Think back through your life: at the age of 16 you were not the same person as you were when you were six. And you were not the same person at 16 as you later became (or will become) at 26, 36, or 46. Throughout our lives, in different ways, we are always changing and becoming.
We are not just human beings, we are human becomings.
Just like a caterpillar, we do not stay the same. But unlike a caterpillar, we can make our becoming a deliberate, conscious process: with self-awareness we can choose what kind of butterfly we work to become.
The Churning, Inner Leadership describes several approaches that we can use to build this self-awareness. They include:
- Spending time in nature
- Meditation and exercise
- Creativity
- Identifying the people we most admire and the reasons why
- Clarifying what it will take for us to live a worthwhile life
- Finding what we love
- Getting clear on our purpose and values
The more we do these things, the deeper the clarity we gain about who we most want to become; the more we deliberately we can then focus our actions on becoming that person (no matter what is happening around us); the more adaptable we become; and the more energy and enthusiasm we have to take us to where we want to be.
In this time of change, simply realising that we are human becomings and taking our best next step to become that person are two more ways that we can become antifragile: able to use change to become stronger and more inspired, in the ways that matter most to us.
Are you clear who you most want to become? Are you actively taking steps (even small steps) to become that person?
Adapted from The Churning, Inner Leadership: a framework and a set of tools for building inspiration in a time of change.
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Photo By Magnus Hagdorn via StockPholio.net