The Statue of David
In reflecting on his masterpiece, the statue of David, Michaelangelo made a comment about his work that is highly relevant to the modern person’s performance at work and to the act of creation. Generations of paraphrasing have left it that, when asked how he could make a statue so beautiful as that of David, he quipped, “It’s easy — just chip away everything that isn’t David.” Or, more precisely, his verbatim comment was that, “[t]he statue is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” [CITATION]
Today, when performance suffers, we are often inclined to “push harder,” “just do better,” “focus more,” or “put one’s mind to it.” People find themselves asking how they can hit their goals — whether that is at work, at play, at home, or anywhere in their lives" — but mostly find that pushing harder, forcing things, efforting, and trying to do things differently do not make much of a difference. People read self-helf books, listen to motivational podcasts, implement new organizational techniques, rearrange their offices, etc., only to find that performance still lacks. For many, any lagging/sluggish performance comes with a story about oneself, such as, “I am inadequate; insufficient to the job; I’m just being lazy; I’m just a screw-up.” Or, more basically, I am broken. Something is wrong with me.
I invite you to consider the possibility that nothing is wrong with you and that all is well. Remember the statue of David. For Michaelangelo, the work was already whole and complete within the marble block even before he started; his work of fulfilling on the result was simply to chip away every bit of excess that was not David.
Consider that people are like that: whole and complete, and surrounded by a lot of “superfluous material" that obscures who they are and what they are out to achieve. From my decades of experience with energy psychology, I ask you also to consider that performance may be not an additive process (more self-help books, more organizational tools, etc.), but that it is instead subtractive. A new generation of psychological practitioners have found that when you remove the din of modern life and the clamour of our emotional injuries, traumas, and clamour of stories about ourselves, things get much quieter. We are able to be present in a new way, leaving us free, at ease, open; suddenly, there is space in which to create new possibilities, new goals to fulfill on, and we can generate ourselves as the kinds of people who are able to take the actions to fulfill on what we want to create.
To restate for emphasis: improving performance at work and at play is not an additive process where we push through or try harder. That approach just jams our circuits and leads to exhaustion and ineffectiveness. Rather, transforming performance is a subtractive process, in which we de-clutter the mental and emotional stress of the very human baggage we all carry. And, having decluttered, we are free to create and fulfill on what we are up to in our relationships, at work, in community, and in personal performance and lifestyle. With enough space, we are finally free to be who we are and be capable of generating ourselves.
It is not enough to declutter our work habits, clear our schedules, or declutter our approaches or environments. All that we do comes from Who We Are and finds its expression in the world. Therefore, to transform our performance we need to work at the level of transforming Who and How We Are In The World.
One transformative approach is called EFT Tapping, a technique that has evolved out of the newest branch of psychological practices, or Energy Psychology [CITATION]. EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, is a modality that systematically reprograms our nervous systems to respond differently to both consciously-realized and also unconscious triggers that compromise our wellbeing, peace of mind, and also our performance. As a psychological intervention, EFT and other forms of Energy Psychology are being used by therapists to address traumas, triggers, and psychological issues. It has also been formally recognized as an effective therapy by the American Psychological Association and has found broad psychological application [CITATION]. In fact, teams of EFT practitioners have been deployed to war-torn areas and areas that have suffered genocide, as a primary psychological intervention. Psychology aside, it has also been used for performance coaching. If you are interested in sports, you may have seen players on the field or the bench tapping acupoints on their face with their fingertips; they are literally recalibrating for the next play, so they can let go of the last play, get present again, and operate at peak performance.
The technique can be self-applied, and once it is learned, it’s yours for life! However, many people find that they prefer to be held in a safe, loving emotional container as they work through the burdens they carry. Unlike most psychotherapy, I work with clients specifically to clear obstacles to their performance or delivering on their goals.
Who knew that the way to effectiveness is a matter of feeling better, more serene, calm, and at peace with the world? As paradoxical as that may sound, it is so.