Worry and Self-Authorship

I ran across this thread on how to deal with stress by a Twitter user. I don't know exactly how this deals with self-authorship, but it made me consider the nature of stress and the stress we put on ourselves.

1. Drop your shoulders and allow a subtle smile to ease through.
2. Understand this: stress is man-made. It is a label, a concept. You made it up. Yes, you. Yes, you did. You’re not ‘stressed.’ You’re feeling the buzz of energy that arises when you think scary thoughts.
3. That’s your doing. Do you see that? Your thoughts have such power that they literally create your emotions and your reality.
4. You don’t even need to think 'positive.' That’s a waste of energy and makes you more self-conscious. Just relax and let go to what’s in front of you.
5. Do it now. Look around you now. See how everything is fresh, without critical judgment. That’s a good thing. You’re creating everything. You are the designer.
6. Write down your top three ‘causes’ of stress. Then write down the one best solution that applies to each. Good. Now, For each solution, write down one next tiny step towards handling it. Now your stress is on paper, out of mind. And you know what to do next.
7. Sit for a moment, and watch all the sensations in your body now. Feel the tightness in your chest or the pressure in your belly. Observe it openly and do it until you feel a shift.
8. As you watch, you may see the pressure easing. The sensation was replaced with a tingling. Your awareness is like a bright torch that can melt away strain. It’s at your disposal whenever you need it.
9. Lastly, I want you to try this one thing today: Find someone, anyone, and thank them. Don’t do it with any expectations attached. Just be thankful for another human.
10. To take the lead, To connect, To forget about you: That’s the ultimate cure for ‘stress.’ 

I really like number 4. "Just relax and let go to what's in front of you."

I remember when I went to a private school as a kid, stress was a constant. It got so bad my mother took me to a psychiatrist who prescribed my going to a different school. He felt the environment was too stressful, among many other things. 

As a child, I read a ton. A ton ton. I would get in trouble for reading so much. I went through a fantasy phase and there was one book that hit me in what the author wrote about the main character. I don't remember it precisely, but it went something like: "What's the point of worrying, focus on what's in front of you, and that alone. Block out everything else and just do that one thing as best as you can. Then once it's through, move on to the next." I don't know why, but that helped me as a kid. 

Another one that helped me was something that Dick Francis wrote about stress and worry. "What's the point of worrying if something happens. If it happens and you were worried about it, then your worry was a waste of time and energy. If it doesn't happen, then again, what's the point of that wasted time and energy for something that didn't happen anyway."

Again, I don't know how this helps with my self-authorship journaling, but it hit me and resonated with me. Got to remember it and practice it once I get stressed again. 

Red Team Journal Project

I'm in the midst of an Adult Learning and Adult Development class. We had a speaker in yesterday’s class for Adult Development. It’s a tough class and the speaker was intriguing. She discussed how she created a program to help officers in the military reach self-authorship. One major component . . . . Journaling. 

Not just a diary, but journaling toward a goal. Journaling toward a purpose. 

So, I'm starting and will keep up my own journal toward a purpose. The purpose of this journaling that I’m starting? I’ll be journaling to get closer to self-authorship. 

I thought about doing this here on the blog. Hell, much of what I write here could be considered an active journal. I betcha much of what I do journal on this project will end up here, but I need a private place too. If only because I need the privacy and security to know that what I write can be mine alone, my own self-growth opportunity. 

So, this journal entry is just to start the trend (as you can tell, this post is an excerpt from the journal). I have to kick off the ball. I have to get on the field. That’s this. 

What is self-authorship?Accourding to wikipedia;

Self-authorship is defined by Robert Kegan as an "ideology, an internal personal identity, that can coordinate, integrate, act upon, or invent values, beliefs, convictions, generalizations, ideals, abstractions, interpersonal loyalties, and intrapersonal states. It is no longer authored by them, it authors them and thereby achieves a personal authority."

Self-authorship is only a single phase of development within the lifelong process of self-evolution. Instead of depending on external values, beliefs, and interpersonal loyalties, self-authorship relies on internal generation and coordination of one's beliefs, values and internal loyalties. This phase can often be seen at critical turning points in an individual's life, such as during education for a professional career.

Self-authorship spans over three dimensions: cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal. It is based on theory involving adult learning and gaining of knowledge with the product of self-authorship including learning and growth. The concept of the "object" and the concept of the "self" make up self-authorship. One is not born with self-authorship. There are steps to attain self-authorship which include following external formulas, then crossroads and eventually obtaining self-authorship. There are elements of self-authorship that include trusting the internal voice, building an internal foundation and securing internal commitments.

I've written about self-authorship here before. See HERE and HERE.

There's a lot of ambiguity and the Wikipedia definition is fairly in-depth, long-winded, and can be a bit convoluted. But, what does self-authorship mean to me?

For me, it means moving away from the “socialized” mindset. The mindset where someone’s beliefs, thoughts, and feelings are ruled by or monitored and led by the social groups around us. Instead, the self-authored individual is free to express their own thoughts and feelings without worrying about what others around them think. They are sure of their opinions even if they are what the group may think is wrong. They are also open to others’ opinions and are not threatened by them. They understand that there are ill-constructed problem sets in the world. Problems with no clear answer and these ill-constructed problems are okay in the world. They exist and may never be answered. 

So, am I there? I think to a great degree I am. I see myself in a lot of definitions up there, both my own informal one and the formal one. But just like all things, I don’t think I’m fully there. I’m not complete. That is the purpose of this journaling. I want to be fully embedded in self-authorship so that the next phase of adult development can come about . . . Self-transforming.