4D Human Being Podcast

One Degree at a Time: The Everyday Reset for Intentional Leadership & Living

• 4D Human Being

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In this springtime hike edition of the 4D Human Being Podcast, Philippa and Penelope explore the power of the reset—not as a dramatic life overhaul, but as small, intentional shifts that create meaningful change.

From adjusting your mindset before a team meeting to doing a few minutes of exercise while the kettle boils, Phil and Pen share practical ways to reset energy, attention and intention, right in the moment.

Discover how reframing your perspective, celebrating the present, and being mindful of where you place your focus can reset your experience of the world, and of yourself.

Whether it’s in the boardroom or the garden, this episode reminds us that the next five minutes are always within our power. It’s not about changing everything. It’s about shifting something.

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Our team of 4D coaches and facilitators combine the knowledge, expertise and talents of entrepreneurs, business leaders, psychologists and actors to offer a unique suite of communication, leadership and wellbeing programmes to help you and your organisation choose your impact.

Our approach looks at our development in all 4 of our dimensions: physical, emotional, intellectual and intentional. Taking you from being a 3D Human Doing, to a 4D Human Being.

Speaker 1:

Hello, my name is Philippa Waller, my name is Penelope Waller and we are two of the directors at 4D Human being. And welcome to the 4D Human being podcast. What's it all about, pen? It's all about your personal and professional relationships. It's about your communication skills, how you lead, how you work and build teams, how you are looking after yourself and your well-being, and how you are much more at choice. What do we mean by that? Well, sometimes we can get a little caught in patterns in life and we can all be a little bit on our automatic pilot. So 40 human being is all about helping us get back to choice and being a four-dimensional human being, and your fourth dimension, of course, is intention. So, whether it's about your impact, your leadership style, your team dynamics, whether it's about your well-being, whether it's about your communication or your presentation skills anything that involves human beings interacting with other human beings 40 Human being are here to help. We're going to take a deep dive and look at some tools, insights, theories that are going to help you go from a 3D human doing to a 4D human being, so that you can happen to the world rather than the world simply happening to you. Well, hello, we're a little bit out of breath. Well, I am a little bit out of breath. We've just climbed a very big hill. If you zoom around there, you can see where we've climbed up. There we go, woo. So happy spring, happy spring.

Speaker 1:

This is our first outside podcast in a few years. Actually, I think the last one we recorded outside was during COVID. Yes, so we're not even sure. It was in this country, no only in the beautiful sunshine on a beautiful april day. Yes, so we're coming up to the spring break. Yeah, we wanted.

Speaker 1:

We're going to be talking a lot in the next few weeks about uncertainty, because there's oh boy, there's a lot of that, and talking about, about it. You know, really, like what can we do? How can we feel more stable? Well, we can't always change the environment, but how can we change our mindset and position in it? So we talk about that.

Speaker 1:

But today, with the spring break and spring is springing and I saw my first bluebell yesterday and we'll talk about hitting the reset button, so sort of refresh, reset. Like how can we think about not like a massive life change? No, in fact, in fact, really not, really not about right, I'm going to be a completely different person. I'm going to go to the gym. Everything's going to change not that at all, no.

Speaker 1:

But how can we sort of do a mini reset that actually means you could wake up tomorrow morning or you could come out of your next meeting or you could jump onto your next call and just take a moment to think I could do something different? Yeah, I could just turn a page and not a heavy sort of medieval tome parchment page, a light rice paper page Easy, easy, easy breezy. Just blow over, easy breezy, just try something new. So that is what I'm thinking about, and also I think you and I have got a couple of ideas on this, and mine is probably not even turning over the page, just reading the words and interpreting them slightly differently. Yes, yeah, so even just a reset on interpretation, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I was thinking about something I talked about a lot a few years ago, which is the next five minutes, and rather than hitting reset, like you said, of thinking right, I'm going to change job or move house or become a completely new person as a psychotherapist, I'm gonna tell you that's tough, but actually what are the small things I could stop doing? Start doing, do less of and do more of. Yes, that if you think incrementally, moment by moment. I'm going to give you an example. Okay, so I have put my eight kg weights out on a little table. Ever hopeful, ever sure, ever hopeful. Well, because I'll tell you this is exactly why Because I do lots of things like dance and yoga, but I thought I really want to do more resistance training.

Speaker 1:

Next thing, I'm looking up 30 day plans. So, you know, get the ultimate sort of muscle, yeah, and I'm, and I'm afraid, all my time and I'm looking at these 30 day plans you've got to have at least sort of 45 minutes a day. You've got to change the different muscle groups. I mean, I wasn't cracking, it sounds like a job. And then I stopped a whole new career, a whole new career. And I started like right, not, that's not gonna happen.

Speaker 1:

And then I thought arms, just gonna do arms, biceps, tricep, yes, and I'm gonna do it while the kettle boils. Yes, in the morning. Good idea, I'm gonna do some heavy reps. This is a fact. This is a very downhill path, isn't it? Yeah, it's very down. I think downhill is hugely underestimated in terms of its difficulty. You know, it's true, on the knees harder than going up, um, so that reset is not right. I'm, you know, going down the gym and eating protein shakes and doing the full body workout. I'm just gonna do three to four minutes. Gonna become like a chewing strike, gonna be like, you know, miss iron, universe, whatever. But I'm gonna do kettle boiling time of arm weights. Nice, and that's doable. Yeah, I've taken it one step further, phil. I've taken the refresh reset button one step further, which which means actually not doing anything at all or stop.

Speaker 1:

But I'll tell you how this came up for me. I found this AI app that you can put photos of a room in your house or your garden into this AI app and then it has a selection of different styles and colour palettes and you can completely see a design for your room in like three seconds. Yeah, with your garden eyes, yeah. And I was doing this around my house, in my garden, and I started to get really sort of dissatisfied with my house. I thought, oh no, I want my house to look much more like AI. Basically, that's a that is a slippery path, that's a downhill path, and I was going down this tunnel and then the oh, you know, my house doesn't look how I wanted it to look. And then I stopped and I looked at my house, yeah, and looked at AI pictures and actually my house is very nice. I really love my house and I thought I have a really lovely house yeah, that lots of people would love to have a house like mine.

Speaker 1:

And instead of thinking I want it to be like that, just enjoy what you've got. So I decided I don't have to change anything. I just had to enjoy more what I've got. Well, you know, which actually doesn't take much effort. It's a reset on the mindset. Do you know? What it was really lovely about? That is, I didn't have to recover any weight. It's the better part. But also it's a really good example of if I think about whether we're talking about coaching or training or therapy of self-development that we've got the part of that. That's looking at what else, what more?

Speaker 1:

But the piece that's really important that you have to start from is oh, and this is where I am, yeah, I'm so sorry. And when you can have that acceptance of right well, this is where I am or even joy, if you can find it, or at least acceptance of the reality of this is my starting point Then everything from there is Bertie Boner, isn't it that well-known UK expression, that well-known because everything from there is extra, it's bonus rather than a sort of moving terrible to slightly better. Actually, we're moving from a place of I accept this is where I am just getting over a style here that was a really high start to try and keep the audio still going. So that was a unexpectedly high style. That is an unexpectedly high style and, um, be grateful, yes, be grateful, exactly but that, but that mindset. So let's put this into the workplace the mindset reset of not even changing the next team meeting but just hitting reset on your mindset around it. So, rather than, oh God, I've got to go in there and Bob's going to be there and he's always annoying, it's just hit reset on that, yes, and go, oh, go, oh, what's great about this? Yeah, what's great about this thing? Or we achieved? Yeah, exactly, exactly. And that comes to what can we celebrate about what we've achieved, which again is celebrating miles, not enough celebration going on.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes I meet people, I go to work, culture ever celebrate and you get they go, no, as if I'm mad and I'm like you might want to think about a bit more celebration. But this really goes to the 4D work, which is the intention, and reset on your intention. So, basically, you're hitting a 4D reset button and you could do it at any moment. You could do it halfway through a meeting, halfway through a call, you could do it your lunch hour, you could do it at the end of the day, beginning of the day. Just hit the reset button and think what could my intention be here, rather than I'm just I'm going through the same old motions in a way that is slightly unsatisfied. Exactly what would I love? And if I want a little bit more energy, could I bring that energy? If I want a bit more clay, could I bring that play? If I want a bit more appreciation and celebration into the mix, yeah, who could I appreciate you? What can I put into the meat?

Speaker 1:

It does not have to be life-changing transformation, but it's like the you know, it's like the analogy of if you move a ship by one degree, it'll end up in a completely different place. That's the analogy. Really, for the refresh we want to talk about, it's not right. My whole daily routine is going to be different. Exactly, degree of change, exactly.

Speaker 1:

And I think that's the point about the spring reset is, when I came out of my house two or three days ago and I saw the clematis over the front fence, which is my neighbor's clematis which is glowing my way. It's like the gift, grateful for that, a gift that he, I did say to him I will try and train it, but she won't. It won't, she won't go, it won't come my way. I'm like the gift, grateful for that, a gift that he, I did say to her I will try and train it, but she won't. It won't, she won't go, it won't come my way. I'm like she said thanks so much, but it was just budding and I thought you know, enjoy this moment of the clematis buddy. Yes, that that's already. Oh, that's nice rather than yes, that's not. That which makes me think of the other refresh that we've been talking about recently.

Speaker 1:

We did mention this, I think, when we came back from our holiday earlier this year, which is, if you are thinking about developing a new habit, changing something. So, for example, the weightlifting as your kettle is boiling, lifting the little weights no, they're not. Kuti is actually not a little. This is, 16 years, what we've all learned over the whole zoe. You know, we've got to improve our muscle mass heavy weights shorter time. Pen heavy weight, shorter time, which is perfect for the kettle boiling because it's quite an efficient kettle. So it's not if they were little weights pen I love. I love that that was important to you To clarify that.

Speaker 1:

I'm all for a reset, but not a pointless reset. So the point being, as exactly you said, it doesn't have to be right. By the end of this year I'm going to be winning high rocks competitions. I think we've all learned that doesn't work. But, as I said to you when we did our yoga retreat earlier this year, for me it's now about if I can still do the same things I can do now in a year, two years, five years' time more than good enough. Win, win, win. More than good enough. So the refresh can also. It doesn't have to be a whole new goal. It's just what can I do now? What do I like about my life now? It's just what can I do now? What do I like about my life now? What are able to do? Let's just maintain it. Well, exactly, and and and also and I really want to go back to the celebration on this is that we to enjoy? You know, I don't know.

Speaker 1:

Let's, let's say, let's use a gardening analogy, that weeding the garden or putting the sort of you know, feed it, plant feeder in. Enjoy that bit. You know that we enjoy the process. We enjoy those small moments and we're not all just waiting to the big trophy or the big award. You know, it's the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck moment when they won the Oscar and they sat there with it on the coffee table after Good Will Hunting and they were like that's done, nothing's changed. And of course, the enjoyable bit was the creativity, the writing of it, the green lighting it, the then being on set, the making it happen. The joyful moment wasn't no, an asker and I will enjoy garden weeding for as long as my back holds out and I can actually do it.

Speaker 1:

So we encourage a reset and hitting the 4d reset button and for us, of course, 4d. As I said, that is about really hitting a reset on intention, and you can do really easy things like dial your energy up by one point in your next meeting. Next time you're on your doorstep and you're you've left the house in a bit of a grump or you've had an argument with someone that you live with, stand on that doorstep, take a breath, hit reset and walk in with open. Yeah, curious, walk in with a different attitude. Hit, keep hitting reset, because those tiny, tiny moments of hitting that 4d reset button over the next week, month, year are going to completely change not only your experience of the world but your experience of yourself.

Speaker 1:

We were saying as well, weren't we? That, particularly at the moment I mean whether it's on a macro level, which it is at the moment, or whether in your own life or organization, the level of uncertainty, yeah, and perhaps some fear and change, is ever present and getting dialed up all the time. And if we don't take charge of that reset, we don't take charge of where our mind goes. Yeah, we really are at the mercy of the world around us, and the world, the world around us, is pretty unseen. Yeah, exactly, exactly, I've said this, but I always keep coming back to I think it had such an impact on me the orchestra in the basement in Ukraine. Oh, yeah, what can you do in these really tough moments when things are uncertain and volatile? You know we're living in the wucker world and actually, what can you do? And and I think it's an act of, I think it's a, it's activism and protest now to come back to the present and take charge of your next five minutes. I really feel like that is. That is a vote for activism in a world that you know may well be really pushing you and triggering you for want of a better word to come back to the present moment and come back to choice and say no, I choose. I choose how I'm going to be in this next five minutes. Yeah, is the power that you have. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Well, I saw on Instagram the other day I think it was a Buddhist monk saying your life is one day. Ooh, and what he meant by that was was that yesterday is gone. Yeah, tomorrow it's not here and there's no bouncing. Yeah, so your life is always one day. I love that. I know, I really like that as well. I love that. I know I really like that as well. I love that.

Speaker 1:

Well, I can't think of a nicer. If I have one day, I can't think of a nicer one day. These lovely doggies in the woods, these lovely doggies in the woods In the sunshine, very, very lucky. And we've had our hair done today as well. It's looking good, the small things, though I have. It's looking good, the small things though I have got my sunglasses on, partly because it's sunny, but partly because my home keepers up, but still, I'm not going to focus on that. No, not from exactly. It's all about where you focus, is it all about? Oh, oh, that was my favorite quote of the week quote of the week. It's not what you look at, is what you see. Come on, isn't it now? Yeah, I mean that brings us on to topics we'll talk about in the uncertainty podcast. But absolutely around where you put your attention, where you put your focus, and also whether you are selection of data, selection of data, whether you are evidence gathering for danger, or whether you can evidence gather for joy, love, connection, safety, all of those things, because those signals are there.

Speaker 1:

I was in mad. I was imagining, you know, to put it in a work context that you, I was imagining like a, like a snapshot of a meeting room table, yeah, and you know you're giving your idea and all you can see is people looking quizzically or disapprovingly, and you've missed the person smiling with their thumbs up towards you. And so where? Where can you look? If you could put your intention's like the person's smiling with their thumbs up? I had this conversation with that the other day and it's this sort of analogy, of someone comes into work and you say to them did you see any red cars on your way to work this morning? And of course they know that they did, but they couldn't really tell you yes, because they weren't really. But then the next morning they. Where are you looking for those moments that are going to help you shift? Yeah, and look for the positive, look for the connection, look for your allies, look for the moments of joy or play or happiness or creativity.

Speaker 1:

And the second one is where can you hit reset? Where have you got stuck? Where are you in pattern? Where could you change the game by one degree, as you said, pen, where could you start turning your ship by one degree to shifting from eye-rolling cynicism, which is my big topic of the week? Where have you got cynical? Where are you rolling it? Where is that? It's never helpful. It's never helpful because I'm really thinking about that this week.

Speaker 1:

Being sort of a cynical been there, done that, bought the T-shirt sucks every moment of joy from your life. There's nothing left to enjoy if all you've got left is the mindset of criticism and cynicism. Yeah, it's so true, it's joy, and you'll suck the joy out of everybody else and you'll suck the joy out of everybody else. So where are you rolling your eyes? Where could you reset and reframe? Where could you?

Speaker 1:

You know, I was thinking about beginner's mind. Beginner's mind isn't about being naive, it's about being. It's about resetting. What else is there? It's a bit like the buds coming up on the kilometers or the trees. It's new. It's not like oh, they came up last year. You're over, aren't you? It's true, it's hope, not hope.

Speaker 1:

But I would point to my dog Apprentice, who I have seen wandering through the woods many, many times in my life. It never fails to give you joy. Where is he there? He goes. It's very funny. He locks it Exactly. We're learning from the doggies. All they want to do sniff around, sniff and run, and they've sniffed and run all their lives and they never gets boring. Never gets boring, exactly.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the 40 human being podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. Do take on board some of the insights, tools and tips, because every time that you try something new to get back to choice, you are making a vote for the you that you want to become and I love that phrase pen. I do too, and please do share this episode with somebody that you know would really benefit from the lessons and learnings we've been chatting about today. And, of course, if you're interested in more from 4D Human being, do get in touch. We run workshops, trainings, online in-person conference events and keynotes. We've got the 4D On Demand platform for your whole organisation and we do have a free Essentials membership where anybody can sign up for absolutely free to access some of our insights, tools and tips. So do get in touch with us if you'd like to hear more. We cannot wait to hear from you and to carry on the conversation.