You can check out the Survival cycle and Fulfillment cycles here.

Now onward and upward!

The practice that turns a Survival cycle into a Fulfillment cycle is what I call the PLAY Mindset™.  As stated in the last post on the Fulfillment cycle, the mindset isn’t about leisure or recreation. It’s a set of skills that we are born with, and as children we used these tools to discover our world. Since a child’s work is called play,  at some point we started to believe that the mindset and skills of a child weren’t applicable for us as adults. I would like to argue that, if we refine them, they are applicable and they very much have the power to create a successful, fulfilling life.

So what is the practice and what does it look like?

Well, if you have seen a spark of yourself in either of the last two posts, you have taken the first step toward a PLAY Mindset™.

Awareness: Dr. Ellen Langer, a social psychologist who studies mindlessness and mindfulness, states that all we need to do to become more mindful is to notice something new. Read more from Dr. Langer here
–>Auto-pilot to Present

Non-Judgment: The basic action of non-judgment is the act of removing “shoulds” from any awareness and then  move to critiquing the objective and not the personal.
–>Fear to Compassion

Accept: It is, what it is. As in, if you’re stuck in traffic, you’re stuck in traffic. If there are dirty dishes, there are dirty dishes. Wishing for something different doesn’t change the fact of what is. Can you take a deep breath and see it.
–>Blame to Balance

Personal Responsibility: This is my very favorite one! The only thing in this world you have control over is yourself. Start and finish here. What is your role in this play (the dirty dishes, the stuck in traffic) and how do you wish to change your part to change your world.
–>Victim to Power

Curiosity: the power of “what if”, and “what don’t I know here”, “what can I learn”, “how can I see this differently”
–>Closed-off to Possibility

Vision: “What do I want”, “What do I value”, “Who do I want to be”, “How do I want to grow”
–>Dwelling to Belief

Choice: This is all about taking action. “What steps WILL I take to get from this moment to where I want to be.”
–>Drifting to Decision/action

Unknown/Discomfort: How can this be a practice?  This is about the embrace or rejection of the unknown and discomfort. When you embrace these you build excitement. When you reject them you create anxiety. Why? Because, both discomfort and the unknown are universal in our lives, you can reject discomfort and the unknown but they are still there; much like gravity. How you use and embrace discomfort and the unknown determines your life as a whole.
–>Anxiety to Excitement

Want to learn more? Have any thoughts or questions so far?