ENTHEOS: How to Amplify Your Energy & Potential
Frank Fitzpatrick 08/06/2020
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“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
In 2016, alongside a dedicated team of experts from multiple learning and wellness disciplines, I delivered a highly experiential Social and Emotional Learning pilot program for at-risk 6th graders in the LA Public Incubator School focused on amplifying the participants’ potential.
The students were in their first year of an alternative four-year middle school curriculum built on an entrepreneur-style training framework. The first year was dedicated to the development of self.
This age marks a critical stage in the development of self-identity, where the cultivation of strong social, psychological and emotional awareness and skills can change the course of a student’s future.
These are the same skillsets that form the key goals of training programs for successful adult leaders and entrepreneurs: self-discipline, focus, emotional self-regulation, creativity, perseverance, vitality, mindfulness, self-expression, social and communication skills.
Naturally, helping children—the leaders of tomorrow—develop these abilities during their developmental years can save them a lot of work later in life honing these skills and unveiling their true potential.
A core component of the curriculum was what we described as “Superpowers.” A Superpower can be described by a single word that both identifies it and encompasses one of the core mindsets for success.
Enthusiasm as a Superpower
The first on the list was Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm comes from the Greek word entheos, which can be literally translated as “in God” or the “God or soulforce within us.” We can reframe this definition in a number of ways: like “filled with the spirit,” “passionate,” “full of vigor” to describe the energy and vitality we feel when we are wholeheartedly enthusiastic about something.
Think of it as awakening the sleeping tiger within us, letting the genie out of the bottle, and setting fire to your inner potential.
As any middle school teacher or parent can testify: Without sparking a sufficient level of enthusiasm, it is nearly impossible to fully engage a group of easily distracted 11 and 12 year-olds at a level that will help them focus, relax, and move courageously through the challenges they will face on the path to realizing their fullest potential.
Enthusiasm is a mindset that helps us all, and a key component of learning, creating a business, and living a life of vitality and abundance. Even the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or start-up entrepreneur deals with many of the same the inner challenges faced by those students, and with the subconscious coping patterns they lived with since that stage of their own development. Simply by approaching each day, and any challenge, with a good dose of enthusiasm., we can reboot our internal engine—increasing our flow of energy and potential for joy and creativity.
Enthusiasm is also contagious. One person’s passion and excitement around a project can invigorate an entire team or organization. If you witness a great inspirational speaker like Tony Robbins, Peter Diamandis, Rev. Michael Beckwith or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., you know how quickly their enthusiasm can lift and inspire a crowd.
My friend Michelle is a high-level business consultant and executive coach. I asked her the key to her success with clients and teams. She said it’s all about the energy she brings to the challenge and opportunity at hand. Michelle describes herself as a “joy making machine.” When she fully embraces that identity and the virtue that comes with it, she brings contagious energy, or enthusiasm, into the room and the people in it—allowing them to open up to greater possibilities and higher levels of creativity. Who would want that on their team?
It is not just external factors that awaken our enthusiasm, however. It is also our internal perception—our own internal mental and emotional state, and the positive stories we tell ourselves—that ultimately turn a spark into a flame and keeps that fire burning.
We can practice on the little things. My 90-year-old friend Jacabina couldn’t walk down the street without getting excited by the world around her. She would regularly use the phrase “Isn’t it lovely!” to bring my attention to a flower, a rock, a cloud, an old car, or passerby’s hat. I couldn’t help but be inspired by her child-like enthusiasm for the simple gifts of life, nor spend any time with youthful Jacabina without recognizing the level of vitality he superpower of enthusiasm created within her and myself.
When we embrace the unlimited potential of entheos, turn up the fire within ourselves, and take ownership of those radiating and contagious qualities, we inspire and allow others to be and do the same. When we speak and, especially, when we act from that place, creativity is unleashed and things start to magically happen. Life is simply better.
Even our internal biology and chemistry changes. Simply by smiling—a great practice in state-shifting—our brain receives signals that we are happy. The same hormones are released, and neurotransmitters triggered, as when we passively experience a joy-filled activity or external trigger that we say “makes us happy.” In addition, the brains of those we meet mirror those that sensation of happiness.
Simply by smiling and sharing smiles with all those around us, can raise the level of energy and joy in the world—inside and out. Amplify that with a little added enthusiasm, and life starts to get exciting.
What are the other keys to cultivating Enthusiasm?
Like the outcomes we set out to achieve with those students: self-discipline, focus, emotional self-regulation, creativity, perseverance, vitality, mindfulness, self-expression, social and communication skills—the techniques that we used to stoke that inner fire are not so different than the tools we use today to engage and motivate leaders, audiences and teams of adults.
Ultimately, it is not only the energy of the moment that we can raise by embracing enthusiasm, nor challenges of the day we can more gracefully overcome. By adding a little more vigor and positivity to each step as we climb the mountains and walk the winding path of our life, we enhance our overall state of well-being, happiness and vitality.
Want to Learn More?
Tapping into internal enthusiasm is a sure way to amplify our own internal mental and emotional state. Over the next few weeks, I will be presenting a series of articles and free sessions to provide you with scientifically-proven ways to optimize and amplify your energy so you can have all the internal resource you need to navigate the unpredictability and turbulence of the external world with greater CALM, Confidence, and JOY.
To learn more about upcoming programs, books, music, and film releases, Sign up here.
To learn more about working 1-on1 with Frank, go to BeyondPerformance.Life
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About the Author
Frank Fitzpatrick is a Creative Executive, Engagement Expert and High-Performance Coach on the Faculty of Singularity University’s Exponential Medicine.
Be sure to check out Frank’s full Bio.
To connect, go to FrankFitzpatrick.com
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