Much of what I talk about here has a high-octane element to it, packed with energy, action, and inspiration. And while that's a huge part of M.A.P. Making, it has a quiet cousin that can be an invaluable part of the equation: stillness.
In my work helping clients figure out how to put their passion to work to make a difference that inspires them, I notice that some of the ones who have the easiest time in the process are those who simply stop to listen to themselves.
It frequently starts like this. "Hold on, let me see comes up..." Then silence, followed by an insight like a descriptive word or phrase, an idea, or a feel for whether what we have just been talking about is on track.
Creating that space for stillness is like offering your mind a blank whiteboard to scribble on. It's a receptive approach, rather than active. It allows insights to come to you, rather than going out and hunting them down.
Unfortunately, most of us are so action and analysis oriented that we seldom stop for long enough to hear what our minds have to say when we're not in active mode.
Stillness can be a tremendously effective tool, whatever you're working on. Yesterday in a client session, for example, a client and I had reached a point in the process where the next step was for him to go off and do some work that didn't require my involvement. We were half-way through a one-hour session, and he was perfectly happy to call it a day and go focus on the task at hand.
Rather than wrapping up the session because there was nothing obvious to fill that time with, I stopped, closed my eyes, and waited. I wanted to see if there was anything else we should be focusing on.
Something we had talked about in a previous session jumped into the blank space. I said, "I have no idea if this is important or not, but this is what just came up." It turned out that it was incredibly important to revisit the topic just then, and we spent the remainder of the session exploring it.
Stillness frees up the space for your intuition to jump in and add its two cents. And even if it's an approach that's completely foreign to you, it's something you can develop over time. How?
Practice: The more you do it, the more familiar it becomes, and the more opportunity you have to understand how it works for you so you can build it into a functional habit.
Don't hunt down results: As you practice, don't worry about whether or not this is becoming a masterful new tool that will change your life. It may be enough of a challenge in the beginning just to learn to sit and allow stillness, let alone having amazing insights.
Think of the insights that come through this approach as shy wild animals that you can only get near if you stay still and let their curiosity bring them to you. Ultimately, they will come, but you can't force it.
Be curious: This relates to not focusing on results. Take an attitude of openness and curiosity. What's there? What might I find?
Accept the unimportant: Not everything that comes into that still space is going to be important. Rather than expecting it all to be valuable, recognize that what you're really doing is giving the insights the opportunity to come out in the open where you can examine them.
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Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst TM
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