SOLUTIONS
Krishna C. Kalva
What comes to your mind when you think of the word “awareness”? Understanding, familiarity, acknowledgement and recognition might be some of the words that we can associate with awareness.
In short, awareness is a state of mind where one experiences absolute clarity about the nature of reality as it is. A reality that is always there, providing us an opportunity to reflect, identify and remain present as the moment unfolds.
Unfolding is a pattern wherein the outcomes are determined based on the sequence of events. The nature of reality is independent of how events unfold, and it takes practice to see everything through the lens of reality.
How can we create and experience moments of reality as a daily practice? In this column I would like to share some thoughts about a technique that I picked up. It might be useful to any of us to apply and see the results.
The technique starts with taking a pause and asking ourselves three questions:
Where am I?
What am I doing?
What did it take for the moment to arise? (In other words, what people or processes were involved to allow that moment to exist?)
Each of the questions works as an anchor point, allowing us to observe our thought patterns. Through observation, we give ourselves permission to identify the underlying feelings and emotions associated with our thought patterns. The goal of the questions is not to change what we feel, but to help us notice and identify what we feel. By choosing to pause and identify our feelings associated with an event, we remain present, allowing the event to unfold without any preconceived labels or outcomes.
Imagine that you are starting a new job that you are very excited about. You invested a lot of hours preparing for the multiple rounds of interviews by doing market research for the case studies. The entire process from applying for the job and receiving the offer letter took about 12 weeks.
After having received the offer, you are expected to serve eight weeks’ notice with your current employer before you are relieved from your duties. In totality, the time taken to transition from one job to another is more than 20 weeks.
While the transition time and process to switch organizations is standard, the investment from a physical and mental perspective is quite significant. Throughout the transition phase, allowing ourselves to take a pause from time to time to ask the three key questions will be helpful. For example, not expecting the process or duration to be any different releases us from any preconceived notions.
The three questions can be applied throughout and beyond the transition phase. The questions continue to remind us of our own efforts and the people and processes involved, thereby creating moments of awareness to better understand ourselves, our journey and the situation at hand.
One of the key outcomes of asking questions is to gain perspective. A perspective filled with awareness is nourished through reflection, helping us to understand the bigger picture and to see things through the lens of reality that always existed.
Let me take you back to the original idea, creating moments of awareness. As already outlined, there are different words that one can associate with the term awareness. Creating awareness is a continuous process one can apply both in personal and professional lives.
Once we become aware about a given situation, there is no going back. We cannot return to the state of mind of not knowing. The only way is to move forward.
Through awareness, we reach a newfound state of mind that is filled with joy and gratitude. Gratitude to appreciate everything and everyone involved in the process of unfolding. Through joy and gratitude, we realize that taking a pause to ask three questions remains much more powerful than choosing to get caught up in thought patterns of how we want events to unfold.
Krishna C. Kalva is program manager for sales leadership excellence in Germany for Siemens Healthineers. Email him at krishnachaitanya.kalva@siemens-healthineers.com or connect through LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/krishna-chaitanya-kalva-a2773123.