Is Your Work/Life Squiggles or Waves?

It looks to me that at times, life looks a little like this drawing.

We are headed towards a goal, an outcome, and we have two very different experiences available to us. One is an all-too-familiar experience of stresses, anxieties, extremes of highs and lows, and the other has a more mellow, less ‘pin-bally’ kind of vibe, a longer wavelength, shorter amplitude kind of experience.

Each path gets us to the same place, but it’s a very different journey, not only for us, but for all the people around us – the people we lead, our colleagues, families and partners. Which, because we each have a systemic impact on other people/systems around us is important.

It’s also worth noting that in this image, path B is shorter. Which means we may arrive at our destination with more energy, and feel fresher, as we haven’t spent too much time rinsing our adrenal glands with stresses and anxieties. Which might mean, that if we’re really into doing lots of stuff, we can probably get more done and be more productive (not that we NEED to, but some folks like this idea). Note that there are still ups and downs – it’s not a flatline; life is still a contact sport.

I’ve shared this idea with many people over the past five years, and quite a few have responded with ‘yes, but isn’t that a bit boring?!’.

I just LOVE that. Because yes, with Path B, there is far less adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine released by the body (which, if our brains are addicted to these catecholamines, is going to feel boring, or at worst, just plain wrong). Our brains are addictive machines, and it’s surprising how little it can take to create an addiction for stress hormones – a couple of months of a crazy-paced project will often do it.

With option B, there are less extremes, and there’s a really nice, deeper, gentle feeling available to us, as well as a possibly lower blood pressure. A kind of centred wisdom and intelligence becomes more available, and that stuff is pure magic.

In that experience, we see things we don’t see when we’re stressed, we have insights and ideas we don’t have when we’re overwhelmed or anxious. It’s quite the ride in its own way. As a psychology graduate, I sometimes wonder if this is what some scientists are talking about when they say we usually only using a fraction of our brain’s potential? Perhaps the rest is only available on path B?

Just a thought.

Would love to know your experiences of these two paths and if you'd like a chat about any of the points I've made, just message me on one of the links below:

With special thanks to my son @XavierLePape for taking my rubbish drawing and polishing it with Photoshop ❤️.