The Simple Structure Newsletter

Happy April!

I hope you're having as much fun reading this newsletter as I am writing it. Please feel free to pass it along to anyone else you think might like it. If you prefer to unsubscribe for any reason, the option to do so is at the bottom of this message.

Sincerely, Linda

Feature Article: Where Are You Going?

Many people are dissatisfied with where they are in their lives, but, when asked what it is they want instead, have a hard time articulating a response. The art of creating a clear vision is an important one. When someone comes to me for my advice on life, career, etc. and seems to be struggling with a sense of direction, I only half-jokingly ask them "How can the universe give you what you want unless it knows what it is?" So I thought I'd spend a little time summarizing some of the best approaches I've run across for clarifying the path.

I am starting with the assumption that each of us has unique gifts and talents, and that part of our job in the world is to figure out what those are and put them into service. This allows us to align our own best interests with those of the world and the people around us.

1. Keep a journal. There's nothing that pushes you to distill your thoughts more effectively than trying to put them in writing. To keep a journal, you need pen, paper, and time. If you can set aside a regular time (daily, weekly, etc.) it seems to work better. You don't need to do anything special; just write whatever comes up, focus on a specific question...whatever seems most helpful. One thing I sometimes do when I've got a particular question in front of me is to invite my "inner wise woman" to write me a letter. She starts, "Dear Linda..." and goes on from there. It turns out that she's pretty wise, compassionate, and insightful, but she doesn't pull any punches either in telling me things I need to hear. In the book The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron suggests writing "morning pages," a daily exercise that calls for you to fill three pages with whatever is at the top of your mind, even if it seems like a bunch of garbage. The point in this exercise is not to go back and look at the pages over time, as you might do with a more traditional journal, but just to get whatever's in your head down on paper every day. Although it doesn't seem like this kind of writing would be very helpful in clarifying your focus, when you do it regularly the important things are themes that will continue to show up. There are a ton of good books out there on journaling, but in my opinion you're better off using the time to write instead of read.  

2. Create a picture. Get a piece of poster board, some scissors, a glue stick, and a pile of magazines. Sift through the magazines, find things that appeal to you--pictures, phrases, etc.--and cut them out. Don't think too hard. Lay out your clippings on the board in an arrangement that pleases you, then glue them on. Yes, it feels a bit like something you'd do in kindergarten...that's half the fun, and not nearly as messy as finger-painting. Now look at what you've created, and see what it tells you about what's important to you and what you might like to have more of in your life. This one's even more fun if you do it with a friend, so you can tell each other stories about what your collages mean. When you're through, put the poster up where you'll see it so you can keep the vision in front of you.

3. Listen to your body. One of my favorite books for direction-finding is Martha Beck's Finding Your Own North Star. She has an exercise in there that I love, which takes you through the process of creating a mental/emotional picture of a situation that embodies everything that resonates with and nurtures you, and a second picture of everything that irritates you and shuts you down. As you hold each of these images in mind, the goal is to notice how your body is responding. What do you feel like, in your gut and your chest and the rest of you, when your body is saying YES? What do you feel like when your body is saying NO? As you learn to discern these signals you send to yourself, you can start playing the "hot and cold" game you used to play as a kid. As you feel your body relaxing and opening up, you know you're getting closer to where you need to be. If you feel that knotting tension, you know you need to step back and reconsider.

4. Use a guide. Other people can be wonderful sounding boards, but only if they are able to completely separate their own agenda from yours. Counselors, therapists, and coaches are all skilled at keeping the focus on you. Spouses, siblings, and friends are sometimes able to do this, but may have a tendency to give advice rather than to help you draw the answers out of yourself. The professional guides typically charge a fee for their services, but it's often worth investing some money in a focused series of sessions aimed at clarifying your path. I worked with a coach a few years back when I was facing a major fork in the road, and it really helped. I haven't felt the need to do it since, but would be very open to another round if the circumstances were right. As a side note, if you are interested in learning to be a better guide and sounding board for others, but aren't a professional helper and don't plan to become one, there's a great little book called Becoming Naturally Therapeutic that talks about 10 skills (empathy, self-disclosure, respect, etc.) anyone can develop to become more helpful.

5. Tell a story or two. Another technique I find really helpful in "visioning" is to write a story from the future. That is, I write a scenario set in the future, and written in the present tense (as though I'm already there) describing what I'm doing, how I'm spending my time, what kinds of things are happening, etc. Once I have it down on paper, it's a lot easier to see what I need to be doing to get there. A twist on this, if you are trying to decide between two or more paths, is to write a story for each path. I did this once, and it was immediately obvious to me which future was the one my heart truly desired.

Why is it important to create a clear vision? Well, some people say it sets mystical, universal forces in motion (the "law of attraction") that bring us what we envision. Scientists explain it in much more down-to-earth terms--the simple act of setting goals and intentions changes how we perceive and interact with the world, so that we naturally pay greater attention to things that are relevant to our desired outcomes, and our actions are naturally congruent with those required to achieve our aspirations. Who's right? Who cares? The mystics and the scientists agree, and that's good enough for me! 

A Few Tunes for Fun

Last month I invited contributions to a resilience playlist. I only got a couple, so I'm going to keep searching. Contributions, please!! In the meantime, here are a few songs just for fun, all from our friends across the pond. Each one is a little unusual and will stretch your musical brain. 

Richard Thompson is a British singer, songwriter, and acoustic guitarist. Here, he shows what a talented musician can do with a Britney Spears song... 

Anuna is an Irish choral group. This song, Fionnghuala, is an example of Celtic "mouth music" or "lilting." 

Capercaillie is a Scottish folk band. Although they do some wonderful songs with lyrics, this one is an instrumental, called the Eastern Reel. It's a relatively slow tempo, and it will grow on you.

Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto. Metropolitan Books, 2009. When I first heard the title, I thought, booooorrring. I was so wrong! Gawande, a surgeon, starts out with a couple of hair-raising real-life medical stories, and uses them to make the case that although we will always fail sometimes because there are things in the world that are beyond our knowledge or our control, we often fail because we fail to apply our knowledge correctly. He builds an evidence-based case that in complex environments, particularly where teams of people are working together, simple, well-designed checklists significantly increase the likelihood of getting things right. He shares vivid examples from aviation, architecture, medicine, and a range of other areas, and identifies principles for effective checklists (short, simple, and specific!) It's definitely got my mental wheels turning...  

It reminded me of a book I'd read long ago: Edwin Hutchins, Cognition in the Wild. MIT Press, 1996. This one is much more theoretical and abstract, but no less interesting. It's about human cognition and its inextricable connectedness to social and cultural context; the author is an anthropologist and an open ocean racing sailor and navigator, and he uses ship navigation as the setting for his analysis and insights.

Lagniappe 

One of the non-profit organizations I really like is DonorsChoose. They post proposals from teachers who would like some help in funding special requests for their classrooms--for scientific equipment, field trips, and a range of other things they feel would be helpful. Donors go online and can browse through the projects and contribute to those that are of particular interest. The teachers and students write thank-you notes and post pictures of your contributions in action. Recently, along with the packet of thank-you notes, they've sent me several "gift cards" that will let me give others a $25 card to fund their first contribution. The goal is to introduce new donors to the organization. I have three of these cards. If you have never contributed to DonorsChoose before and would like one of these $25 gift cards, let me know by May 7. I'll put the names in a hat and select three recipients, then send you the information on how to use the gift card.

Spotlight: The Resilience Alliance Team 

This month, instead of highlighting a client, I'd like to introduce some of the great people I work with. Actually, I think I'll let them introduce themselves:

Jacqueline Saszi
I recently returned to the Atlanta area after living in Phoenix, Arizona for 8 years.  I have worked as an administrator and counselor for drug abuse programs for young people for the past 12 years. Due to my background in counseling, and my experience working with families as they acknowledge and overcome addiction, I was intrigued by Linda’s work with resilience. After doing some research and reading Linda's book, I have become passionate about resilience and the effect its principles have on organizations as well as individuals.  I am honored to be Linda’s assistant, and to learn more about resilience through working with her and applying the concepts in my own life. In my personal life, I am also a nanny, and volunteer to work with teenagers and young adults with drug and alcohol problems.  I also enjoy yoga, cooking, and continued focus on my own personal growth through various forms of meditation and interaction with happy, positive, successful people.

Sara Castle
The first part of my career was spent living in New England, and working for Biotech and Pharmaceutical companies as a software trainer and then as an implementation specialist. There I was able to witness firsthand the impact of major change on individuals. This would later become the foundation for my understanding of how resilience, change execution, and delivery can determine the success of a project and organization. Shortly after I moved to Atlanta in 2006, I began working at Conner Partners, where I met Linda and was first introduced to resilience. In late 2009, I reconnected with Linda and began working with her and Resilience Alliance. I am excited to be a part of the team that is building a global language, culture and community of resilience. Outside of Resilience Alliance, I enjoy spending time with my family, practicing yoga, and representing a local raku artist.

Dianne Leader, Ph.D.
Always fascinated by people, and especially in how organizations of people function, I found my natural home in the field of industrial and organizational psychology. My last fifteen years have been happily spent teaching psychology at a large university, and being engaged in diverse consulting projects with organizations. Resilience Alliance is Linda Hoopes’ inspired response to the human challenges inherent in today’s environment of never-ending change.  I’m delighted to be working with Linda, the Alliance, and our innovative clients on promoting personal resilience. Other joys in my life are family, friends, photography, travel and reading.

Joy E. McCarthy, Ph.D.
I am a business psychologist with over twenty years of consulting experience. My areas of expertise include leadership and team development, change execution, performance enhancement and organizational innovation. I have extensive experience in utilizing diagnostics as bases for leadership and team coaching, and organizational redesign and development.  Because of a firm belief in the necessity of a more disciplined approach to change execution, I joined Conner Partners where I met Linda Hoopes and learned about the importance of resilience in adapting to change. I use my assessment, coaching, and training strengths to help executives, managers, and employees understand their Personal Resilience Profiles and develop the characteristics of resilience.

Research Summary

Instead of one research summary this month, here is a link to a whole pile of them. Allison Mallard, a fellow industrial/organizational psychologist in Atlanta, has started a site called I/O at Work, which is a free resource for applied psychologists and anyone else who might be interested. It includes a ton of article summaries that you can search for by journal or topic. Check it out!

Thanks for reading this newsletter. I'd love to hear from you with comments, ideas, and anything else you would like to offer. You can reach me at: linda@resiliencealliance.com 

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And although I haven't twitted my first tweet, I've joined Twitter just to see what it's all about. If I get more than one or two "followers," who knows what might happen! @llh_resilience