Adaptation & Attachment

Dan Houston
Jul 24, 2017 · 3 min read

There’s a critical space between delivering on ideas and being open and brave enough to allow for adaptation. It’s human to experience upset when our agenda is not met, or when a goal is not reached.

What we lose out on in these spaces of upset, though, are the discoveries of what’s possible when we become unattached from our own, isolated ideas. Personally, when I’ve had the courage to be unattached from the romanticism of ideas, and recommit to a bigger possibility, my first discovery is typically that my ideas weren’t as innovative as I thought.

Ideas in isolation can be adequate starting points. Yet, they often lack the breath of life inspired by the vulnerability and surrender inherent in saying, “Here’s my idea. How would you like to shape it?”

When we authentically lay our ideas out on the chopping block, we open ourselves up to criticism, and the possibility that someone might say, “What were you thinking?” Our ultimate fear might even be that others won’t say anything at all — leaving us at the mercy of our subconscious to make meaning of their silence.

Putting ourselves “out there” is one of the most fear-inducing acts we can take…AND…it’s also one of the most powerful acts of leadership to generate community. It’s an action that opens a space for remarkable contribution — mainly, because it empowers others to be a contribution to you!

When you empower others to contribute, you give them a voice, vision and purpose in the world. The idea itself transforms from your vision to our vision.

My wife and I actively give participants in our Mind Tribes and In-Powered Yoga Teacher Trainings an opportunity to leave their mark. We ask, “What would you like to create inside this program?” Their responses faithfully deliver awe & surprise.

One trainee, for instance, created and led a Ribbon Ceremony, which will be integrated into future trainings. Without describing the full ceremony, I can share that participants strung a red ribbon around the room. They cut small portions to wear as a powerful symbol of the never-ending thread binding us as a group of change-agents causing an immeasurable ripple of transformation in the world.

This small and powerful gesture created an unending and symbolic reminder that we are all connected. My personal commitment is to wear the ribbon around my wrist until our next training commences — wherein we will cut a new ribbon to represent renewal, and to integrate the energy of past groups into a collective “body” of teachers.

This remarkable idea and ceremony simply wouldn’t have happened had Cristina and I held rigidly to our agenda. The question for you is: Where are you holding so tightly that you’re actually missing out on being contributed to? If you’re not sure, ask your people this same question and listen for their responses.

We habitually convince ourselves that whatever we’re creating has to look a certain way. We become obsessed with the act of doing; but, the dichotomy of adapting ideas is that it’s essence lies in the non-doing.

If anything, we get to create fully when we have the courage to listen for what matters to others, what their ideas are, and then choose what we want to discard in lieu of a bigger vision.

Dan Houston

Written by

Co-Founder of Mind Tribes, a yoga-inspired movement empowering leaders to transform how they live, work and contribute. Bringing mindfulness to the workplace.

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