Google search:
Relaxation – about 374.000.000 results
Mindfulness – about 119.000.000 results
Meditation – about 399.000.000 results
Emotional intelligence – about 243.000.000 results
Resilience – about 89.100.000 results
What topic to chose if it looks like all is said and written already?
This week I would like to invite you not to consume more knowledge, but act upon it.
Because knowledge is not competence.
How often do you think – while reading or listeing to an article or podcast: “Yeah, no new news – I knew all that already.”?
But what do you do with all this knowledge?
Could you have generated it if someone had asked you?
And above all: do you know how to apply it?
Knowing everything about a topic does not make us competent.
Knowledge is the foundation, but competence means moving from knowledge into action, i.e. applying our knowledge and developing abilities and skills – and above all, havint the willingness to do so.
In order to be competent in a field, you need …
- The knowledge
- Skills and abilities learned on the basis of this knowledge
- The willingness to apply and implement these skills and abilities
- The ability to transfer what has been learned to future situations (even if these are only similar to the situation learned)
Let us assume that you have a tendency to brood. Your mind wanders from one topic to another, from one stick to the next – and never comes to rest. It is always present, this voice in your head – the so-called “Monkey Mind”.
You investigate what you can do about it and find the 5-4-3-2-1 method.
- You now know that this method exists and how it works and you think: “Cool, I have to try it.”
- During your next “Monkey Mind Phase” you remember the method and try it out. It doesn’t work right away – your mind moves on. But you stay with it until it works.
- You repeat the method every time your mind starts its mental chatter again – to get better at stopping it.
- A few weeks later you are confronted with a situation so complex that it is totally overwhelming. You do not know where to start. Your mind feels totally blocked, you can’t think a single rational thought. You ask yourself if the Monkey Mind method works in this case and you try it out. And – surprise – your mind relaxes and it is easier for you to make a plan.
I think the current situation presents a lot of opportunities to apply what we know and have learned in theory.
It’s the best time to try out if it works.
What about the competence of “accepting what is” when you are sent on furlough?
What do we do with the knowledge that socializing helps to reduce stress in times of social distancing?
And if we are aware of how important it is to focus and think in a solution-oriented way – how well do we succeed when we are exposed to the daily news?
So before I write about a new topic today, I would like to invite you to browse through the old ones.
In which one could you increase your competence?
Which knowledge is waiting for application?
In which area is it time to put your knowledge into action and develop skills to make you feel better?
-> Pick one thing.
-> Take ONE action to move from knowing to doing,
-> Dedicate yourself to this action once a day.
-> Reflect on the other situations in which you could benefit from this competence and – apply it there as well!
Good luck and have fun,
Birgit