Last Monday I landed in Salt Lake City for a keynote. Even on a gloomy, cloudy day, the snowcapped mountains were more beautiful than I could have imagined. Each talk is an iterative process — I’m always revising, tweaking, cutting, and adding. So as I got to my hotel, I went into full prep mode.
For weeks I’ve been working on clearly and concisely communicating certain parts of a new keynote. I make my best effort to be very intentional about what I want to translate to an audience. As I learned from Kindra Hall — what do I want them to think, feel, and do as a result of the experience? I could feel what I wanted to say, but couldn’t communicate it externally.
Everyone works in different ways, but the best way has been for me to get it out of my head and onto paper. So I spend a lot of time writing before I speak. As I sat in my room pounding the keys — I was stuck. Sometimes, the more we try to solve the problem the harder it becomes to solve. It’s a paradox. The more we try to search for the answer — in any area of life or business — the harder it becomes to find.
I’m a big believer that our work is a direct result of our internal state. If we’re in a state of overwhelming stress or lack mental clarity in that moment we’ll rarely get what we want. Alternatively, if we shift to a state of presence that’s where we do our greatest work.
We’ve been conditioned to believe that hours equal productivity. But, the truth is it’s the presence you bring to the hours that creates results.
Last week I was reminded of a super important strategy for creativity and problem-solving.
Get Out Of Your Head and Into Your Body
Whenever I am going to deliver new content I always work through it and get reps in on a run, hike or walk with my dog. I think movement is key. And, doing it in nature is always a plus. So being stuck, instead of trying to force something new, I decided to get some reps working with what I already had.
Luckily I was in Utah, surrounded by nature, and found a trail that ran alongside a creek next to my hotel. As I got out of my head (writing on my computer) and into my body (running along this trail) while practicing this content ideas started to come through. Why? Because when we get into our bodies we turn down our default mode network and start to tap into our subconscious.
The challenge we have with tapping into the subconscious is that we spend our time in mental states that block access to this — judgment, stress, psychological resistance, worry, or regret. These mental states can’t co-exist with creative problem-solving. When we remove the blocks to our natural state — which is one of presence — our greatest work starts to come through. Or at least the next best idea to get us unstuck and create movement.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that a study conducted by IBM, with over 1500 CEOs as respondents, revealed that creativity is the most important leadership quality. All businesses exist to solve a problem.
So how do we access our creativity within that lies dormant in the present moment?
Here’s a simple 3-step process:
- Set an intention: Clearly define the problem that you’re trying to solve and ask for guidance or loosely hold a question in your awareness.
- Get out of your head and into your body: If you are able, walking, running, yoga, exercise or active breathwork are great tools for this.
- Let go: Surrender the outcome and drop into a state of trust that the answer will come through you.
Embracing the present moment and unlocking our creative potential often requires a departure from the relentless pursuit of solutions and an immersion into the simplicity of presence. By setting intentions, incorporating physical movement, and relinquishing control, we open the door to accessing our unconscious and fostering our innate creative problem solving skills that are crucial to lead in today’s world of work.
