I am looking forward to presenting at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dental Practice Administration
| Date: | March 5, 2016 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 3:30-5:30 p.m. |
| Event: | Conference Breakout Session |
| Topic: | Mental Toughness for Creating Outrageous Achievement |
| Sponsor: | American Academy of Dental Practice Administration |
| Venue: | Hyatt Regency Long Beach |
| Public: | Private |
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
Pablo Picasso
When Your World Stops Turning
(Encore Post)
A revolving stage, painted as a map of the world, placed the actors at just the appropriate place for them to sing and dance each number. The stage turned every time, perfectly, during each performance for several weeks – until it abruptly stopped during the final act on the final night, leaving each actor out of position and facing every which way but the right one.
My heart sank, as I imagined each actor thinking frantically what their next move would be to adjust to their new stage setting.
Step Out of Fear and Into Joy
Your mind is amazing! It is in the full time business of keeping you safe. It reminds you to be careful. It warns you of not acting too foolish. It points out everything that could possibly go wrong if you take too much of a risk.
It absolutely LOVES to hold you back from anything and everything that might hurt you physically, emotionally or in your relationships.
It’s on the job 24/7, running like clockwork.
As great as that may sound, there is a problem with this – there is rarely a good reason for living a life of safety. In fact, as a newborn you came into the world absolutely fearless! Research tells us that the only 2 universal fears that everyone on the planet arrives with is the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. This means that every fear you possess as adults, and that your mind carefully guards against, is LEARNED.
Negative experiences, painful relationships and distorted teaching all led to the creation of your own unique set of fears, fears that were actually non-existent at birth.
As a child, you accumulated fear after fear which, with each new fear quietly growing within you, led to the disappearance of that outgoing, joyful, fearless part of you that made life so exciting and fun.
Before learning to be afraid and anxious, however, every day and moment was a possibility of experiencing something new and wonderful. If it went well, we loved it! If it went poorly, who cared, because the next thing in our life might be even more wonderful!
Yet, I wonder what happened to that bright-eyed, risk-taking explorer. Where is that creator and adventurer that lived each moment to the fullest? Did the fears that you learned permanently bury, under layers of cautiousness and anxiety, your potential for an exciting life?
Well, I have great news,
Cut the Rope, Get Present and Start Living!
As I write these words, I struggle to stay present. My mind wants to remind me of everything I have coming up, things that I should be thinking about, planning, and worrying over.
Yet, as I focus on the future it interferes with right now, with this very moment. In fact, I realize that thinking about the future while living in the present is not even possible.
I cannot live in two places at the same time!
The future distracts me, it leads me down a path where there is precious little under my control. While living in the future, I hear words such as “What if… I should… I need to.” There is very little positive or productive thinking in these words. The future is out of my control.
However, when I am in the present, really in the moment, things get done. Articles get written, art is created, goals are met, creative business ideas are achieved, and real life is experienced.
In the present, I am committed to my true, authentic self. In the future I connect with my fearful self, the one who anticipates, who becomes cautious and who ultimately lives in fear.
There are other times, however, when I let myself live in the past. I remember what I should have done, the choices that might have been better, the creative things I could have gone for. I begin to move from presence to the past, from this very moment that is under my control, to looking back on how I might have lived differently.
Even though I cannot in any way change or control my past, I allow myself to feel guilt and shame. I have plenty of material to feel regret, so instead of gaining wisdom from my past and becoming stronger as a result in the moment, I beat myself up, as if there was something I could do about it today.