Despite the fact that I told myself I wouldn't take any courses for the first half of this year, I find myself enrolled in a course for coaches called Positive Intelligence.
The course hasn’t started yet, but I’ve been listening to the audiobook and engaging in some of the exercises as part of the pre-work. I'm just getting into this content, so writing about it feels a little premature. However, it did spark some thoughts that I want share.
The overall idea of the Positive Intelligence program is that we all have saboteurs in our minds. These saboteurs are often unconscious, but they direct the way we think, the decisions we make, and the way we feel about ourselves. We also have the opportunity for discernment by tapping into our sages - the opposite of the saboteur.
The course includes an assessment to help us understand our own saboteurs. I’ve done this assessment twice and gotten the same result both times. I’ll share more about that when I get deeper into the course.
There is one main saboteur called the Judge. We all have the Judge in our minds, some of us to a great extent than others.
The Judge operates in multiple ways; judging who we are, what we do, and the decisions we make. The part I found most interesting was that the Judge decides when we are allowed to feel happy and at peace. And that “when” is always changing.
The book gave an example of someone who had an opportunity to sell their company for millions and millions of dollars but decided not to accept the offer because their neighbor had sold his company for more. This person’s Judge was telling him that he couldn’t be happy and at peace until he made more money than his neighbour.
This person ended up not being able to sell their company at all because of changes in the business environment, and they went bankrupt. At that point their Judge changed the goal to reflect their new circumstances.
If we allow our Judge to decide “when” we can be happy and at peace, we will never, ever get there, because the Judge will always move the finish line.
What if we allow ourselves to be happy and at peace right now?
What if we don’t require ourselves to get a new job, lose 10 pounds, clean out the junk drawer, finish our degree…whatever arbitrary finish line our Judge has put in place that we need to cross before we can be happy and at peace.
This is exactly the idea that I’ve been contemplating this month. How do I go about accepting what is – right now? What would happen if I just allowed myself to be happy and at peace right now?
I don’t know the answer yet, but I’m working on it.
I’m amazed at how much more there is to learn. I thought I knew a lot about self-talk, and building confidence, and stepping into who you really are. But 2023 has opened up this whole new exercise in recognizing my Judge and my other saboteurs. I’m working on accepting what is and being in happiness and peace right now.