Unfolding vs. Self Improvement
I've written about growth and transformation and what makes lasting change possible and I've contrasted that with our all too common common drive for constant self-improvement. There’s a little more I want to say about this, because it’s so prevalent in our culture. I have found there’s another way but first I want to make a few distinctions between self-improvement and development and introduce unfoldment.
Grounding and Centering Practice
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re transitioning from summer vacations, long days, outdoor activities, and often the more unstructured time of the summer. And many are adjusting to the back-to-school, back-to-work routines, structure, deadlines, and all the demands that come with this.
I’d like to offer a centering practice that can assist with this transition.
The Week
I recently hosted a group viewing of The Week. It is a powerful group experience that creates space for people to have brave conversations about the climate emergency, and what can be done about it right now. Here I share my reflections and point us to the wisdom of feeling our emotions and what is possible when we do so.
Meet the Inner Development Goals
The IDGs are a blueprint of the capabilities, qualities, and skills needed to build a world of peace, dignity, and prosperity on a healthy planet. The IDGs believe that personal development is necessary for societal change and that inner development could be the greatest possible accelerator to create a prosperous future for humanity. They can also help create a pathway to your developmental roadmap to discover more meaning, fulfillment, and purpose in your work and life.
Exploring the IDGs: Being & Relationship to Self
Over the next few weeks, I’ll look at each dimension of the Inner Development Goals and share some questions and ideas to help you identify skills that can bring focus to your developmental goals and commitments. And I’d like to start with the category that is the foundation of my coaching practice.
Relationship to self involves cultivating our inner lives and developing and deepening our relationship to our thoughts, feelings, and body to help us be present, intentional, and non-reactive when we face the complexity of our relationships and world today.
Exploring the IDGs: Thinking & Cognitive Skills
I’m diving into the capabilities, qualities, and skills emphasized in the Inner Development Goals framework and sharing some questions and ideas to help you identify skills that can bring focus to your developmental goals and commitments.
The next category is Thinking. Something we are doing constantly! But how do we expand our thinking skills to serve the bigger picture and purpose?
Exploring the IDGs: Relating
This category is about how we feel appreciation, care for, and connection to others, and how broadly we feel this. Deep care and contact help us create more sustainable systems and societies for everyone. A world that works for all.
Exploring the IDGs: Collaboration
The fourth IDG focus is Collaboration, which is a critical skill to support making progress on shared concerns. To collaborate and co-create, we develop our ability to include, hold space, and communicate with stakeholders with different values, skills, and competencies. To solve big problems, we need each other!
Exploring the IDGs: Acting
The final dimension in the Inner Development Goals framework is Acting. How we move forward, how we enable and drive change. This involves skills such as courage, optimism, and perseverance. But you may be surprised to consider how our creativity and imagination move us forward, not only individually but also for the greater good.
Transformation and Lasting Change
Transformation and change. What makes transformation possible? What gets in the way of change? These are big questions. It’s through responding and doing something differently and consistently that we feel the shift that some transformation has occurred.
Welcome to Wholeness
January is the time when we often look at the year ahead and set a resolution. Or maybe you simplify and just find a word to represent and guide your year. What I’d like to offer you instead is a bit of a paradox. What if you started with the premise that nothing is missing?
Becoming a Certified B Corp
B Corp is an opportunity to reaffirm your organizational DNA. Your purpose, who you are, and what you do. It voluntarily drives new organizational behaviors within a framework that provides rigorous assessment. It’s the only framework that provides a tangible and measurable road map but you get to decide what is most important and what to pursue. Inherent in the model is a bias to action. Small wins add up! It’s holistic and it focuses on learning and continuous improvement. And it’s stakeholder-driven. Win-win-win! So how do you start?
Golden Threads
In the tapestry of life, there isn’t just one golden thread, but many interwoven strands. To start on this journey, simply get curious, turn towards your inner world, and begin the delicate task of unraveling. The entry is simple; start anywhere. Start exactly where you are, at this very moment.