The Sixth Sense: the transformative power of experience

Experience is invaluable and has the potential to create whole new levels of excellence.  The benefit of experience is that our mind picks up nuances that allow us to quickly utilize our knowledge with the skill of a master. We develop a “sixth sense” which is an under appreciated skill set in the workplace.  As Malcolm Gladwell describes in his book Blink, it is the “power of thinking without thinking.”

Through my experience, I have witnessed physical transformation in multiple ways and become attuned to recognizing the signature of certain underlying conditions.  I could reliably identify an individual with cystic fibrosis, a child on the spectrum, or whether a high school student was a “latch key kid.”

I was not a mind reader, but time and attention to detail gave me clues.  The time spent working in a hospital lung transplant center trained my eye to recognize many ailments from working with people suffering from many things, often in advanced stages.  Being one of the few lung transplant centers, many individuals with cystic fibrosis came in who were in need of new lungs.  A lifetime of fighting to breathe transformed them in specific ways.  

They had clubbed fingertips and were barrel chested from the strain placed on the interplay of the lack of oxygen matched with the fight to get enough air in their lungs.  Their round faces spoke of steroid use as their new lungs battled to replace the scarred ones of the past.    I had treated younger versions of these patients on the same path, and while they suffered from hospital grade lung infections, they had not yet transformed in these ways.  

I thought of the battle these people faced just to draw breath.  The tenacity of the college students who were facing death, but so determined to live fully, they disconnected themselves from their IV poles to attend an exam before coming back to their hospital bed afterwards.  Most of us are fortunate not to face these challenges.

How often do we take full advantage of our own experiences to transform ourselves?

Those who do tend to rise to the top of their field. I recall the news coverage of a celebrated rock climber who was the fastest female in the world league.  Everyone wanted to know how she could climb a rock face so rapidly with such agility and speed.  She shared the secret to her success.  

As a child, she lived in Africa.  Being without siblings or children nearby she would play with monkeys in the trees.  She would chase them and learn by watching.  She would mimic how they held their bodies and over time she became faster.  She spent so much time at it that her hands began to transform.  Her fingers lengthened and her fingertips became incredibly adept at gripping the trees, also transforming their structure.  Her arms lengthened and the muscle in her arms, shoulders and back specialized to excel at what she spent her days doing.  Watching her climb, she scaled the wall like a spider monkey, and it all made sense.

We excel at and transform according to what we do repeatedly.  While these examples are of physical transformations, we can also transform ourselves mentally.  Nurturing desired skills consistently builds experience.  Experience can be an invaluable skill that opens up a new level of operating.  We can create mental superpowers through practice.. We must simply decide what transformation we want and then repeatedly develop that activity.

Our brains and bodies adapt.  It is the secret of human success.  Our bodies and minds are plastic and work to fine tune what we do repeatedly.  They specialize according to what we focus on. These transformations build according to the level of time and effort we spend, but the most massive transformations occur with consistency.

Intention, action, time, and consistency. It begins with intention and a single action followed by another. And sometimes we run out of time.  One day missed leads to another, and our intention for change evaporates with the break in consistency.

Is it possible to achieve the transformation you seek with a deeper understanding of human behavior around habits and strategic methods?  People who are really good at their craft have figured out systems that work for them through trial and error or with the help of a really good mentor to keep them on track and accountable. That usually takes years. 

Learning is only truly empowered when the concepts are not only understood but utilized consistently.  The greatest information in the world is routinely lost before it ever has a chance to make an impact. Those who apply that information in a strategic way gain a “sixth sense” and an ability to climb more rapidly than anyone around them. 

What superpower do you want to create?   How can you develop your sixth sense?

There is no better time than now. The only thing that is too late is starting yesterday.

I would be honored to help you achieve your goals beyond January 2023 using the PLANS Framework. Schedule a virtual coffee chat to explore that possibility or just ask questions.

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