you have on your résumé. Your reactions to approaching turns and
changes in road surface become fluid. Race drivers know they're getting in tune with
their cars when they experience the feeling that the car is "slow". It feels "slow" even though it's traveling at
130 mph because the driver has built up a useable library of responses to all
the various data that's input. He's "on top" of all the possibilities. His hands twist the wheel like a potter and
his feet dance the pedals like Baryshnikov.
Check this video of the late great Colin McCrae explaining
my concept of 6th gear to an amazed reporter. Tea anyone?
And no, he didn't die in a rally car wreck. He was piloting his personal helicopter when
it malfunctioned and crashed near his home in Scotland.
As you watch McCrae, you'll notice that he's not really
consciously thinking about anything he's doing...yet the skill level is
undeniable. He's piloting his car one a
one lane gravel road at speeds approaching 100mph while carrying on a perfectly
normal conversation with the reporter. Tiger Woods plays golf "in-the zone". Tennis stars like Roger Federer and Rafael
Nadal frequently report a low level of consciousness when they are performing
at their very best. They don't THINK
about their next move. They just MOVE. Perhaps you've even experienced a time when
you were so on top of what was occurring that you could navigate it with
literally no thought.
Voila! 7th
Gear! - Presence
 (click on picture to read about Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport)
The Zone!
The state of Zen Samadhi:
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The state of forgetting one's own heaviness.
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Becoming one with time, place, and circumstances.
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Becoming one with what one is doing; that which comes forth when one
becomes the life of the moment.
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Collected concentration in which subject is no different from object.
And just to be certain that we
don't only consider individuals being "in the zone", Phil Jackson's 1995 book "Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior" details how he took a team of
prima donna basketball stars (Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippin and Horace Grant to
name a few) and wove them into the most dominant team in basketball history using
wisdom from a Lakota Sioux medicine man and a Zen Master.
Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons Of A Hardwood Warrior
"Not only is there more to life than basketball,
there's a lot more to basketball than basketball." -- Phil Jackson.
One of the most successful coaches in NBA history, Chicago Bulls head coach
Phil Jackson provides an inside look at the higher wisdom of teamwork with
"Sacred Hoops" -- Jackson's philosophy of mindful basketball and his
lifelong quest to bring enlightenment to the competitive world of professional
sports. A new paradigm of leadership based on Eastern and Native American
principles, Jackson's approach flies in the face of the egoistic,
winner-take-all attitude that has changed the face of American sports. Rather
than winning through intimidation, Jackson
-- who describes himself as a Zen Christian -- stresses awareness, compassion
and most of all selfless team play. Filled with stories about Michael Jordan,
Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc and other members of the Bulls, "Sacred
Hoops" reveals how Jackson directs his players to act with a clear mind;
to respect the enemy and be aggressive without anger or violence; to live in
the moment and stay calmly focused in the midst of chaos, so that the
"me" becomes the servant of the "we." In "Sacred
Hoops, " Jackson takes us
inside the mind of the thinking man's coach as he builds one of the greatest
teams of all time. Not just for sports fans, this inspiring memoir is for
anyone interested in the potential of the human spirit.
I strongly urge you to read that
book if you have teams to lead....and having them "in the zone" would be in your
organization's best interest.
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Creating our own reality. Ray Charles had soul. Stevie Wonder has 22 Grammys and soul Nobuyuki Tsujii has the 2009 Van Cliburn....at 20 years old. (click on above photo to hear a clip of the 2008 Van Cliburn Competition Winner) Wall Street Journal,
Classical pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii listens to the conductor's breathing
for cues, since he can't see the baton. On stage, he feels for the
edges of the keyboard before he begins playing, to orient his hands. He
learns new pieces through
listening and memorization, rather than
reading the notes. The 20-year-old Japanese musician recently became
the first blind pianist to win the prestigious Van Cliburn
International Piano Competition. "I'm handicapped, but I have overcome
it," he said at a crowded press conference in Tokyo [...] At the press
conference, Mr. Tsujii said that Chopin and Beethoven are among his
favorite composers, and that he likes to sing karaoke, particularly
enka, or Japanese ballads. He was also asked what he would do if he
could see for a day. "I'd love to see my parents, and then my friends,
stars, ocean, fireworks, et cetera," he said. "But it's okay, because
I'm satisfied that I can see those with the eyes of my heart."
So what's your excuse? Stuck in 3rd gear?
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Archives
September, 2009 - 4th and 5th Gears
August, 2009 - 1st, 2nd, 3rd Gears
July, 2009 - Frustration, Cotton, Coaching
June, 2009 - Unlearning, Knower/Judger; Learner/Researcher
May, 2009 - Doubt
April, 2009 - Ho'oponopono
March, 2009 - The Sky is Falling
February, 2009 - USAir Fight 1549
January, 2009 - Let Go of the Past
December, 2008 - HDClarity introduction
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There is a clear and present danger.....when you are neither clear nor present.
Saving the planet one conversation at a time,
Kim DeMotte
Power of NO, Corporate CoDriver
kim@corporatecodriver.com
www.corporatecodriver.com
(877) 245-8250
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