🏊🏻♂️How I got Caught Taking my shorts off in the public pool
You know the routine, you arrive at the public pool, walk to hang up your towel, slip off your swim shorts and reveal your birthday suit!
😳Hang on a minute. You do what?
Yup, that’s what happened to me about 4 yrs ago, at my gym pool.
🤯For some unknown reason, I just went blank to the fact I was standing in front of a pool full of people and took my shorts off.
I called it a “break in the matrix” at the time, a momentary blip in consciousness.
🤣After laughing at my blunder, thankful that I only revealed myself to a few old men and Nezha my fiancee, I reflected on wtf just happened?
I usually take a shower after the gym then go get changed, but I had broken my routine.
Somehow my thoughts gave me instructions to do this at the poolside, and I was not present enough to realise that instruction was in the wrong place. An old behaviour pattern was still running.
🚧As leaders we often find ourselves doing this, dropping into old patterns or what I call Out of Place Instructions (OPI’s). Sometimes it’s a college who triggers certain reactions, other times it’s a location or smell.
Often when we hear other people’s opinions, or simply following a set routine like driving home. OPI’s are the warning signal that you have become unconscious.
😱A scary thought right! Has this ever happened to you? Not the naked pool situation 🙂 but an Out of Place Instruction telling you to do something that you actioned then wondered why.What was it? I’d love to know.
😇The good news is that OPI’s can only affect us if we aren’t present. When we’re up in our head worried about what we need to do next, how much time we have left, etc.. Instead of being fully present to what’s directly in front of you.
When we’re fully present we simply cannot be drawn into OPI’s. Which means we don’t get caught with our pants down in the public pool. (Or your version of that)
👨👨👦👦Since that day at the pool I have helped many leaders with this phenomenon, and what I have realised is this:
“We are so used to being up in our head, that we forget what being present feels like.
🙇🏻♂️We THINK we are present instead of actually BEING present”
What this means is that we create concepts of what being present feels like, kind of like a virtual hologram that we live inside of permanently.
Tricking ourselves into believing we are present is the ultimate illusion, and one of the biggest obstacles to our progress.
This illusion keeps us in the grip of old programmes from the past. It reminds me of Stranger Things, the hit Netflix series. It’s about a bunch of kids caught up in a parallel universe full of demons. However, the demons can only enter into our world through an open portal.
The portal for our mental demons is a lack of being present.
The issue is that it stays open when we “think” we’re present instead of actually being present. The illusion creates the impression the portal is closed when it’s actually still open.
And we all know what life feels like when we’re being chased by our demons! Right? Choosing to become a Leaders who is Enlightened to these inner truths can help stop this illusion.
Enlightened Leaders (E..L’s), as I call them are leaders who deeply understand the human condition, and how our minds really work. E.L’s know that we all create holographic realities that we step into unwittingly.
Being aware of these false realities ensures a better chance of not getting tricked by them.
One tool I use to deepen my awareness of the present moment is during everyday tasks like walking, cleaning, or folding clothes (my new favorite! Haha). This allows you to remember what it feels like to actually BE present.
Becoming familiar with the experience of being present will transform your life. Distinguishing reality from fantasy has the added benefit a competitive advantage over those that cannot !
I Invite you to try this out for yourself today, where could you increase your awareness of feeling present just 5% more today?
Notice what changes I would live to know
Do you have any more ways to become aware of what present feels like? Share them in the comments below.
With love,
Ryan
