New models to fight reality; What does values alignment feel like? (3 min exercise); Walking backwards at 10% for 5 mins to resolve knee pain

Hi there,

Happy Monday!

Here’s your weekly dose of The Monday 3: a quote, an insight and an action I’m taking.

A quote I’m pondering

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

Buckminster Fuller

An insight

I’ve been working with my clients to deeply connect to their experience of values alignment. Not just to the words, but to the emotional and physiological experience of them. This has helped create some huge unlocks.

Here’s a 3 min exercise you can do to connect to your own.

Bring to mind a time when you felt like everything was right in the world - it might be recently or a long time ago.

Now close your eyes and connect to that time as deeply as you can for 10 secs. Breath into it.

Then write down your answers to these questions:

1. What were you thinking? What were you saying to yourself?
2. What were you feeling? What emotions are present?
3. What does the experience feel like physically, physiologically?
4. Where in, or around, your body did you feel it?
5. Does your experience have a shape and size?
6. Does it have a colour or texture?
7. Does it have a weight or temperature?
8. Can you give it a name?

Then the practice becomes connecting and reconnecting to this experience as often as possible.

The challenge then is to walk with it in your day even while making room for the inevitable discomfort that is part of being human.

If you’d like to talk more about this, please get in touch >

An action I’m taking

To resolve knee pain, I’m walking backwards on a treadmill at 10% gradient for 5 mins before every gym session.

Reversing gait decreases load through the knee and increases activation of the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves and hip flexors. I’ve found it gives me almost instant relief.

Beware the strange looks in the gym though…

Is there one of these that really stood out for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions whether that’s a favourite quote or something else.

I hope you have a great week ahead.

With love,

Toby

PS: If you’re interested in finding out how I can help you or your team improve resilience, performance and purpose, please get in touch >