We are oscillatory beings

Are you flat lining life?

I want to spend one more day on the importance of energy oscillation, before moving on to the second characteristic of champion sales people–enthusiasm. I love this quote from Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, on page 30, of The Power of Full Engagement.

"We are oscillatory beings in an oscillatory universe. Rhythmicity is our inheritance."

More from page 30-31, called The Pulse of Life:

Nature itself has a pulse, a rhythmic, wavelike movement between activity and rest. Think about the ebb and flow of the tides, the movement between seasons, and the daily rising and setting of the sun. Likewise, all organisms follow life-sustaining rhythms–birds migrating, bears hibernating, squirrels gathering nuts, and fish spawning, all of them at predictable intervals.

So, too, human beings are guided by rhythms–both those dictated by nature and those encoded in our genes. . . . Our breathing, brain waves, body temperature, heart rates, hormone levels and blood pressure all have healthy (and unhealthy) rhythmic patterns.

Oscillation occurs even at the most basic levels of our being. Healthy patterns of activity and rest lie at the heart of our capacity for full engagement, maximum performance and sustained health. Linearity, by contrast, ultimately leads to dysfunction and death. Just picture for a moment the undulating wave form of a healthy EEG or EKG–and then think about the implications of their opposite: a flat line.

Are you successfully oscillating your energy?

How is your energy meter reading?

This week we have been talking about the number one characteristic of a champion sales person: energy management. Once we master our energy, in each of our human capacities (mental, emotional, physical and spiritual) we can then tackle the other five keys to successful selling: enthusiasm, likability, love, uniqueness, and urgency. Without mastering our energy, we will fail as a salesperson, as we will eventually break down and succumb to the rigors of our faster and faster moving world.

There are two keys to successful energy management. The first is to understand that we build mental, emotional, and spiritual energy in exactly the same way we build physical energy. The question I like to ask to make this point is this: Do you seek stress or do you avoid stress? If your goal is a more productive physical body, then we all understand that we must 'seek' stress in order to build strength and endurance. But we must also build in periods of rest, in order to let the stressed muscles recover and strengthen. So we intentionally and purposely stress the body, and then we rest the body. The same is true when we want to grow our intellect on a specific subject, or when we want to expand our emotional capacity, or when we want to grow spiritually. If we don't purposely expand outside of our comfort zone, then we can not grow.

The second key to successful energy management is building regular rituals into our lives, so that we routinely 'oscillate' in and out of each of the capacities. A regular workout routine, a well-planned nutrition plan, a weekly meeting with a group of friends where you can talk openly and honestly, a morning devotional time, meals with the family, meals with co-workers, walks with a spouse or loved one, games with the kids. These are all examples of 'rituals' that can be built into our routines in order to assure that we are a champion oscillator.

• How do you do with energy oscillation?
• What does your energy meter look like in each of the four capacities?
• If one area is overloaded or under stressed, how can you build new (and needed) rituals into your life?

Churn - Oscillation is the key to happiness and success

If it's not butter yet:

This is the sixth and final post in my series The Four C's that launched churnOn.com and this blog; as well as an ecosystem of social networking tools in just four weeks.

• Read part one: The Four C's that launched churnOn.com
• Read part two: Create, Connect, Complete, and Churn
• Read part three: In corner number one - Create!
• Read part four: Connect - It is still a who you know world
• Read part five: Complete - Keep your attention on the essential task

If you have followed this series, you know I am a big Stephen Covey fan and also have drawn inspiration through the years from Jim Loehr and his work at the Human Performance Institute. One of the basic tenets they both teach is that when we are living life from a place of purpose, when we are hitting on all cylinders, we move in and out (in a daily rhythm) of the four capacities that make us human. Here are some of the ways these four capacities can be defined, all listed in this order: mind, heart, body, and soul.

• mind, heart, body, soul;
• mental, social, physical spiritual;
• talents, passions, needs, conscience;
• to learn, to love, to live, to leave a legacy;
• vision, passion, discipline, conscience;
• create, connect, complete, churn;

We have looked at how I 'created' the website by first using a vision board in order to set the project in motion. Then we studied how the site gained momentum by 'connecting' with those who could cheer me onward, such as my buddies at the Apple store. Next we studied the third cornerstone in the model, ‘complete’ by discussing ways you can keep your attention on the essential task. This week we will look at the fourth component: churn.

The timing is perfect, because this is the week I will answer the question family, friends, and professional contacts have asked throughout this process. What is churnOn? What are my goals for the website? What are my goals for the blog? Some have suggested that I need a ‘call to action’ and I know they are right. I have appreciated this feedback and I plan to answer the bell.

In short, ‘churn’ is our conscience, our soul, our spirit. It is our desire to do what is right and what the world needs, and in some cases what the world might even pay us to do. We find our churn (what Covey calls, “our sweet spot, our soul’s code, our voice”) by oscillating in and out of each of the four capacities on a regular and rhythmic basis. We create, we connect, we complete, and we churn; and round and round it goes. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we mess it all up, but in the end it is about the process, about the journey, about putting yourself out there in a way that says, ‘Hello world, here I am, G. Page Singletary, now a half century smart, twenty years married to wonderful Georgia Peach, three amazing kids, pretty good juggler of the mind, the heart, the body, and the soul – though certainly not catching all the balls all the time.’

Stay tuned as we continue to explore:

• churnOn talents
• churnOn passions
• churnOn disciplines
• churnOn spirituality

And also learn why my father taught me, “If it is not butter yet, keep on churning.”

This blog series (The Four C's) dedicated to Coach Dean Smith and the four corners offense. churnOn Heels - Sweet 16 for NCAA tournament-record 24th time!