Here’s something funny I’ve been reminded of this week. Coincidence occur most often when we are deeply involved in the moment. FACT. The key requirement, according to Dr. Richard Restak author of the book, Mozart’s brain and the Fighter Pilot, is to trust the present moment to give you something for future creativity. Trust is key but trust, exactly, in what?
I practice this all the time when “running” team practice. Every time we start a practice, in fact, I purposely lose control and let the participants decide where we go. I simply tune in and attempt to guide the process toward a productive end. This chaotic approach emulates the brains preferred methodology for storing and retrieving information. Your brain, just like mine, remembers events in a non-linear pattern that is most often tied to some form of a story. This is another reason why I encourage all my clients to NOT just become writers, but become writers of their stories. Journaling, turns out, is great food for your brain.
Which leads me to one of the coincidinks I noticed this week. During practice 49 with one of my clients, the team of 25 was planking away to some of my tunes as we got underway. One of the pained plankee’s requested the song, Heroes, by David Bowie. I didn’t have this song on my playlist but with the help of Spotify, I had it playing within thirty seconds. We cranked it up and eased her pain. Thought nothing of it.
A couple hours later while reading in the Trust Essential, we came across a quote from Quinn describing the Hero’s Journey. A few made the connection and we kinda smiled at the coincidink. No bigee but kinda cool nonetheless.
Wrapping up practice some 90 minutes later, I showed a clip from U2 describing the “risk it all thought” around the creative process. I have watched this dozens upon dozens of times. I use this clip with nearly every client on multiple occasions. Practice 49, however, was the first time I had heard a song by David Bowie playing in the background right around minute 40. Minute 40 through minute 45 is the section I use the most. I thought to myself, how in the world could I have missed this…
The song, you ask? Heroes, of course. And, it was clear as a bell. Felt like a 5 alarm fire drill going off in my head as my brain starting connecting another coincidink in some kinda montage upstairs. Funny, huh.
High performers get lost in their work. Trust the process. Embrace the way the brain stores and recalls events. And, high performers play purposely toward this chaotic, creative approach. Coincidinks, turns out, are more about tuning into the moment then they are about blind luck or faith. Tuning in and letting go works. However, it only works when you’ve been putting in the ten thousand hours of practice and then ten thousand more, to master your craft. High performers experience more coincidink because their trust is based on REAL HARD WORK. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Somehow the coicidinks will come. Y.O.U. and I, turns out, have got a lot of practicing ahead of us.
Who knows, you could be a Hero…
BUILT TO LEAD 