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There was a time when all we had was the transistor radio. Younger generations don’t know how good they’ve got it when it comes to the modern day audio listening experience.

Aside from poor internet connection, the experience of popping into your desired audio experience usually goes off without a hitch. 

Select the podcast, press play. 

Select the Spotify playlist, press play. 

Select the Youtube video, press play. 

Older generations, and even some who still use the radio in their car know the common experience of static. 

Static actually has a few definitions and meanings and in this issue of How To Flourish we’re going to break down some operational definitions of static that can greatly influence the flourishing of your mental state.

Static As a Disturbance

Do you remember what it was like to be fully reliant on radio frequencies? No podcasts, no Spotify.  It used to be the only audio experience we had was tied to radio frequency via car radios. You’ve got your preset channels, but if you ventured out of your geographic zone you had to explore the dial and begin to navigate the unknown. We would turn the dial to hear a faint sign of a strong signal, turn it to the left, back to the right, honing in on a radio frequency that could maybe give us Casey Kasem’s top 40 hits or a Cincinnati Reds baseball game on 700 WLW. 

It was a brutally frustrating experience dealing with static. Static in this form is a noun.

The frustration with radio static is dealing with “disturbances” to what we were trying to listen to. Or “various natural or man-made electrical disturbances.” 

I do find it interesting that as our society has advanced away from radio static in our entertainment it does seem the static has only gotten worse in our inner lives. We don’t even realize the static has shifted - it’s not AM/FM anymore, but rather a humming static of a lack of peace in our mind and inner life. Static, defined as “natural or man-made disturbances” is robbing so many of us of joy and clear thinking often associated with the decisiveness of great leadership. I believe static comes in many forms, a few often interfering in my life are:

• Unrest/rumination on distant decisions (Future) outside an appropriate present moment 

• Worry (Which I define as “the faith in something to go wrong”)

• Perceived lack of safety (Often material)

• Other people’s opinions 

• Insecurity (Which is the instant need of affirmation)

• Strain (Continual stress that overwhelms our capacity to flourish)

• Unaddressed emotions

• Displacement of unresolved conflicts

When you are not at peace - that can be static. Most people live their whole lives with debilitating background static in their mind. Humming static, interfering with the joy of the present moment. 

Just as the songs on the radio get tuned out due to static, the joy of everyday life can get tuned out due to the static of our inner life. 

If we’re going to flourish in life and leadership, a leader must learn the art of turning down the static in our thought-life that is counterproductive to our soul and true well-being. 

How can a leader turn down the static? To understand we need to look at another definition for static.

Static as an adjective is “of or relating to bodies at rest or forces in equilibrium.” Could it be our defense for static as an interference is the idea of static as “at rest?” 

It’s possible and likely that being at rest - finding true rest in our everyday life, is what allows flourishing minds to turn down the static and concentrate on their purpose. 

Static As a Posture

Think back to your hand on the radio dial turning left and right navigating the AM/FM frequency. When we encounter radio static it’s not the large, brash maneuvers that solve the problem. In fact, it’s the opposite. It is small, subtle changes as we closely listen to the static getting quieter and the frequency of the audio getting louder and louder. 

To turn down the volume of the static in our minds we often think it should come by way of doing MORE. 

More new hacks. More big commitments and brash resolutions. More toughness. More grandeur. More movement, more action, more talk, more counsel, more of anything.

In reality, turning down the static may come from practices of static as a posture. A close strong synonym for static is a much more powerful descriptor of what i’m talking about - it’s to be still. Calm, motionless, quiet. Slowly read through some of the definitions for still. (Read it two or three times).

Stillness as a Practice

I’m convinced one of the best practices for a high performer or leader is to begin to carve out little pockets of daily life where we can be still. The daily stress, the constant connectedness to social media and email, the news, work and industry drama, coupled with all the other realities of life - paying bills, saving money, caring for elderly parents, caring for toddlers and babies, raising adolescent children, sending kids off to college, working on this project, facing that deadline.

Have you ever stopped to think everything you’re involved in can produce static if you aren’t static from time to time?

If you aren’t intentional about calming down the noise internally you won’t deal with the noise externally effectively at all.

The great challenge for high performers, go-getters, doers, action takers is to stop for enough time to truly rest. To breathe and to learn the rhythms that produce a flourishing mind.

The very thing we think we don’t have time for is often the very thing that we need the most. 

How are you practicing the stillness needed to be at your best?

If you’re not currently engaged in any intentional practices - shoot us an email. We would love to jump on a call to discuss ways you can utilize practices to help your life and leadership turn down the static and live more aligned with your purpose.

Stay The Course,