Do Like A Hedgehog

This concept is taken from an old Greek parable about a fox and a hedgehog. "The story goes about the simple defense strategy of the hedgehog: rolling up into a ball the fox cannot attack. Despite the array of strategies it tries, the fox is never able to slay the hedgehog." (taken from Andy Bunarto's book review of Jim Collins' Good to Great.) What is the Hedgehog Concept? Check out these videos from Jim Collins.

• What is the Hedgehog Concept?
• Journey to finding a personal Hedgehog Concept.
• Your personal Hedgehog Concept - who vs. what.

Developing a hedgehog concept is a very powerful way to find authentic validation for who we are, what we're about, and how we can really impact the world with greatness. But there are a lot of things that get in our way of discovering and experiencing this life changing way to live and lead. Fear, jealousy, anxiety, worry, comparison just to name a few. So if we want to do like a hedgehog, it is absolutely essential to neutralize and eradicate those feelings of 'not being or doing enough'.

How do we do that?

Love.

Love is the virtuous gift that will cast away those terrorist-emotions. But let me qualify this love. It is courageous and vulnerable to pursue the truth about why we do what we do. It also brings to light what we feel when things go south and we fall into the fight, flight, or freeze mode. It's common to not want to think or talk about that stuff but that only keeps us from moving forward towards greater success and fulfillment, especially in what matters most - our relationships with those who make life worth living. As we grow a disposition that doesn't settle for default or instinctual perceptions and responses, a disposition that isn't afraid to navigate and engage the messy, painful (seemingly impossible to change) parts of our lives, we move forward with increased clarity and greater visibility into what's real. This love is willing to make the tough choices to change perspectives and deal with things with humility, mature capacities and resourcefulness, rather than child-like defaults. When we grow our awareness of [internal] things that get in the way, we can then effectively manage them rather than being under their enslavement.

Being empowered by courageous vulnerability, this love leads us to discover and embrace the truth with compassion because that is what the real big picture of our lives cries out for, not the lies of shame and loneliness. With this change in perspective, our hearts will sense God's empathy and release from the critical self-judgment or insecurities from focusing on what we don't have enough of. This frees us to see ourselves as worthy of love and acceptance without the need to be or do what we've always thought we needed to be or do.

Now back to doing like a hedgehog. To process the data points of our lives and come up with a single, unifying idea to better organize and lead ourselves, requires our learning channels to be wide open and our brains to make connections with all the data gathered and processed. Fear shuts this activity down. Empathy is the key that frees our brains to do what it was meant to do - powerfully process life's data points with wisdom to live and love greatly. Without those debilitating emotions of fear, anxiety, worry, jealousy, envy, we will gain so much more clarity about who we are, what we're truly worth, and what life really is about. Living with this great, loving acceptance and hope, will enable us to organize and prioritize in the most meaningful ways that unite our mind, soul, and spirit to do what we were made for. This is how we can develop growth mindsets for any and every area of life that we want and need to improve to find fulfillment. This is the level of health that will liberate us to do like a hedgehog - synthesize what we know about ourselves and abilities to develop a single, unifying understanding of what we're passionate about, what we can be the best at, and what will drive our economic engine.

Key to Being Present and Productive

How well do you shift from work to family and friends?

Vacation-Back to School pic

I recently came across this great video on work-life balance.

Family. Summer. Vacations. Rest. Recreation. Space and time to be with each other is essential for a healthy balanced life.

Work. Grades. Profession. Business. Responsibility. Revenue. Bottomline. Getting things done and making a living.

But often times, it's not uncommon to get stuck in work mode. It's quite natural since 40-60 (or more) hours can be spent being ultra-focused or multi-tasking, left with little to no energy for socializing, one on one bonding, or self-care.

• How's your shifting from one to the other?
• How well do you prioritize being productive at work and being present with your loved ones?
• More importantly, how present are you when you're present?

In the last issue, I brought up the idea of a single, unifying principle that guides us to prioritize what matters most. But with so many important things - family, work - what should rise as top priority and get our greatest commitment and resources?

What unifying principle could substantially help us improve in everything?

The unifying principle that undergirds an organization's plans and operations(a family, company, or institution) will have substantial, significant outcomes. If this governing philosophy is going to produce great outcomes, it needs to pursue the balance of being present and productive and helping people shift well from one to the other.

Developing this kind of highly positive guidance requires wisdom and understanding in various areas - technology, finances, management, relationships, and leadership. But what is often overlooked are intangibles that make for greatness, the love factor - how real and connected we are, how we inspire and influence, how we genuinely care for the inner well being of others and ourselves, and ultimately it's how we're able to dig deep, make brave decisions to let go of what's not working, and experience liberation. This level of authenticity only comes when people grow and prioritize the uncomfortable and arduous work of resolving dysfunctional areas of relational ability and emotional health in order to deal with root challenges. Courage to explore and find compassion (for others and self) with another is the key to having a life that is both present and productive. Of course the character of this person is hugely important. But more about that another time.

Last month I suggested Brene Brown's TED talk on "Listening to Shame". Well, there's another one she gave on "The Power of Vulnerability" where she went into how her research findings fundamentally changed the way she lives, loves, works and parents - sounds like a single unifying principle that radically transforms everything. This is the key - navigating the embedded stories written through the years of joys and sorrows, people and pain, events and errors. And on that journey, finding that we are worthy of love and belonging, regardless of how smart, good, or strong we are.

The Key: In a genuine, safe relationship, cultivate fuller awareness and disclosure of who you are and your story, then bravely discover and receive unconditional love and acceptance for yourself from those who care deeply for you.

Why? Because this addresses our fears and insecurities about who and what we are. This must be healed and strengthened so that we don't depend on appearance and performance for security and significance. This will open our learning channels so we can gather and process data (internal and external) as we are no longer obsessed with how we look or achieve in order to be acceptable. The more transparent we get, the more secure we become and thus pushing out fear and worries of not being enough.

Not only so, but this key also emboldens us to discern what is most important and be able to prioritize what truly needs our greatest intentionality and commitment. When we are not preoccupied with our fears, we are able to see the bigger picture and get a much better perspective of the needs of those we love, especially their need for belonging and trust.

All this goes towards formulating the single, unifying principle to guide us into effectively being present and productive (a transformative process), wisely prioritizing what matters most to experience great fulfillment (presence) and success (productivity).