ABOUT ENERGETIC BOUNDARIES:
For the many business professionals that ask me about “energetic boundaries” and what they have to do with business, this is for you.
Succinctly put – “energetic boundaries” relate to the power-dynamic we experience as we interact and relate with the world in all aspects of our lives. Unlike some kind of Star Trek energy shield, energetic boundaries don’t separate us from the world, but they inform how we experience it. Generally speaking, when we encounter a difficult situation that we have good energetic boundaries with, we are more likely to perform better and respond from a place of empowerment. When we encounter a situation where we don’t have good energetic boundaries, we tend to experience that situation from a state of disempowerment.
THE SCOPE OF ENERGETIC BOUNDARIES:
Energetic boundaries apply both to internal and external realities. Internally, energetic boundaries can influence how we might relate and thus respond to thoughts, feelings, emotions and concepts. Externally, energetic boundaries may influence how we relate and respond to other people, places, things, food, music, the media, technology and aspects of the external environment. For example, if a person doesn’t have good energetic boundaries with the concept of credit-card debt, receiving their credit card statement after a holiday-spending spree could put them into a state of high anxiety.
OPTIMAL VS NON-OPTIMAL ENERGETIC BOUNDARIES:
Having “optimal” energetic boundaries with internal and external aspects of life is to be in a state of optimal energetic rapport with whatever we interact with. This means that as we interact with thoughts, people, places or things, we are able to stay present and empowered rather than feeling disempowered, irritable, or even dissociated from the situation and space out.
For example, when a business leader has a nagging concern, thought or fear that they consistently experience in the workplace, they will typically either take steps to address the problem or “stuff it” and hope it goes away (until it cannot be ignored). If that person continues to be bombarded by nagging negative thoughts about the issue (leaving them feeling disempowered and anxious) despite their best conscious efforts to put all associated thoughts aside, their energetic boundaries with that particular issue might not be optimal.
ENERGETIC BOUNDARIES WITH PEOPLE IN THE WORKPLACE:
Having one’s “buttons pushed” by people around you is a fact of life. For most business leaders with teams, it comes with the territory. The fact is we all have “headtrash” we walk around with that we’ve accumulated through our unique life-experiences that make us vulnerable to having our buttons pushed. Clearly, some people are better at pushing our buttons than others. Yet, if you ask a person why someone presses their buttons, they might explain it as “poor chemistry” or a “personality quirk”. However, when you delve deeper past the logical explanations of the conscious mind to look at what’s happening at an unconscious level, it’s not uncommon for a bigger picture to unfold.
MUSCLE TESTING FOR ENERGETIC BOUNDARIES:
Using Applied Kinesiology or “muscle testing”, we can bypass the conscious mind to assess at the unconscious level if a person has energetic boundaries with others. When we use muscle testing during an Energetic Business Coaching™ session, it’s not uncommon for business professionals to discover that they lack energetic boundaries with colleagues or employees whom they also describe as someone that “masterfully pushes their buttons”. In the workplace, this dynamic plays out in different ways including: feeling irritable towards colleagues and employees; not being able to approach someone and feel empowered; not feeling comfortable asking for what they need; not getting their needs met; and harboring feelings of resentment.
If left unaddressed, the stress from these challenges can escalate into workplace anxiety, shame, resentment, anger, and counterproductive behaviors and workplace grievances which can lead to serious HR headaches (not to mention preoccupied thoughts, lost sleep, and workplace burnout) and cost companies big bucks to deal with. One study showed that counterproductive behavior by workers cost American business $50 billion annually and has increased by approximately 15% annually (Kuhn, R). Furthermore, statistics around workplace grievances show that when grievances are brought up, lost productivity by the employee and those around them is about 80 work hours (Wilson, B).
HAVING ENERGETIC BOUNDARIES GIVES YOU AN EDGE:
To most of us the concept of energetic boundaries – albeit intuitive for some, is new. Whereas, having the experience of anxiety or discomfort with different situations, people, places, thoughts and feelings – is part of life. Having greater awareness of one’s energetic boundaries may not prevent these experiences from happening, but it does allow a person to be in optimal rapport with the experience (yes – even if it’s uncomfortable) in order to support them to stay present and empowered in the moment. By staying present and empowered, we are better able to martial our internal resources to constructively address the situation in a conscious thoughtful way, rather than reacting from an emotional place and regretting it later. Thus, having good energetic boundaries in the workplace helps business leaders and employees make better choices in stressful situations and ultimately be more productive.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the acknowledgment of this Noah. And it brings it top of mind for my work, which is very important.
Recommendations for resources on learning ways energetic boundaries present themselves in different individuals? That would be super helpful.
Aubrie- thanks for the note. As far as resources go, I just wrote an article on EBs for the Oregon Mediation Association (OMA), once its published, I’ll put a link up to the newsletter.
Your question “How ‘Energetic Boundaries’ present themselves” is a good one. It’s kind of tough to describe since we’re talking about subtle stuff here, but here’s a few thoughts to keep in mind.
For yourself – if you experience feeling a sense of “dis-empowerment” related to thoughts about your business, something you’re working on, interactions with a colleague, or an aspect of yourself that brings you down, it COULD relate to an energetic boundary issue (or something else, like a unconscious limiting belief that is coming up for you to look at). By “dis-empowerment”, I mean do you feel stress, sadness, shame, fear, anxiety, anything that doesn’t feel “empowered” or holds you back from being self-actualized?
An example of this might be every time you connect with a colleague who you notice carries a pervasive negative outlook on their job, the company you work for, and you tend to feel “down” or drained after meetings together. It could be that you don’t have EBs with them or their state of negativity. In this case, having optimal EBs with that person might enable you to be around them without being impacted by their mood in the same way.
I’m guessing “So, what can I do about it?” is the next logical question right? Along those lines, check out the Oregon Mediation Association article for tips on things you can try to help maintain your EBs, especially while under stress.
Another interesting article on the subject of “Emotions and the Business Leader”, relates well to the subject of energetic boundaries… http://bit.ly/9Lylue