INSIGHT IS WHERE MOST PEOPLE GET STUCK

Reggie slapped his forehead. “Oh… wow. Of course meetings are going the way they are. I’m putting so much energy into managing my fear that other people think I might look stupid.”

He sat a little longer with it. “I do this in most of my relationships. I can’t sit in a group and let the conversation wash over me. I’m constantly analyzing what other people are saying, and what I could add.”

Reggie sat back and took a breath. He went quiet and his breathing got shallower. His eyes moved. The room could feel that something real had landed.

Then something clicked. Reggie nodded to himself, and began speaking again.

“Okay. Yah… Now that I can see this, I know what to do. I’m just going to stop caring what people think about me. Actually, I’m going to notice how often they’re saying stupid things too. Then I’ll see how pointless it is to feel dumb.”

Reggie looked visibly relieved at his conclusion.

Reggie’s insight had already been drawn back into his existing pattern.

Avoiding stupid has got a hold of Reggie.

Before he was managing conversation to avoid feeling stupid. Now he’s got a new, more efficient strategy to avoid feeling stupid.

This is what people do all the time. The moment they see a pattern, they start trying to resolve it.

The moment of insight is often the moment you start to begin strategizing a new way to avoid the discomfort of being unresolved.