How many of us find ourselves stuck in our own versions of this ancient African proverb? Running, running, running trying to keep up with the demands of our lives with no apparent end in sight. It’s exhausting. We feel stuck in a rat race with ever more to do each day and in less time. In this paper, I will propose a different way of living that is actually more productive without burning-out because we are operating at peak performance. To achieve that end, we will have to transform our way of being. Transformation, however, is not a euphemism for self-improvement; it entails self-transcendence.
Why Self-Transcendence?
Towards the end of his career, psychologist Abraham Maslow added a sixth level to his widely-known hierarchy of needs. He named this sixth level “self-transcendence” because it extends beyond the deficiency needs and the need for self-actualization. This hitherto missing component formed the roots of transpersonal psychology. When people move beyond self-actualization they experience a state he referred to as “transcendence”, or “peak performance” in which they become aware of not only their fullest potential, but the fullest potential of all human beings. Peak experiences are sudden feelings of intense happiness and well-being accompanied by a heightened sense of control over the body, emotions and thoughts, and an expanded state of awareness.
Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you better start running.
The experience fills the individual with wonder and awe and a feeling of being in oneness with all that is.
In sports it is sometimes said of a player who is performing at the top of his (or her) game that he is playing “out of his mind” or “in the zone”. Tim Gallwey, author of The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance (1997) describes this phenomenon through his “inner game” approach to learning. It is based on the premise that there are two “selves” at work whenever a person plays tennis. Self 1, the conscious judging mind, gives instructions on how to play, while Self 2, the unconscious automatic doer, carries them out. Playing at the peak of one’s potential, according to Gallwey, requires getting the intrusive, highly verbal Self 1 to quiet down, thus freeing Self 2 to express its intrinsic potential. Gallwey contends that, when the body is unfettered by conscious interference, it intrinsically makes the best choice about how and where to hit the ball. Gallwey’s techniques are designed to short-circuit the kind of conscious thinking that gets in the way of the flow. “To still the mind, one must learn to put it somewhere...it must be focused.” (p. 75). “To the extent the mind is (occupied)...it tends not to interfere with the natural movements of the body.” (p. 76). This intrinsic mode of play lies at the heart of the inner game. In Gallwey’s view, detailed formal instruction is secondary to removing the blocks to expressing intrinsic knowledge.
Self-transcendence shifts our ordinary day-to-day experience of the world around us. It short circuits our controlling left brain and unleashes our right brain imagination such that we can play “out of our mind”. To reach that state of performance, however, demands that we have first mastered the fundamentals of the game so that we don’t have to think about them. That is why in sports, as in the arts, it is understood that “practice makes perfect.” Why should it be any different in the field of leadership?
Allowing vs. Doing
For most people, their whole approach to success is based on “doing” – working hard to get ahead, setting and achieving goals, and striving for excellence. They accept without question the age-old adage, “no pain, no gain”. Unfortunately, this approach will not produce peak performance consistently. They may get lucky on occasion, like the high handicap golfer who scores an eagle. To function consistently at peak performance, however, takes more than practice because peak performance is synonymous with self-transcendence, and self-transcendence is not something one can “do”
Self-Transcendence
Mannabliss Tribe Speaks
MANNABLISS MEDICINE FOR THE SOUL
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