Are you feeling stuck?
Are you the kind of person who tenaciously keeps fighting through a problem, banging your head against the wall, losing your focus, and still refusing to step away until you’ve reached a solution or answer?
Or are you the kind of person who procrastinates on even tackling a challenge while you continue to read, research, and analyze feeling sure that the next article, podcast, or book will give you the rest of the insight that you need?
These are two common scenarios that high-achieving introverts typically gravitate towards. We will usually suffer silently, rarely asking for help or even granting a discussion on the matter.
Personally, I will keep studying as a form of procrastination all while hoping that the “Aha” will strike me like a lightning bolt from the universe. Once in a while, it actually does. Most of the time, however, I simply keep procrastinating on solving a problem or starting a project. This causes me stress, depletion of energy, and loss of productive and creative time.
It also causes me to become frustrated and decidedly uncreative and ultimately leads me to make poor decisions for my problem, project, or personal life.
When we are stuck in an analytical zone or banging our head against the proverbial problem, we become rather one-dimensional humans.
What we need is to transport ourselves into other dimensions, to break out of our box, and to cultivate our curiosity.
Turning to texture
The idea that I like to broadly label texture is a modality of moving our mind out of the one-dimensional focus and transporting our whole body into a world that is a multi-dimensional sensory experience.
Tuning into texture adds depth and richness to how we perceive the physical world around us.
Texture leads the mind to wander and ponder.
Training our senses to tune into texture not only relaxes us but deepens our curiosity leading us to ask more powerful questions.
Rather than feeding our frustration or endlessly researching, we can step away from our blockage and move into moments of dimensionality where we will imagine, recover, and innovate.
Rest, diversify, explore
Steve Jobs credits fooling around with classes in Shakespeare, dance, and calligraphy with influencing the aesthetic design of Apple products. “A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem,” Jobs said. “The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.”
In simple words, this is giving your problem or project a rest while you go play and explore. Take 5 minutes, an hour, or up to several weeks or months. Expand into the dimensions of nature, movement, newness, and pleasure. Embrace all the sensory experiences you can.
Many coaches advise going all in on a problem or project. Succeed or fail quickly. Go all in and burn the bridges behind you.
I disagree. Multiple projects combined with play add texture and dimensionality and allow you to make a switch when you need to while still showing up for your meaningful work. It allows you to use alternative senses, and different parts of your creativity, and to keep your curiosity firing.
Five tips to incorporate texture:
Learn what texture you are magnetically drawn to.
Spend time wandering in nature and in beautiful places and start noticing what captivates you. Is it a sound, a smell, a visual aesthetic, a color, a tactile sensation, or a particular kind of movement? Tune into your senses. This will help you start to hone your texture.
For example, I love the feel of moss; I love many diverse colors of purple; and I love the visual reflections and movement of water. Knowing these textures, surrounding myself with them, and visiting them often recharges my battery, calms my spirit, and reinvigorates my creativity.
Search for small moments of joy.
In a world where negative sensational headlines get all the clicks and cynicism dominates, finding joy can feel daunting indeed. One of the last coaches of the great tennis player Roger Federer said that Roger’s genius was finding joy in everything he did from training to playing matches to fulfilling his obligations with the press and sponsors.
My personal tendency towards skepticism and sarcasm makes this a real challenge for me every day. But focusing on moments and activities that bring a spark of joy, such as playing and laughing with my silly dogs, is at the heart of doing our best work.
Discover the unique connections in your various projects and hobbies.
I believe that when there is an underlying and meaningful connection between our activities, we create greater value and innovation. Imagine a giant old tree. The trunk anchors many strong branches that are all uniquely shaped.
At the heart of all of my work is a service to the dental profession and to helping my patients and my colleagues live according to our unique individual values, especially in the last half of our lives. From the way I choose to live on my weird and wild path, to the unconventional way I coach and teach cavity prevention, to my coaching programs for introverted professionals, and the emotional transition into retirement for doctors, an underlying passionate connection links the various branches of my tree.
So look for the connections in your work and play. If you can’t find the connection to the core of your tree, consider pruning some branches away so the texture and meaning can emerge.
Allow texture to fuel belief.
It happens so fast. We are enthusiastic and fired up for a project or a solution and before we know it, we are questioning whether or not it will matter. We become mired in the monotony.
Noticing even the tiny details of texture helps us believe in the value of our work. This can be the pleasurable design of your workspace, working next to the window or outside on a patio, the music you choose, the aromatics you inhale, or the delicious meal you linger over. By being present in those moments, you will incorporate this vitality into your work.
Don’t skip days. Texture is always present.
Touch your work in some way every single day. Even when you are taking a rest day, maybe physically lay your hand on your project. Consider writing down one sentence or idea. Look at the immediate world around you and ask how it can inspire your endeavors.
It requires being present and conscious of yourself. It means opening your mind to wander in the wonder of your senses. It means embracing the texture of life, the full emotional and physical elements of the human experience.
Texture becomes courage
My relationship with texture was born out of a period of great pain: a major life transition coupled with a discovery of my inner soul. I needed an injection of joy into the pain and quiet into the turmoil. In those moments of searching, I found my solace in texture: watching the bird beaks open and close at the feeder, photographing the droplets of water on the dying autumn leaves, breathing in the crispness of mountain air, tasting the saltiness of my tears. Texture became my lifeline, adding dimensions and little moments of private joy in my chaotic world.
A year later, I was in Switzerland sitting on the deck of an old wooden hotel sipping hot tea. There was a choir of cowbells accompanied by the steady percussion of a nearby waterfall. I breathed in the fresh cool air of the Swiss Alps and for the first time in many years, I felt completely at peace. My heart knew I was on the right journey of personal growth.
Did I have the lightning bolt of “Aha”? I did not, but I had stepped away and now surrounded myself with mountain texture that ministered to my soul, and in that, I found the courage to keep showing up.
Read more about my texture journey in Switzerland here.