GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY

PAUSE MOMENT

GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY

"Life is hard, and then you die" -V- "Life is effortless."

How is it that both axioms can be true, at one and the same time? 

Welcome to paradox – one of the many quirks in living that your mind cannot be with. Time to give yourself a well-deserved break – get out of your mind for a few moments. Don't worry, I've done this trip – I know my way around – I'll bring you back safe and sound...

[We Gotta Get Out of This Place – The Angels]

Cosmologists are closing in on a radical theory of the universe that will link it to human life in a very intimate way. Instead of a cold, lifeless void, the cosmos is about to be accepted and realised as a living thing whose operations are intelligent and conscious.

What does that have to do with the meaning of life, meeting your next deadline and cutting your work week back? Let me explain.

One of the classic laws of physics is known as the Law of Least Action, which says (in simplified form) that Nature usually takes the shortest, most efficient route to accomplish things. From chemical reactions to the curving arc followed by a cricket ball, whatever is the least action needed is the amount of energy consumed. This is the physics equivalent of saying two things -- 1) That Nature in all her lavishness is a mistress of economical process; and 2) That “the shortest distance between two points is a straight line” is bullshit. In real life, there's no such thing as a straight line.

Logic suggests that you can tell a straight line simply by looking at it, but when a cricket ball is thrown, Nature steps in and computes a whole bunch of other factors, such as trajectory, gravity, momentum, mass, and friction all at once to arrive at Least Action, and it happens instantly and automatically. And the result isn't a straight line – it's a curve. If I change one element in the equation – such as throwing the ball on a rainy day – an adjustment to the curve is made immediately. Nature's intelligence operates with effortless spontaneity. Jesus talked about this when he reportedly said something like this –

[The Blessed Spirits – Vanessa-Mae]

“Stop worrying about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; stop stressing about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than just food and the body more than just clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, they don't sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet nature feeds them.  27 Which of you by worrying can add a single centimetre to his height?

31 “Quit worrying, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32  That's what the ignorant do. Play it smart. The universe knows that you need all these things, and there'd be plenty to go around if you got rid of your presumptions and profiteers of Scarcity and Lack . 33 So, seek first “How It's Done” in nature, and all you need is available to you. 34  Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. You have sufficient for today. You do.”

Get out of God's way: get out of your own way. Let life work – it's designed to work.”

If the Law of Least Action was allowed to apply more actively in the human brain, productivity would increase tenfold, because making a decision would be an automatic, effortless computation of all the variables involved. Such a possibility seems far-fetched, however, when you consider that any decision you make in life – such as experimenting with a another way of seeing or doing things – enters into various grey areas. Is the new way integral, simple, reliable, experienced, capable of possibility, attractive to team players? The viability of a new possibility involves these variables and opens up more opportunities that you probably can't see from here.

Consider this: Your brain already operates by the Law of Least Action. It's a characteristic your intelligence has in common with the Universal Intelligence from which you were created: it's part of your inheritance. Every electrical impulse traveling down a neuron, every chemical reaction leaping across a synapse, must obey this law. There is an efficient state of the brain as a whole; only when we use our Mind (as distinct from the "brain" organ) to create complication does life get difficult. This, too, is a reality. Although we can't see it, locate it, dissect it, Mind does exist; Mind is a reality. 

If I ask you to add 2+2, your brain gives the answer instantly, unlike a computer, which must actually calculate any problem posed to it. The human mind and brain together work by a combination of insight, creativity, memory, habit, belief, opinion, concept, quantum leaps of creativity, and other aspects that are completely foreign to computers. And much, if not all of this, is done according to the Law of Least Action.

Is there a downside to the Law of Least Action?

Yes. But it's not a physical or chemical (mechanical) downside; it's a psychological, programming problem called Habit. Habit arises from, and in turn further causes, a lack of fresh awareness.

The magic ingredient for turning robotic reactions into appropriate responses is Awareness -- to heighten the frequency and broaden the scope of your Availability and Sensitivity to ALL the factors in play.

That being taken into account, the ultimate productivity hint is this: give the Law of Least Action more of a chance. Stop interfering with it. Get out of your own way.

How to Align yourself for the Law of Least Action to work for you:

1. Totally accept yourself and others for all that you are. That removes the onerous hindrances of judgment – taking on board the onus of judging things as they are, and the judgments of others. Those are complications that bog you down.
2. Respond creatively. Drop the habit of reacting. Step back and allow intuition to flood in and mix with logic and reason.
3. Relinquish the need to defend your point of view. Realise that we all see from a specific point of view, that each is valid and none is totally right.

Tips for promoting the beneficial influence of Least Action in your life:

• Get enough sleep.
• Create and promote an open environment for the exchange and trial of scary ideas. Oscar Wilde said “An idea that is not dangerous is not worthy of being called an idea at all.”
• Allow free communication at every level of your life
• Support the whole group emotionally
• Ask for honest feedback, and integrate it.
• Make every one you know feel valued

Tips for getting out of your own way:

• Stop using undue pressure, on yourself and others.
• Don't promote any stress-inducing conditions as an incentive.
• Don't use intimidation, coercion, superior status, or manipulation.
• Don't compete; create.
• Don't isolate management from workers
• Let go of old, familiar ways of doing things.

[Keep It Simple – Tommy Emmanuel]

The KISS Principle rules. The Law of Least Action is stymied when we complicate our lives. All of the tips I've just listed are needless complications to the smooth flow of work and play.

Keeping it simple makes me — and my life — hum.

I'm no good at multitasking. I think people who boast about their ability to simultaneously juggle multiple projects or chores are fooling themselves if they think they are operating at peak productivity. I measure productivity, not by the clock, but by the quality and effective results of my work. Multitasking, for me, is the ruination of quality and it gives me no time for inspiration, intuition and left-field ideas to get a look-in..

I know plenty of multitaskers who are quick to tell me they are blitzing it. But all I see them really doing is getting by, delivering just 60 percent or 70 percent of their energy and expertise to any given project that does not have their full attention, and getting results around 35-45%. Getting by is not part of my brand. I'm an 80%-minimum man. Whatever I have taken on, I give 100 percent while I'm there. That’s my quality control.

Sure, there is down time during my working day when I could check email or make a business call. But that pulls my focus away from what I have committed to for that date and time, shutting down the possibility of inspiration to sneak in from the periphery: I want everything going for me to produce the best show for my audience. If I am working on my show, or researching and writing future assignments, the email is off, and the phone is on silent.

And no, it’s not because I have the luxury of scheduling my days to avoid the need to multitask. I fulfill multiple tasks, but I tackle them one at a time so each one — and each person on the other end of that task — gets 100 percent of my attention and energy at the time. And I extend the same courtesy to others – when I do call them, I ask first “Is this a convenient time? I need only (7) minutes? It's just good manners and respect, isn't it?

My other killer productivity discovery comes with an admission: I happen to have the best personal assistant in the world. Me. I'm always available, tuned in, and familiar with all the files, including the classified ones.

I used to have personal assistants who were terrific; Cassie, Bridget and Stephanie were competent and committed. Loved working with them. But when my marriage and I both fell apart I decided to see if I and Me could handle matters on our own. I even closed down my office (and business phone contact) at the same time.

We didn’t just manage — it boosted my creativity and productivity. I no longer have all the back-and-forth that comes when you have a layer between you and whatever you're doing. When Little Barrie and I need to travel, we simply make the reservation; it doesn’t take any more time than communicating that to a PA and then having some back and forth over times, routes, other commitments etc. I never have a problem having to get two rooms, or who's going to get the bigger bed. Colleagues, clients and business associates come straight to me: that’s a productivity boost for both of us.

When there is a business deal on the table, that table is for two: little Barrie and me. We decide. I have no staff. No (brand) managers, writers, researchers, visualisers, music programmers or marketing consultants. (Yes, there are lawyers as required from time to time, but they've got plenty to do for others when I don't need them.)

I recognize that level of streamlining may not be practical for everyone. But I encourage you to take a serious look at how you manage your business, and the business of You Inc. Do you really need all that jazz?

Get out of your own way. Easy is right.

[Mondo Cane – Francy Boland Big Band]

More is not necessarily better. Is every staff member or assistant truly helping you be more productive, or just making you feel more important? I couldn’t be happier — and more productive — since I dropped the classic trappings of running a successful life. The only thing I miss is my Merc., but I'm past my use-by date as a safe driver now anyway.

It seems to me that the world's wisdom traditions were onto something with this “Eye -of-the-needle stuff”, but they go much deeper into the matter. They point to Conscious Awareness as the key. If you expand your awareness (through meditation, reflection, contemplation, and closely examining yourself) you will reach a level of the mind where Least Action can work much more efficiently. Solutions will come far more quickly because you won't be stuck at the level of the problem. Carrying out bold plans will not create resistance and stress because you will trust the source of inspiration deep inside yourself.

In the future I anticipate that the link between cosmic mind and human mind will only grow stronger. In the meantime, we have enough evidence from neuroscience, physics, and the world's great thinkers to begin trusting in the Law of Least Action and applying it to our daily life.

[Cosmic Wheels – Stephen Cummings]