Episode 119 – The Power of Psychological Flexibility

Show Notes

Episode Transcript

Jesse:
Ahem. You are now listening to Leverage for Growth. Hey everybody, this is Jesse P. Gilmore, founder of Niche in Control and creator of Leverage for Growth. Welcome to the Daily Leverage Edition. Today’s topic is this, bending, not breaking, the power of psychological flexibility. Sit back, relax, and welcome to today’s Daily Leverage. So today we’re gonna talk about a critical mental skill, psychological flexibility. It’s a key element that allows us to adapt and thrive and midst. life’s unpredictable challenges. Are you ready? Let’s dive right in. So let’s understand psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is the ability to adapt our short-term behavior to serve our long-term values, even in the face of difficult experiences. A study by Cashton and Rottenberg and describes it as the ability to contact the present moment more fully as a conscious human being and to change or persist in behavior when doing so serves valued ends. Research shows that psychological flexibility helps in stress management, improving performance and mental health. For instance, a study by Bond and Bounce found that high levels of psychological flexibility resulted in better work performance, job satisfaction, and mental health. And we can enhance our psychological flexibility through practices like mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy, ACT, which has been scientifically shown to improve psychological flexibility. And according to them, these practices help in promoting mental agility and resilience. So let’s apply psychological flexibility and its profound effects across the different aspects of your life. So for body… Accept bodily discomfort when pursuing a healthier lifestyle instead of avoiding it. In other words, if you’re working out and you’re sore from working out, don’t try to avoid the soreness. Actually just accept it. Being. Stay open to a wide range of emotions for a fuller life experience. So if you got hurt in the past and it’s made it so that you can cause limits on what you can actually do, Be open to experiencing a wider range of emotions and experiences. Balance. Foster adaptable relationships that can navigate conflicts and disagreements. And a lot of times, colliding is actually part of being human. So being able to not avoid having a conflict or a disagreement and just being agreeable all the time, which ultimately doesn’t help you. Be able to lean into conflicts and disagreements. and really focus on psychological flexibility. And for business, embrace change and uncertainty in business decisions focused on long-term success. So I encourage you to take 20 to 30 minutes for some self-reflection. Identify a recent instance when you faced a challenge. Did you react flexibly or was it more of a rigid reaction? And how can you apply this psychological flexibility in future situations, being able to be mentally agile? Now, psychological flexibility isn’t about eliminating difficulties, but about moving forward, aligned with our values despite those difficulties. It is the key to resilience, well-being, and success in our personal and professional lives. So now it’s time for the daily leverage. So where in your world, whether in your life or business, have you been very rigid and not flexible? Is it in your life with your health and body? Is it in your life with your spirituality or self-direction? Is it in your relationships with your spouse, partner, or kids? Is it in your business, finances, or team? And once you’ve located where you could use some more psychological flexibility and you know what you need to change, my question to you is this. What are you willing and able to do about it today? That is the end of the Daily Leverage. This is Jesse P. Gilmore. You’ve been listening to Leverage for Growth Podcast. If you’re enjoying these Daily Leverage and agency leverage episodes, make sure to subscribe on Apple or Spotify now.