When a crisis happens, do you tend to freeze, fight, or take flight?
People with strong Inner Leadership skills do none of these things. Instead, they remain centred and grounded, calm and focused on whatever is happening in the present moment, as they connect strongly with what matters most to them and who they are at their best. Then they are ready to make clear sense of the situation and decide how to respond.
The simple technique that Inner Leadership recommends for reconnecting with who we are at our best is called Anchoring.
To find your own anchor, follow these three simple steps. (There’s a fuller description in the book.)
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1. Remember a Time When…
Start by remembering a state that you would like to be able to recall at will: a time when you felt fully alive, in flow, operating to the maximum of your ability, doing what you are here to do.
Where were you? Who were you with? What were you doing? What outcome were you working to achieve? Why did it matter? How was your body positioned? How did you feel?
Now stand or sit like that. Recreate the experience as fully as you can.
2. Choose an Anchor
Now you want to be able to recall this state at will. But it won’t always be possible to sit or stand in the same physical position as you were before so you need to learn to associate or Anchor that state with something else.
One way to do this is to associate your feeling of being grounded with a key word, name, or image: perhaps something like the word ‘Ground’, ‘Lincoln’, or the image of an ‘Oak Tree’. Then you can recreate the state you want by reminding yourself of this word or image.
Alternatively you can create a physical anchor which you activate by touching part of your body — for example bringing your fingers together or touching your chin. To follow this approach, first choose a part of your body (your thumb, a fingertip, and so on) and then touch that with a finger or perhaps hold it between your thumb and forefinger. Bringing the two parts together is what forms the anchor and brings alive the physical state you want to recreate.
Choose the anchor you would like to use.
3. Recall that State at Will — Practise
Now return to your feeling of being grounded, the one you want to be able to recall at will. Make that feeling as strong as you can. And at the same time, set up your chosen anchor: remember your chosen key word or image or bring together the parts of your body in the way you have chosen.
Then release the anchor, move out of position, and let the feeling go.
After a few moments, return to your highly grounded state and re-initiate the anchor. Repeat this until the state you want to recreate automatically becomes activated whenever you trigger the anchor.
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The more you practice doing this the more strongly you will be able to activate the anchor and the more deeply you will be able to draw upon your best skills and qualities in any situation, even in the midst of a storm.
Developing the ability to do this at will is another step to becoming antifragile.
Can you remember a time when you were operating to the maximum of your potential, fully alive, in flow, doing what you are here to do? Can you recreate that state at will? Would you like to be able to?
Adapted from Inner Leadership: a framework and tools for building inspiration in times of change.
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You can also buy the book here and the workbook here.
(And remember: you can’t learn to swim just by reading about swimming, you also have to do the practice.)
Photo By Blondinrikard Fröberg via StockPholio.net