Bob Proctor is a motivational speaker, thought leader, and seeker. Personally, I know him most for his 7 Universal Laws. These 7 Universal Laws revolve around energy, high/low vibration, frequencies, and the fact that what we put out “there”, comes back to us. I know, I know…A little woo-woo, but stick with me.
Bob’s 3rd Universal Law is the Law of Rhythm. The Law of Rhythm states that everything moves in a natural rhythm or cycle. All things have discernible patterns of ups and downs, ebbs and flows, gutters and strikes. This law applies to all aspects of our worlds, nature (changing seasons), emotions (pride to shame), productivity (tasks completed to nothing done), energy (busy beaver to slug), everything. When we learn to recognize these ebbs and flows, we can leverage that knowledge bringing better balance to all aspects of our worlds.
Maybe the most apparent places we can see how these rhythms work is in nature. Each season brings with it it’s unique traits shaping our environments and behaviors. Winter makes for prime time to be still, rest, and reflect. Spring ques growth, hope, and new beginnings. In our common world as Social Work Professionals, recognizing these natural rhythms can inspire us to act accordingly. At the time of this writing I’m only a couple of days post ending of daylight savings time. If 5:30 pm sunset isn’t an inspiration to rest and reflect, nothing is.
Just like the seasons, our moods follow rhythmic cycles. We may feel highly energized and motivated to tackle every problem in our agency one day, only to feel completely void of energy and drained the next. The 3rd Law suggests we embrace these cycles. Do we judge or criticize the leaves for turning yellow to red to brown and then falling from the trees? No. It just is. That’s what leaves do. We should do the same and acknowledge the unavoidable shifts in our emotional state. We already work in emotionally charged environments, we don’t need to compound this f.. We need to learn to ride these waves and practice self care when energy drops.
The 3rd Law shows up in our professional cycles as well. We have some weeks full of highs where we get clients housed, sober, reunited with their kids or other loved ones. We have other weeks where we get completely beaten down by bureaucratic hurdles, lack of funding, or worse. When we learn to recognize these cycles, we can prevent emotional fatigue stacking burnout symptoms. It doesn’t make the hard weeks any easier, but it does help us respond to the hard weeks in a more sustainable way.
In order to fully take advantage of our new found knowledge of the 3rd law, we should establish rhythmic rest. Agencies should encourage breaks and ensure adequate downtime for recharging. Eliminating, or limiting, back to back client sessions is a positive practice, especially after highly emotionally taxing casework. Make time for the ebb and flow, drain and recharge, sun and moon. The down time is essential to sustained production and emotional resilience.
We also must practice emotional awareness. We should take time to track our moods and energy levels. By putting in the effort to make note of our high energy times, we can craft our schedules to take advantage of them. We should put all of our most complex and demanding cases into time slots within that high energy range. That leaves our low energy time slots for tasks that don’t matter as much. Low stakes tasks like database upkeep and other reports.
We can take advantage of nature’s rhythms as well. Goal setting and other creative work like client outreach, and program building may be better suited for Spring. While winter could be the best time for training, CECs, and current program evaluations. When we change with the seasons things stay fresh and we don’t get caught chasing the horizon because the seasons are inevitable. Built in timelines.
By working symbiotically with the 3rd Law we can foster great resilience, adaptability, and well being. We learn to recognize and respect our own natural cycles as well as the natural cycles in our various environments. We will maximize our productivity and positive outcomes with our clients. Our agencie’s culture will be healthier. Our job satisfaction levels will be higher. Our turnover will be lower.
The 3rd Law, the Law of Rhythm, teaches us balance. It’s not about maintaining high energy all the time. That’s a recipe for disaster. It’s about creating a harmony with natural ebbs and flow. When we learn to embrace these cycles our lives as Social Work Professionals become healthier enabling us pass that health on to our colleagues and most importantly on to our clients.
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