CENTREDNESS
THE PROJECT
WHAT IS CENTRAL? The only thing of which we can be certain in life is uncertainty itself. Yet, as humans, we have an instinctive need for security and ‘solid ground’ beneath our feet. A lot of our efforts in life are motivated by this need . alone. At the best of times, keeping that sense of centredness can be a challenge. At times of great upheaval, having a sense of being centred and strongly rooted in our lives can become very difficult. Our quest for a sense of security and orientation remains central, no matter how chaotic things around us become. So where can we find it?
BEING CENTRED IN what is meaningful Changing and uncertain situations can place extra mental and emotional demands on us which can cause uncomfortable levels of stress. If we imagine a tree being blown by gale-force winds, we can see how all its branches and twigs, sometimes even the trunk, are shoved around and pushed from their normal positions, placing physical stress on the tree. Despite this, the tree nearly always remains standing for two reasons: 1) Above the ground it shows a degree of flexibility - it bends with the wind. 2) Below the ground the tree remains firmly held in place by its roots. In the face of change, we also need to be flexible in our actions - from finding new resources to adapting our behaviour. But it is also essential that we have something relatively unchanging and solid to be rooted in, that can support this flexibility. This is our sense of meaning; our understanding of what is of fundamental worth in our lives. A sense of what is meaningful can vary from person to person. That sense usually refers to something beyond the narrow confines of our individual self, connecting us to a bigger picture. The bigger picture could be community, family, religion, the environment, art, music etc.
BEING CENTRED IN YOUR GOALS Being rooted in a sense of meaning can inform the goals we set for ourselves and the actions we take, even when the circumstances that surround us are chaotic. It can be useful to think of goals in terms of higher order goals and lower order goals. Higher order goals are being goals. They are closely aligned to meaning. They relate to the kind of person you want to be and the value that you wish to create and contribute towards the ‘bigger picture’. Lower order goals are doing goals. They relate to the various actions you can take to keep moving in the direction of the higher order goal.
We can picture the lower order goals as vehicles and the higher order goals as a north star; a fixed point on the horizon that we drive towards. Some lower order goal vehicles will only take us so far before they run out of petrol, break down or are unsuitable for crossing a new type of terrain. At which point, we have to ditch the lower order goal we’ve been pursuing and find a new one to continue the journey in. Despite these changes, keeping our eyes fixed on the north star can keep us orientated and motivated to continue.
BEING CENTRED IN YOUR STRENGTHS Knowing where our strengths lie can also help us feel rooted in our lives. It’s often worth contemplating our top strengths and how these can support us in the pursuit of our goals. It can also be useful to think about our least developed strengths, how these have the potential to hold us back and the steps we can take or skills we could develop to manage that.
Visit https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/testcenter and select the VIA Survey of Character Strengths from the list of questionnaires. It’s free and takes 20 minutes. It will give you a list of all 24 of your strengths in descending order.
BEING CENTRED IN YOUR experience Another way to increase our sense of being centred, no matter how much uncertainty and change we are faced with, is to use our sensory experiences as an anchor to hold on to. This can give us a break from our thoughts. Overthinking can often amplify how stressed we feel. Tuning into our senses can connect us to our bodily state, quietening our thoughts. By taking a moment to slow down and tune into our senses we can become centred in the basic experience of physical existence. As well as touch, taste, smell, sound and sight, we can also tune into our sense of interoception (the internal state of the body such as the sensation of full lungs or an empty stomach) and proprioception (our sense of self movement and body position).
bonus tool:
mental contrasting & Implementation intentions (MCII)
Scientific research has shown that MCII produces substantial effects across a variety of goals. 1) Decide which goal you want to achieve. (Make sure that you choose a goal that you believe is achievable). 2) Imagine what it would feel like to achieve the goal. 3) Imagine the obstacles that might prevent you from achieving the goal. (Always imagine the positive outcomes of goal achievement first). 4) Create an implementation intention (an if-then plan): i.e. ‘IF X obstacle occurs THEN I will take Y action to get around it.’
ACTION PLANNING: Things that get written down are more likely to get done, so use this blank page to brainstorm, plan and schedule any next steps that you would like to take after you’ve attended the session and read this booklet. Think about: 1) When, where & how you’ll take these steps? 2) The stratgies and resources that might help? 3) What might get in the way? 4) How you could work around any obstacles that might come up?
“All is flux nothing stays the same.” -Heraclitus