Your Inner Producer

Learn how to create the resilience, imagination, passion and determination you need to make things happen.

“You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny” Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

It’s the stories we tell ourselves and the narratives we share that produce our sense of who we are and what we are here to do. It’s your Inner Producer that coordinates the whole production process in your brain that becomes your life movie – your consciousness, feelings, thoughts, sensations, ideas, character, goals, language, etc. It is the source of your motivation, resilience, strength of purpose and desire to make things happen. It’s needed to drive your deeply held intentions so you can escape from your default lifestyle. This requires both rationality and imagination.

As the producer, you have the power to shape and interpret your story to decide where it is going and what is important. You are also writing the script that gives meaning and intention to your actions. The direction you take depends on your identity, your inner truth and how you break free from your ego. You can choose values that honour the responsibilities that serve your purpose and how you see the role of others in the context of your story.

The Inner Producer taps into your innate capacity for attention, intuition and realisation. There is a desire to build networks of support, care, and learning – to remain curious about life and what you can do with it. The Life Leadership Approach outlined below presents you with questions that will help you produce your own Life Movie. In the ‘blue zone’, you consider how your vision fits in with the larger fabric of life where you can be the agent of change and become what you practice.

What is a Producer?

A Producer in the movie world tends to be a person with great ideas and beliefs that drives them to tell an important story, one they will move heaven and earth to bring to life with unrelenting passion and commitment. They hold the vision and “supervise” what is happening in order to influence the Inner Director. It is your Inner Producer that produces the story, how it gets interpreted and then assesses the result. The Inner Producer holds the big picture and this energises the inner ‘actor’, ‘director’ and ‘scriptwriter’ to collaborate. It is for others to agree or disagree, accept or reject the result.

“Your first and foremost job as a leader is to take charge of your own energy and then orchestrate the energy of those around you.” Peter Drucker

The Power of Spirit

It’s your spirit that determines what you will master in life. It’s that inner resolve and desire to learn and practice new behaviours, to a point where competence becomes embedded and habitual. As you develop higher levels of awareness, curiosity and wonder you improve your practice. You are then open to the idea of exploring possibilities that will help you think more creatively and realise your deepest intentions. It’s what makes us fully human.

Reflect on who you are now and what past experiences have shaped you. Then consider who you see yourself becoming and how it connects with who you are now. If not, what is stopping or constraining you? Is it a lack of confidence, skill or just making a commitment to take action? Perhaps an inability to trust your gut instinct and consider what you really want; not just what you probably could be.

It is your spirit that gives you the energy and desire to lead a better life. It is the place where we connect with others at a deeper level. This aspect of our human nature is crucial to our ability to take the lead and give both direction and energy to our intentions. If we deny the presence of Spirit then we limit what we can think is possible for us to achieve. Our Spirit is what empowers us to find the determination and control from the inside to make a difference. Therefore, our ability to produce requires the Spirit of leadership. It begins by recognising our humanity and strengthening our Way of Being through practice and intention.

Our Way of being can be perceived as a wishy-washy topic because it is difficult to address. The language used can make it sound like a wishy-washy idea. Strange really when you notice how the new sciences describe our existence at the atomic level and yet it cannot be seen, touched, tasted or smelled. Spirit is everywhere and available to everyone who chooses to be open to its presence. It’s been around a long time. You just have to learn how to tap into it through meditation and observe Spirit in the lives of others. To watch children at play you cannot fail to see their spirit, their zest for life emerging through their different personalities.

The spirit of leadership is not to be found in roles, positions or the ability to dominate others, but in our power to choose how we respond to daily challenges, our capacity to establish rapport, empathy, and influence over how others feel and our ability to be spontaneous. Take the chance to be with someone going through a shock, anger, bad memories, or sadness. Step back from any tendency to provide answers or exercise control and observe the positive energy and comfort generated just by you being there.

Strength of will

Our Inner Producer can be seen as our disposition toward the world. It is our mood state, our strength of will and our desire to control or care for something so deeply that we won’t give up. Because the mind works by grouping similar things together, without the use of language, we can still make sense of things by using shape, pattern, symbols, and metaphor, rather than rules or logic.

Carl Jung determined that our will can lie beyond our direct experience, enabling us to relate to it as an ideal type or archetype that “calls us”. We feel drawn to somewhere or something that feels familiar, even though we have never been there or experienced it. It is the will of your inner Producer that bridges the unconscious realm of instinct or imagination and the conscious realm of cognition or thought. Consequently, we experience a pull, a force of attraction or a longing that leads us to something beyond our own conscious experience. This aspect of leadership we often refer to as vision, intention or passion.

We can expand our will by being more curious, and creative, looking at our experiences from different perspectives. This can be fostered by engaging in periods of silence and solitude every day. You will come to know and understand your life in a new way and how you need to act differently to enhance it. But even when you found a new worldview it can take a while to adjust the beliefs, values, and habits that go with it. This is the role of your inner Producer

Responding to the call

What stops us responding to “the call” to do something it is our inability to let go and stop resisting the flow of consciousness that allows our inner-most desires and intentions to be realised. It is often when the natural flow of life breaks down that we are driven to “produce” a break-through. We ask our unconscious mind to search for answers and trust that a solution is there, waiting to unfold. We then find ourselves following your hunches and intuition.

The way we observe the world is how it is for us. Ontological coaching’s main premise is to shift the way we observe and so recognise where we have the authority and competence to act to serve our best interests. This ultimately impacts on the kind of life we create, or more importantly the kind of life we are able to design for ourselves. It is similar to the process a Movie Producer goes through to see things in a way that empowers them to create a story that comes across to others as powerful and authentic.

Consequently, the theory and methodology of Ontological Coaching is not only a basis for effective action and creating a better life experience, it also builds a more meaningful life. As Rafael Echeverria and Julio Olalla have shown . . . .

“Ontological coaching involves an intervention that modifies the fundamental principle(s) of coherence that we are.” – Julio Olalla

In other words, Ontological Coaching focuses on the limitations of what it is to be human and seeks to expand our capacity for action. This capacity to rewrite our life story can enhance our life and reduce our suffering. It requires our Inner Producer to be energised sufficiently to want to produce a new life movie. Change only happens when we want it – unless it’s forced on us of course.

Human Ontology provides a rigorous theoretical basis for coaching and leadership that offers us a well-grounded and practical approach to personal change. It opens up new pathways for effective action by making powerful distinctions and supporting purposeful conversations. But better results will not be achieved without the will and belief that the means will shape the ends. Spirit is often the driver that launches us into our “hero’s journe y“.

The Hero’s Journey relates to the way your Inner Producer works in your brain. We know that emotions drive attention and this influences the choices we because they are the ones that are important to us.

A Real-Life Example of a “Hero’s Journey”

One of my clients, Tony, dreamt of owning his own farm one day. He had the knowledge and expertise but not the resources that he would need, or a plan for how he could possibly make it happen. He was obviously passionate, but his energy lacked focus. He was struggling to work out how to turn his vision into reality. In his frustration, he was becoming resentful of the way his current boss was refusing to listen to his ideas or give him opportunities to develop the skills he needed to do a better job.

As his coach, my first thought was to help him get into a calmer and more reflective state by centring his body to help quieten the mind so he could better observe how his current Way of Being was getting in the way of his ability to focus on his own ambitions.

By seeing his own behaviour and mood state more clearly, he could see what he needed to do get what he wanted. He worked on using positive language and adopting a stronger stature. They helped him develop a mood state that shifted from being resigned to his situation to one that reflected his stated ambition. He became more open and committed to tackling challenges he set himself.

I introduced the metaphor of the Hero’s Journey with Tony to provide a framework for his thinking and actions to deal with any negativity and align his practices to his vision. I challenged him to face facts and consider his options. He could leave his job, but do what, where and why? He could take a stand and explore alternative approaches with his current employer, perhaps to get some experience and new skills that would contribute to achieving his vision, or, accept the situation and explore what he could possibly do to help his boss change his mind.

If Tony felt that his boss was just using him and telling him that he was not ready for development, he was effectively just holding on to him. Perhaps he should be looking for a job that would offer him more of what he needed to be himself and go forward. Tony’s renewed passion meant he was always giving the impression he was in a hurry. He was keen to make a bigger contribution but never given a chance to prove himself.

Tony was creating a new story or movie in his head of where he wanted to be and how he was going to get there. Despite the difficulties, he felt “called” to a new adventure. He resigned as now working in a new role where his knowledge and enthusiasm are appreciated and encouraged.

Dealing with breakdowns

Nothing brings out your commitment and passion more than a disruption or breakdown in the normal flow of life. A heart attack concentrates the mind, as does a concern that you are losing the trust of your colleagues or may lose your job. It can be a catalyst for finding the time and resources that you were previously blind to. Leaders who have a passion for something find it easier to overcome their fears, challenges, and insecurities. Despite feelings of exhaustion they keep going as the alternative is too painful to even contemplate.

Pain and suffering can also incentivise your Inner Producer. We don’t always appreciate that unhappiness can be a spur to spiritual growth. Remember, that who you are doesn’t really exist, it’s just your thoughts that make your reality and identity. Who you are is consciousness itself. Without consciousness, you would not be able to be an observer. As you seek to discover or shape yourself through self-enquiry you are seeking to understand what being conscious and having language, moods and a body means for the life you experience. By reflecting on your Way of Being you begin to see the familiar with new eyes and see yourself in a new way.

As Marcel Proust observed, it is the artist or actor in us that can intuit our feelings and intentions as they are being experienced.

“The true journey of discovery does not consist of searching for new territories but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust

The deeper the breakdown the more profound the transformation is likely to be. This is is your Inner Producer at work, shifting the patterns of thought and restructuring the connections in your nervous system. It often requires you to accept or surrender by facing facts. This enables you to find new possibilities and to be “reborn” with an expanded identity and a worldview with fewer limitations on what you feel you can do. This is how you move from breakdown to breakthrough.

Those who witnessed the rise of Jeremy Corbin in the UK election of 2017 will know what this means.

Possibilities for personal power

Your inner Producer connects you with your personal power. Moods can be a major determiner of the type of language you adopt (positive or negative) and the conversations and commitments you enter into. Consequently, if you enter conversations with the intention to increase your personal power the words and moods they generate will lead to more positive and productive outcomes.

Intention from a new perspective

We tend to think of intention as a strong purpose or goal that drives our choices and actions. We don’t let anything get in the way of us achieving that inner purpose. In the same way that the producer of a movie has to be resolved and determined to fulfill the dream of making a movie, so we too must find higher levels of energy and determination that give our Inner Producer the opportunity to drive us towards being our best selves.

It is the force of intention that drives us to practice and develop our potential as human beings. It’s the sharing of personal intentions that gives life the momentum to engage in collective action.

References

The Spirit of Leadership by Harrison Owen – Berret-Koehler 1999

Retooling on the Run by Stuart Heller – North Atlantic 1994

Living Deeply by Marilyn Shlitz, et al – Noetic Books 2007

Conversations for Power and Possibility by Darlene Chrissley – BPS Books 2012

The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer – Hay House 2004

Practices

Constructing Your Worldview
Producing Stories