Self-Mastery Tip: Increase “Psychological Flexibility”

by Dr. Brian Higley

January 10th, 2010

Often, being extroverted or “outgoing” is helpful to the ability to experience or achieve what we want to in life.  On the other hand, introversion or “self-reflection” is also frequently very helpful as well.  Introversion-extroversion flexibility can help us be more at ease across a variety of situations in life.

Psychological flexibility can be increased by understanding our current comfort zones and how to broaden them.  Here are some ways people have been able to increase flexibility in their lives:

• Become clear about when you feel more introverted and/or more extroverted and what influences this. The first step in enhancing psychological flexibility is often awareness of our current levels of introversion and extroversion and what situations or people tend to influence these feelings.  It can be helpful to know what characteristics of ourselves, others and our environments tend to influence us to be more engaged in the outside world and/or more focused on our internal states of being.
• Become skilled at using relaxation exercises when feeling overwhelmed. In certain situations, we can all be overwhelmed by too many extroverted activities and/or too many introverted experiences.  Relaxation exercises (such as deep breathing or relaxed stretching) can help us to expand our comfort zones when we feel overwhelmed by too many external stimuli (extroverted experiences) by not enough (introverted experiences).
• Practice becoming more comfortable in different situations at a pace that is challenging, but not overwhelming. Once we know what tends to influence us and how to expand our comfort zones, we can begin taking on the challenge of expanding our comfort zones.  For example, if we are overwhelmed at social gatherings, we can begin by spending 15-30 minutes with others, then going somewhere to practice relaxation before returning.  If we are overwhelmed by the idea of reflecting alone, we can start by doing 15 minutes of reflection, then relaxing with others before returning to reflection.  Once we become more at ease in these situations, we can increase the amount of time spent in them when desired.

NOTE TO THOSE USING THE MISSION FULFILLMENT SYSTEM: You can work toward increasing psychological flexibility by adding a new Objective to your system by using the “Add New Item” link (for example, “Increase my psychological flexibility”).  You can then develop a SMART Goal related to that new Objective by using the “Add Subitem” link to the far right of the new Objective (for example, “Practice 10 minutes of deep breathing when I am overwhelmed in social situations.”).

FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT ON THE MISSION FULFILLMENT SYSTEM: Click here to for more information and click here to sign up.

FINAL NOTE: If you were linked to this article by a video or email, please return to that link and proceed with any other instructions that you deem helpful.  For more Execution Excellence tips and tools visit our site at: www.excellencetree.com

Article Filed under: Self-Mastery Tips